#163 A Slow Down Lock Down
As Southern Tasmania sadly descended into a three-day lock-down, I was reminded of one positive of the lock-down during 2020 – the opportunity to slow down.
The news of stay-at-home orders travelled fast with grocery store aisles filling quickly as non-perishables and the need to stock up on an endless supply of toilet paper like it was the height of a gastro outbreak were rapidly depleted across local stores.
The long lines of traffic waiting to park coupled with trolleys tailgating checkout queues and the resultant empty shelves were predictable, but also sad and difficult to watch as the reality of heading back into lock-down hit the punters of Southern Tasmania long before the Premier made his announcement.
There were more leaks from the government than an old inflatable Lilo mattress, unhelpful as punters delivered controlled panic across grocery chains but helpful as it promoted the need to get the jab which led to bumper to bumper appointments.
Post the state-wide lock-down of last year, the weekly lifestyle of a modern family reverted to crazy busy.
Our lives quickly returned to a new-normal, testament to the need for humans to interact in groups and as part of communities.
To be fair, we are our own worst enemies trying to cram every activity possible into a week that really does not have enough hours.
On top of the work that pays the bills, we ‘Uber’ children from here to there, forget to read the jobs’ list around home, agree to assist others, and further volunteer our ‘spare time’ at sporting clubs that are ironically designed to provide people a break from the humdrum of working life.
Ah…the bliss…
Following a few days off during the school holidays where we failed to sit long enough to pause because the Derby Mountain Bike Trails are not very far away, it was a return to working and being on the road traversing the state that swiftly resumed
And by the end of the week, I was left thinking that I must do this better; there must be folk who get the balance right. Perhaps I should ‘Google parent’ as it appears to solve every ailment and answer any question of laypersons for anything from which vaccination is best and how to drive a tech screw into hardened steel to identifying the best dog for small backyards and for a family with a busy lifestyle.
Thankfully Google quickly answered my question and told me I should visit the Australian parenting website: rasingchildren.net.au
Work-life balance: tips for you and your family
working from home
working flexible hours
working part-time hours
job-sharing, which is sharing your job with another part-time employee
Organising your work
Arrange your work so you take on the most challenging tasks at the beginning of the day, instead of at the end.
Set boundaries around how much work you do outside hours, including limits on checking and responding to emails or phone calls or attending out-of-hours meetings.
Leaving work behind at the end of the day
Review the workday in your mind before you leave or finish work. This can help you shift gradually to thinking about home and family.
Changing your perspective on work
Take a moment in your workday to think about your children. This could be just looking at a photo or thinking about a special thing you’ve done together recently. This can help you remember the reason you’re trying to achieve a work-life balance.
It is very hard to disagree with the sentiments outlined on the website but, nevertheless, extremely difficult to implement.
With flexibility a definite plus from initiatives such as working from home, it also opens possibilities of when to begin and finish work if at all. And just like any positive there can also be negative consequences with the ability to respond to emails, create a new spreadsheet, or organise endless meetings atop freshly made lists when you should be relaxing from a long day on the tools.
Working from home, on your own, or flexibility requires SAS discipline. There is no doubt that productivity can increase, however the pitfalls of countless cups of tea and a sweet biscuit, isolation, and the need for human interaction to drive problem-solving and creativity are just some of the challenges.
Simple tasks such as shutting-down computers and phones at the end of a workday is novel yet appropriate but near impossible to achieve particularly when there are questions to answer regarding the local sporting club.
At times, the person who suffers from increased flexibility is yourself with the need to exercise and take a break often placed on the backburner as that increased flexibility has you telling yourself I will do it later only for later to never arrive, which is soon followed by nasty thoughts of guilt.
Yet in sharing the aspirational goals and potential downsides, we are fortunate that life quickly returned to our new normal. Sadly, for our friends in Southern Tasmania this has been spoiled by the recklessness of one individual who put at risk the health and wellbeing of generally compliant Tasmanians, and irresponsibly interrupted the desire of our small business folk to service our needs and make a living.