COVID-19 lockdown experience

Sebastian Reichel 

Equipment Rescue       

As a project newbie excited to meet the extended BRECcIA team at our March workshop, it was a pleasure to meet everyone even if only virtually. Of course, I appreciated that nobody wanted to fall ill nor become stranded due to travel restrictions. The rapid escalation of isolating measures in the UK during those two weeks confirmed that the workshop could not have gone ahead in its physical form without recklessly endangering health and flouting the law.

The following Tuesday was the last day our offices were open before lockdown. Not wanting to be told off by security for being in the building at lockdown time, I left for home at lunchtime carrying my monitor, laptop and a bunch of cables protruding from my backpack. I obliged at my partner’s request and went back the same afternoon to salvage her ultra-comfortable (and ultra-heavy) office chair and plants from her office in the business school. Being in the fortunate position to be able to continue working, my daily routine has barely shifted. A makeshift desk using the foldable dinner table forms our new ‘office’ as seen on the photo.

Thus began our isolation.

Zoom Life  

The team spirit of BRECcIA has been a great antidote to the lethargy of working in isolation from colleagues; every morning a sizeable group meets virtually per Zoom to say good morning and have a sociable half hour with coffee. We’ve even had group calls for colleagues’ birthdays and baby showers! Life does mostly seem to go on as normal, even in strange times. Being humans however, a highly social species, on a deeper level it makes sense that we are not entirely comfortable working exclusively via video and online messaging. The small jokes or spare minutes with colleagues that otherwise punctuate the day are gone, the daily routine feels somewhat more mechanical and disconnected from real life. Meetings are dominated by the inevitable “COVID-19 is delaying this” or “…because of the ongoing situation we don’t have information yet”. I do, however, feel more for those colleagues whose research is on hold due to social distancing measures. Nevertheless, applications including the now ubiquitous Zoom and WhatsApp mean dynamic team efforts can continue relatively seamlessly.

Home

My partner and I have discussed the silver linings of lockdown. Our favourite is that this is probably the first time since early childhood where we really get to appreciate experiencing living at home during all hours of the day. Typically we would be out of the house 8:30am-7pm to go to work and then exercise, then actively go exploring at the weekend. Therefore, living at home is usually reserved for early mornings and evenings around sundown. In a way it’s a pleasant feeling for us not to have the option of leaving the house for entertainment or work purposes, although we appreciate this will most likely be a temporary feeling by the time cabin fever inevitably hits. We are also eating more healthily, since eating out is no longer possible and pre-preparing food to bring to the office the next day isn’t needed.

Helpful Thoughts  

• I appreciate the fact I can do my work from home while many do not have this luxury
• It’s a great time to enjoy home and extended family time
• Good time to acknowledge the interconnectedness of the World through the internet
• Perfect excuse to exercise at least once a day to be able to go outside
• Lockdown helps one understand what is essential for wellbeing
• There is no benefit from panicking or overconsuming news and media opinions
• Planning ahead is still necessary, as lockdown will not last forever