Life in Lockdown 3.0
As I write this, it is the 2nd weekend of 2021, and we are Lockdown again. The news is unremittingly tough in terms of the impact that the pandemic is having on all of our lives and whether it is our families, our health or our jobs, everyone of us is now touched by the virus in some way. It is certainly going to be a while before we are back in anything like ‘normal times’.
I have been working at home since last March and it does seem inconceivable that it will likely be some weeks, if not months before we are able to back together in person. As someone that naturally loves being with other people, feeling part of a team and enjoys the buzz and chaos of office life, I have found the move to WFH really very tough at times. Sitting in a room on my own, talking to colleagues, friends and family over video calls is not my preferred way of being, but we have all had to adjust.
One of my major concerns over the last few months is how to best support our more junior staff who may be living and working in small flats, possibly spending many hours a day in the same room that they also sleep in. The discipline to separate work and life can be much more difficult if you don’t have room to shut the work away.
Much of the learning that we all do, is actually very informal and comes from hearing people talking around us and being able to nudge the person on the next desk to ask how to do something. On top of that, some of the best ideas can come about from simply bumping into someone in the corridor or the kitchen while making that morning coffee.
In addition, there are the challenges for parents with children that need home-schooling, or whose usual support networks and childcare facilities may be unavailable. For those families, the difficulties of working from home while ensuring their children are educated and entertained is incredibly tough.
As companies, we all need to be working very much harder to make sure that all of our teams feel included, that they feel engaged and that they feel connected (not just technically!). There are no easy answers but as long as we are all working together to find some solutions to enable this strange time to be manageable, that is the best we can do.
I have been lucky enough to be able to continue with my hobbies for the most part. In 2018, I had my first swim in my local Lido as a bit of a New Year’s bet with myself. Having enjoyed it, I ended up continuing to swim most weeks over 2018 & 2019, and in January 2020, I decided to set myself the challenge of completing 50K in the pool over the course of the year – and then Covid…..! The pool was open on & off, following government guidelines, and at times I gave up on the plan. In early December, the pool was open again, and I still had around 15k to do, and I pushed myself and on 23rd December, I was thrilled (and knackered) but had done my 50K, and raised around £700 for my local food bank, so the effort felt very worthwhile.

Early morning at the Lido
In addition, I have been doing Pilates classes online with my local Pilates Studio, and I have clarinet lessons, also online. So my weeks are fairly structured outside of work, which I have found really helpful in preventing me from just sinking into endless Netflix shows – not that I don’t also do that from time to time!
Animated Women has been busier than ever, and I really treasure the friends I have made through it, as well as being incredibly proud of the events and activities that we managed to put on over 2020, thanks to the hard work of the Board, our Advisors, and our Volunteers. Our newsletter still comes out regularly, Networking events moved to Zoom, which has worked better than we could have imagined, our Achieve programme and workshops have been full and have been really appreciated by the participants and we have now launched our Mentoring Scheme which is so exciting.
I think what AWUK has shown me in the last year, is that having a support network, people you can have a chat to and a cry, moan or laugh with, and a common aim that we are working to together has been the best of fun, and the best of distractions in what was a very tough year.
So my advice is, if you are struggling, and we all have times when we will, then ask for help – whether that is from old friends or new, you will find a welcoming ear, or comforting shoulder, as we are all going through the same thing in an extraordinary period. We don’t all need to come out the other side knowing how to bake Sourdough Bread, having learnt another language or being able to do a Yoga headstand but we do need to make sure we are looking after ourselves and staying in touch with our friends, in whatever way works for us.
So stay safe, take care and keep in touch!
Louise Hussey is our VFX Chair