Lockdown: Doddle or Challenge When You Already Work From Home?

For those of us who work from home normally, being in lockdown is both easier and harder. 

In this week's Notes from an Artist in Lockdown, I look at why this is the case. 

(Listen to the audio or read the (slightly edited) transcript, according to your preference.
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Transcript: Notes From an Artist in Lockdown - Week 4

Someone left a comment on one of the previous posts about how, for her, time actually was really slow at the beginning, whereas I was saying time was going quite quickly at the beginning of my lockdown.

For me the reason that everything seemed to be going very quickly was because not that much had changed for me. Obviously I couldn't go out, but my normal daily routine - other than going out - was pretty much the same.

So there was no there was no real break, there was no real marked difference - which I think a lot of people ARE finding who are not normally at home for long periods.

So if you've got an outside studio, for example, then you will notice the change much more if you're suddenly in lockdown at home.

But if you normally create your work - writing,  artwork, whatever creative content you create - at home in your home studio, home office or wherever, then the change isn't so big. Those of us who are in that situation experience time going quite quickly at the beginning.

However, this week (week four) for me time has slowed right down and everyday has become really long and my energy has really sapped and my productivity has definitely plummeted.

Permission to relax - granted!

This is a time we need to give ourselves permission to relax.

It's quite ironic that normally we're running around saying we don't have any time to relax, we've got so much to do, and oh how great it would be to have a holiday or some time off... And yet when, effectively, we are faced with time to relax, we're very nervous about taking it. We feel guilty if we're not keeping up with our usual routine. And just sitting and staring into space, or chilling out listening to some music, or cooking, or whatever it is we're doing feels like a luxury that we shouldn't be taking...

Because, surely, to fight this inertia that might happen to us due to lock down, we need to be productive, we need to keep up and at it, we need to keep to our routines?

Yes, true, to a certain extent.

But as I said in a previous recording, we are in unusual circumstances. And it would be really weird to carry on as if those unusual circumstances weren't happening. And to negate any effect that they might be having on our productivity, creativity and general well-being.

So go easy on yourself. Be kind and recognise when you might need to chill out and go with the flow. And feel that it's okay to do whatever you need to do in the moment that you need to do it.

Being in lockdown - for those of us who are in a similar situation to the one we're in normally in terms of our working environment - is both easier and harder.

On the one hand it's easier because we do have a routine. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We're used to being in this situation and it's not that different. But therein lies the rub!

Because it's not that different, we don't actually get the benefits that some people are seeing of an increased creativity - because they suddenly have more time to themselves, they're in an environment they're not normally in, they're spending more time at home with their family. These things all might be new and novel and quite stimulating for some people.

​But for us it might just be more of the same.

So if you're in this situation, go easy on yourself. Give yourself a break and maybe look for new ways to chill out or to stimulate yourself. Or to just mark that this is a time of difference.

Speak to you soon. Be well!

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