Here are 6 ways to stay positive during the coronavirus pandemic:
1. Set out the best hygiene practices in your workplace: Some of you reading this will be in countries where you will physically go to an office or workplace. If this is the case, ensure that the best hygiene practices are put in place without any panic. Having these in place with minimal fuss will be a comfort to you and your team.
2. Working under new conditions some as remote working? If you are in a situation where a new working condition such as remote working has been enforced suddenly then be sure to find ways to support your team in this transition. If you are an employee who is finding this challenging, follow the next step.
3. Keep a gratitude and creativity diary: Over coffee, tea, juice or whatever you enjoy first thing in the morning, use a notebook (the old-fashioned kind) to pen a few random thoughts. One set of feelings go on the left-hand page (gratitude) and the other collection of ideas should be written on the right-hand page. Try not to police or criticize what you write. Encourage a natural, almost childlike flow.
Gratitude can start with those that you love, including humans and pets. You might find at a time like this that you appreciate your work more than before.
Creativity should just be fun. You might have a lot of creative ideas that you don't normally let yourself explore. Make sure you do so. Have fun and you never know where these might take you. It is also fun to read over yesterday's page the next morning also!
4. Be kind and thoughtful - We are like mirrors of each other. Think about it, when someone smiles at you with a beautiful, sincere radiant smile - even if you are not having your best day, it can be hard not to smile back. Much the same is true of being kind and thoughtful. Even if you are feeling anxious or down when you force yourself to be kind another person, you end up feeling better.,
Try to carry out at least one act of thoughtfulness and kindness each day. Raise the number upwards, you will feel more positive, even during challenging times like this.
5. Move, move and move some more - The benefits of movement are very well documented. Here in Spain, we are currently in a State of Emergency. We are allowed currently to take our dogs out for a walk. This makes sense obviously, the dog can't do its necessities in our homes. if you have a dog, take it out for more walks than normal. Don't have a dog? If you can adopt one responsibly, get one from your local shelter. Apart from the walks, the love you will receive from a dog will also lift your spirits.
Have a lot of work to do and you are now working from home? Go to a room by yourself and dance - dance like no one is looking. If someone else is at home, do it with them, if they are able to have fun with this as well.
6. Be confident about the parts of your life that you can control - Us humans have big issues with uncertainty. This is commonly known as the fear of the unknown. This is what we are facing currently. Assess aspects of your life that you can do due diligence on and make sure they are in as good a state as possible. This could apply to many things.
Here are some examples. Your food intake - you might think now is a good time to try out new recipes and enjoy food in a healthier way. Obviously the better we feel, the less risk we put ourselves in from a health perspective.
Additionally, this can be a good time to go through paperwork. Yes, I know most people find this boring, I know I do. However today I saw something on social media that stopped me in my tracks. This was the question of business insurance and business interruption insurance. This is now a big issue in various territories as lots of businesses don't have sufficient cover for COVID-19. I followed up on this issue with an Irish expert, as I am from Ireland. Robert Fisher of Property Insurance Centre confirmed to me that many businesses in the UK and Ireland, will not be able to claim. This is for a variety of complex reasons. However, do be sure to check your own policy.
The reality is that if you find yourself at home for work and not able to go out as normal, it is a superb time to catch up on boring stuff like this, but also to develop a regular practice of gratitude and creativity. The healing powers of both are well known.
