Pandemic times and shifting away from social media

Hi everyone

Hope you’re all safe and well.

It’s been a bit between notes from me because this year it just hasn’t felt right to try and ‘carry on as usual’.

At first the world was in lock down, and then not, and now it seems the pandemic effects are rippling around the globe affecting everyone in different ways.

• The losses so many have experienced takes my breath away. 

• The beauty of some of the things we have learned and and kindnesses shown to each other

• And the goddam long haul uncertain nature remains.

While we might know at some level that life is always uncertain (we could get hit by a bus tomorrow as they say), it’s exhausting. And our already fragmented societies are more fragmented and isolated than ever.

For me, I feel like I have lived a decade and yet nothing has happened at all this year - it’s like suspended animation coupled with stress and exhaustion. In Melbourne, Australia, we have been in varying stages of lockdown for over 6 months now.

I am still working with clients, but it’s felt completely off to promote anything business wise. It feels to me like what we need is to feel there is love in world, there is a degree of safety for us and our loved ones, and like we belong, we are connected to others and that we matter. 

What I am good at doing is bringing people together, at teaching people how to connect, how to support themselves through what I would call spiritual tools (which really just means things that give life meaning).

But a thing I’ve noticed is that the platforms I have been using for my business and just about everything in my life - Facebook, YouTube, Instagram - no longer feels like an ethical or safe space to be. I don’t want to bring people together on a platform that disregards human rights and allows itself to fuel political polarisation and violence.

I’ve built my coaching business using these tools, but now I am looking at how to do things differently. And it’s exciting!

So you’ll see me more here, and I am exploring new ways to connect online that I can use and still feel in integrity.

If you have ideas or feedback about this - I would love to hear it! Drop me an email.

Lots of love

Ruth

Working from home - tips to not go insane

With COVID-19 many of us have found ourselves working from home which can be the best! But also the worst, depending on where you sit on the introvert/extrovert scales and what your living arrangements are like.

So I thought I would share a few of the things that have helped me over the last few years.

From the dead obvious to the surprising - here are my hard earned 10 tips to rock a working from home gig. 

1. Set your intention. You probably try and come across as somewhat professional and having your shit together when you work with others. Do this for working from home too! 

2. Dress the part. Yes it’s fun wearing your PJs to work or no pants. For a week. After that, it starts to affect your morale. Get dressed. Wash your hair. Shave. Whatever your variation of those is. It makes a difference. 

3. Schedule. Have one. It’s easy to let work creep into all of your waking hours but your productivity and mental health will rapidly suffer if you do. 

4. Reap the benefits - do a load of washing on your breaks, get around with no pants, pizza lunch on the couch, take dance breaks, listen to music while you work, do your work in the garden...

5. Take breaks, and time offline. I like doing Pomodoro bursts (time boxed) of work when I don’t have meetings, and getting offline for at least one hour every night before bed

6. Recreate your commute OR get ritualistic. Doing something that symbolises your start and finish times helps transition mentally. A walk around the block, making a coffee, perhaps burning sage… you can make it whatever you want. A friend of mine just says out aloud ‘finishing now’ before she closes her laptop. Feels silly the first couple of times but really works

7. Move! Ideally more than once but AT LEAST once. 5 mins of stretching, an online workout, walk outside

8. Have designated work space if you can

9. Make it comfortable and ergonomic - good temperature, no laptop on your lap sorry

10. Don’t expect to be perfect from the start. Try the things above. Play with it - play with starting earlier in the day and then try later. See what works and let it be individual because that has got to be one of the best things about working from home.

Hope these were helpful.

I’m doing 10 tips for working from home with others around tomorrow!