TMM114 How To Survive Lock Down With Family

HOW TO SURVIVE LOCK DOWN WITH FAMILY

Tips For Purpose, Presence and Staying Sane In Close Quarters

No matter how zen you are, getting into a small space with people, with no real break during stressful times can be a challenge for anyone.

- Setting up a "safe zone" for me time (no matter how small your house)

- Don't eat all the chocolate Mallowcakes at once

- Why communication matters & Structure is crucial

- Creativity and self expression - without annoying those close to you.

Welcome to a COVID-19 message on staying sane when you are suddenly all at home.

Me and my isolation buddy Roxy dog here, we just wanted to leave you a little message around how to not kill each other on captivity. I know it's a really terrible expression but a lot of people have reached out to me they're like, "Oh my god, suddenly I have to work from home and I've got all my family here and my kids. How do we make this work"

Especially if you're a business owner, as you're going through dire straits at the moment, you need a clear head.

How do you just create a little bit of space in the chaos to stay grounded so that you can make some good decisions and keep your cool? 

Number one is, you can't wing this.

Coping is not a strategy.  Yes, we have to be on purpose in your days and your weeks regardless. It doesn't matter if you are working from home or working from Timbuktu.

What do you need to be achieving? 

How do you best think/work? 

Create a Zen Space at home

Get you creative space, your "me" time. It has to be just a little corner of isolation that's a sacred space in the house then make that your Zen space. 

When we go into hotel rooms, or we go into beautiful yoga studios, or maybe go into retail stores we're like, "Oh, look how nice they've got a little corner area where you can just sit there and have a cup of tea." Why not create something like that.

That's just like the safe zone in your house. When someone's in the safe zone, you don't go and interrupt their space. 

When they're in the safe zone they get uninterrupted 10 or 15 minutes of YOUR time.

Please don't make the toilet your safe zone. Make it a place where you want to hang out, make it comfy and make it cozy. It could be like a nook in the window sill with some plants. It's up to you to get creative. You've got time to look on Pinterest for that. 

Most importantly is creating a space that is sacred where you have the ceremony to go and have some "me" time. Don't try and work on top of each other. It just won't work. It doesn't matter how big a space you have. There is just an inch of that real estate that is just going to be for someone to go and get some time out. 

Clearly Communicate

You can't expect people to know what you need or want if you don't tell them so bottling everything up and getting frustrated is on you.

As much intensity and the added stress so let's have a huddle and talk about what our personal needs are. Someone might really need not loud, metal music. Someone else might want to listen to Zen music. You got to have all these personalities in one household. 

So communicate, and make a plan around that and respect people's needs and wants and wishes. 

If you have to make a schedule, or you have to give your kids some headphones, or do whatever it takes to give everyone a sense of individualism and create a collective group that everybody is accepted and that personal creativity is honored. The only way you can do that is if you speak up and figure it out. 

Let Go a little

The third thing I want to say is just cut yourself some slack because what was working for you right up into this point, it's not going to work anymore. It's irrelevant to some degree because you're in a new environment. It's like the Marine Corps, the first battalion goes in and they set everything up. You are the first battalion of your family. 

You have to set everything up with your new landscape. 

That means being practical— your resources, your water, your food and your necessities. 

Get Creative and have FUN 

The fourth thing I want to say is get creative and have some fun. 

Bring charades back, do card games, do interactions, get your brains going, develop new skills. I don't know, guitar online if you need to put an amplifier of silencer on your kid's guitar or a sonic drum kit or whatever, order it online and get that happening. 

Whatever you can do to cohabitate and be productive during this time and allow creative expression to come out without stepping on each other's toes is really important. 

Be on Purpose - dont let the days slide away

The 2020 situation with this pandemic is calling all of us to be on purpose. It's calling all of us to be more accountable, to not just consume information but to question it, to not just go along on autopilot, but to be accountable and to not just to judge other people, but actually take responsibility for our own side of the street. 

If we can do these things, if we can be curious and not consume, if we can be connected and to what we really want rather than just being an autopilot, if we can be accepting rather than judging, "Oh my god, can you imagine how cool this place is going to be when we'll come out of this?" 

Start at home. Start there with yourself too. 

Don't have regret about what got you to this point. Don't judge yourself for not having more money in the bank or everyone's doing it tough. Everybody's in the same boat to some degree. So if you feel that your government or the community can do more, put some ideas in. 

We're all there for each other. We all have knowledge and power and wisdom and insights and things to share and to be collective with. 

Keep that vibration. Keep that connection and be kind and compassionate. 

Don't throw shade and don't be judgy because it's just not going to get you anywhere. Don't fight through this. Just be grateful and be intelligent, smart, creative and compassionate. 

I hope this message is just giving you a tiny reminder of how you can utilise this time in a small space to do great things. Thanks for tuning in.

Recapping Tips For Purpose, Presence and Staying Sane In Close Quarters:

- Setting up a "safe zone" for me time (no matter how small your house)
- Don't eat all the Mellowcakes at once
- Why communication matters

- Structure is crucial
- Creativity and self expression - without annoying those close to you.

Leave a comment with your action plan you and your family/house mates have put into practice or had a huddle on.

You can join me on Instagram @nfogdenmoore and Facebook @nfogdenmoore