Our Studio44 Team Tips for surviving the lockdown!
It’s a difficult time – so we thought we’d share our ideas as a team to give some advice and suggestions for surviving the lockdown, some work-related, some much less so! Do let us know your own tips and tricks too - we’d love to hear from you.
I, inevitably, started from the work angle! I think this is a great time to use the spare hours in the day to work on your website and blog content. I never normally have time to do this, and with a few carefully-spent hours you could prepare weeks’ or even months’ worth of content to keep your site fresh. Also, it’s a great time for an inbox clear-out. Have a spring clean of all those old emails, and unsubscribe from those newsletters you never read (not ours, of course - and if you don’t subscribe, you can do so here!).
Francois, meanwhile, suggested learning French! He’s biased, being French, but it’s true. With time on our hands and all manner of online courses available, it’s a great time to challenge yourself to learn a new language – whether that be French or otherwise! If you don’t fancy a new language, his other suggestion is to read, a lot! How many of us normally lack the time for that luxury?
Nanda is in the middle of a kitchen refurb at home (great timing…!), and has suggested catching up on all that DIY and those odd jobs that never seem to get done. I’ve just ordered a sander from Amazon with a view to getting our window-sills sanded and painted, so will report back on that in due course. Or maybe not…
Alex brings us back to the Studio, with the suggestion of learning to code. I recently came across Scrimba (https://scrimba.com/) which is a totally free resource for beginners through to old hands looking to refine their skills. It’s great exercise for the mind as well, requiring logic and reasoning with the interactive elements.
Moving on to James, he, of course, is thinking holistically. We’re all balancing a lot at the moment, and work/life balance becomes all the more challenging when you’re working from home. He emphasised the importance of exercise and cooking – both are great in terms of mental wellbeing, and two things we may normally claim we don’t have all that much time left to do!
In a similar vein, Judy suggested gardening and clearing the loft. We all know that this suggestion is in no way directed at Colin (Colin…?), but it’s another great way to use that time, and, as the saying goes, an organised loft is the sign of an organised mind! Speaking of the loft, Colin is going to restore two old bicycles which only need new wheels, frames and brakes! On the business-front, it's a great time to go through those old files and have a bit of a clear-out.
Jean meanwhile has already been knitting (the proof is in the picture!). She’s encouraging us to knit those socks we’ve always wanted… Well, it’s a new skill, it’s therapeutic, and it’s a great chance to get a head start on those Christmas presents!
Finally, Doug brought us back to business. Firstly, it’s an ideal time to check your home office setup. Particularly if you’re not normally used to working from home, it’s a great chance to ensure your setup is ergonomic and efficient, and ensure, where possible, that you’re able to leave your ‘home office’ at the end of the day for some proper downtime. In addition, when was the last time you read your own website? Pop your ‘client’ hat on and proof read your website – you may spot a thing or two you want to change.
We had fun writing this – and I hope there are some useful ideas in there! Do let us know any suggestions you or your teams have, and we’ll share these in a future article. In the meantime, stay safe, and let us know if we can help with anything website-related.
