With COVID being around for quite some time now (more than a year), I pondered upon how life has changed since then and thought it’d be nice to share my candid thoughts and snippets from my life. Read on because I’m sure this one is going to be somewhat relatable for all the working professionals, especially working moms out there!
A typical day in my life pre COVID meant:
Getting up at 6.30 AM (sometimes earlier, especially if I hadn’t picked out my clothes/put together a bag for the next day); waking up my daughter, packing lunch and snack boxes, getting ready, sending her off and then rushing to the train station. I would invariably miss the train I wanted to take, I would drink my cappuccino freezing on the platform and try to hide myself behind my air pods. I was always cold, even after a while in Switzerland, it seemed like no one else except me was freezing, the thoughts that would haunt me were – I am not wearing the right clothes, I am just getting old or I would never be able to accept cold temperatures completely.
I would often try to catch my own reflection on the parked trains on the opposite platform and I would often hate my outfit/makeup choices. I would again be harsh on myself, how come, everyone else was so perfect at this! “Why am I not getting this!”. My comfort over fashion choices were staring at me, I would hate what my hat was doing to my hair, but I couldn’t take it off! I rather be warm, comfort over vanity!
It took me a million years to get comfortable once I got on and grabbed my seat! I had no problem sitting on either side of the window; but the jacket, the gloves, the sweater, the hat needed to be piled in a way that I could reverse engineer the whole process in the next 50 minutes. It was always a pain to work in a crowded train, but an empty train was fantastic even to write articles. This was the only bit that I would enjoy about my mornings! Sometimes just the Hindi songs blasting through my earphones while I looked outside (totally lost in my thoughts) was therapy!
I would reach Zurich and get ready to take the next train. Sometimes I would get a chance to grab a bite at this intermediate stop – I have never been good at breakfast! I was never happy with the choices I made – I was having coffee, eating bread and sometimes also indulging in sugar in the morning. Well! I had justified this to myself, I deserved this.
I would reach work; I was always late despite starting my day so early. I can tell you that I don’t miss the 2 hours of transit to reach the client office. I have always had to travel for work inside Switzerland – Bern, Zurich, Vevey, Lausanne. It’s all beautiful, yes, but I have always been stressed doing this, travelling to reach your work desk cannot and should not be this LONG!
How COVID changed it all:
So, while the pandemic has been a disaster for the world, it’s been quite practical for me. For starters, the distance from my bed to my desk is 10 steps; yes, my office is in our bedroom. Good or bad, I think this workspace has changed my life! And I just realized that, people will always complain about something or the other… myself included! Do I want to go back to an era which sucked the life out of me, I was exhausted, and just thinking about lugging my laptop bag makes my shoulders hurt! Yes, I have a fancy one, but no matter what you do – your shoulders will hurt.
A typical day in my life in the new normal still entails waking up at 6.30 AM, but now I don’t need to get ready with my daughter. So, I make her snack and lunch boxes with love, I listen to music and I have a conversation while she eats breakfast. I also sometime try to feed her, hey, don’t judge me this is how Indian mothers should behave! 😉
After she leaves, either it is my German lesson on Zoom, or I work out for 30 mins with Leslie Sansone! And both activities give me a sense of achievement! When you wake up, you kind of don’t want to do it, but then when you’re done with it – it feels great! (I am hitting many nails on the head, aren’t I?)
I take a quick shower and I am at my desk by 8.30/8.45 starting my meeting; I have also learnt how to balance meetings now; with the morning being super busy and the afternoons allowing me write emails, work on sheets, build proposals etc. I also put a blocker from 5.15 to 7.30 pm which is the time with my daughter; a time where I don’t take calls or work on deliverables unless urgent.
There are early dinners but late bedtimes, hey, we are not perfect, and I am okay to acknowledge it. I have never been perfect – whether it was stepping out and staying in. But then you know, there’s always room for improvement – I do wish to meet my friends and family more often, I do want to breathe the fresh air every single day and I would wish for ideal scenarios. Yes, the loneliness (of not being surrounded by people) and strained relationships (too much of your husband/partner/kids) are glaring realities.
I am not perfect; the situation was not perfect then and the situation is not perfect now! My point here is, that, no matter what situation you are in – there will always be things to complain about.
But what I have found particularly useful is to look at the following perspectives:
- Embrace the PROs and acknowledge the CONs. There is a flip side to everything in life!
- Do not think about the future or the farfetched scenarios – they are absolutely out of our control and the most important moment in your life is in the NOW!
- Acknowledge the fact that things aren’t perfect, but they aren’t perfect for anyone else. Firstly, do not compare and if you decide to do it – then also know that people wear masks all the time! (and I don’t mean just figuratively 😊)
- Find the time to work on pressing issues – it could be running the household, structuring your days, taking the time out to still meet friends even if virtually, working on your relationships, finance management etc.
- Count your blessings and express gratitude even if it is to yourself!
I just wanted to give my readers a small snippet into my life, with us completing the COVID-versary (though it’s been a while), it’s obvious that we are all tired; tired of : masks, of repeated lockdowns, of restriction, of takeaways, of statistics, of new strains and this list goes on. Yes, I get it, I feel it, and I realize it.
But let’s try to look at the brighter side of life (cuz’ we all know that there is one), let’s try to live in the moment and let’s try to keep an attitude of gratitude.
To break the monotony of WFH and Covid times, if you’re planning a Swiss Summer Getaway, do downloaded our free ebook – 21 Hidden Gems of Switzerland.
To read posts from June, click here
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