Well sh*t 2020 … didn’t you just go and do a number on all of us?
Here we all were at the end of 2019 saying, “wow, that was a bit of a year!”, and for me? It really actually was [my house caught on fire in February, and then in July … I went for a very simple surgery, and my surgeon accidentally cut my oesophagus, and I stopped breathing. #coolcoolcoolcoolCOOOOOOOOL].
Honestly tho? … I’d probably take a house fire 10 times over, and then I’d let “old mate” cut my oesophagus from top-to-bottom if it meant I didn’t have to do COVID-19 [and its impacts on TDP].
Seriously.
Long story short? 2019 was nuttin’ on what 2020 has currently delivered, and it’s only April. #jaySUS #oy #VEY
Silver linings, tho? CV-19 has seen me taking some big learnings out of all o’ this, and I’m not going to say I’m grateful for them [*shakes fist at the people who ate bats in a wet market in China*] … but knowing what I know about my personality, I know I will one day be grateful.
And so with that in mind? I’m here to talk to you about what I’ve learned from COVID-19.
You’re allowed to feel grief for what you’ve lost, but if you don’t pivot to rebuild mode … you’ll genuinely lose a lot more.
Seriously. I’m giving you permission to grieve, actually. Because we got “shamed” on one of our socials from someone [I can’t even remember what platform, because honestly? I stopped giving much of a f*ck weeks ago] who said we should be grateful we still have xyz.
Yea.
Nah.
You’re allowed to grieve, bruh.
But once you’ve done that? … I’d implore you to pivot as quickly as possible to rebuild mode, else you really genuinely will become the statistic, and I learnt long ago that I’m just too resilient to become the statistic in anything, really.
A great team is everything.
Right now? We are drawing so much strength from the strength we spent years building within our team.
All of that time cultivating the kinda workplace we spent cultivating, has led to a really incredible WFH dynamic going on … and I’m just so glad we’re not trying to build [and rely upon] dynamics for the first time, on top of navigating our workforce to WFH full-time.
WFH is [significantly] more productive.
And actually? WFH is surprisingly more productive.
For most.
Not our WFH parents, but only because kids are currently home 24/7. In a usual environment, they’d be at school … and we’d have a fully productive, full workforce.
It’s making me think a lot about where we’ll go from here, i.e keep the offices. Sure. But I suspect seats will be emptier, as we pivot to more WFH days.
I need to implement regular WFH / untouchable days.
And so on that note? … I absolutely need more of this.
More WFH. More untouchable. More uninterrupted. Because the quality of the work I’ve been producing in the last fortnight, has been some of my best yet [and again, that’s with kids around / my nerves shot to sh*t through trauma / inexplicable grief].
Perhaps it’s the adrenalin, but honestly? … it’s been some of my best work.
I need to also step away from my desk more.
And when I thought about that, I decided that I really am stepping into the role of Creative Director [off the back of handing my title of MD to our GM Cat, who is now our MD].
I am taking regular breaks from work. Sitting in the sun for 15 minutes. Taking a shower. Listening to music. And whenever I take those 10-15 minutes bursts? … my brain floods with mofo’ing ideas, people.
I know this isn’t rocket science, but holy sheet … this is really new to me.
I am never going to be the Creative Director that self-punishing’ly sits at her desk for x8 hours straight after all of this.
Like, ever again.
The 5.5 years we spent building a powerful community has genuinely kept our #doorsopen
That’s you guys.
You’ve got no idea how fine-line’ing it we are RN [it’s legitimate pay check to pay check, and almost overnight], but the thing that’s keeping our #doorsopen? … our community.
Every $39 content calendar purchase. Every tag of a friend on our online learning posts online. Every spruik of our stuff in your IG stories. Every pep talk DM that slides into our IG DM’s. Every testimonial. Every tiny-little-thing is what’s going to keep us going … pay check to pay check, and in all honesty? It’s been a beautiful reminder to me with regards to just how much I genuinely love the community aspect of social media marketing.
Thank you.
Honestly.
We have a little more “hustle” than we thought we did.
And we hate that word, honestly.
I actually genuinely hate the word hustle, but … I also recognise that in times like these? I’ve required myself [and my team] to dip into something a little more than our “usual” to see us through, and I have [and they have] … and it will see us through this.
When we’re on the other side of all of this, I don’t ever want to be working to this level again [it’s beyond capacity], but I also do recognise that prior to this? … we weren’t at capacity [our accountant expressed this in monthly meetings, from our figures alone. But I ignored it, like the rebellious little b*stard that I am, ha!].
On the other side of all of this? … I’ll be taking that more seriously, and never pushing us to beyond capacity [like now. Because it’s ugly], but I will be ensuring it is genuinely at capacity in the future. Because that in itself, is kind.
Because it keeps us safe.
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What has COVID-19 taught you? Any key takeaways? Big lessons? Share them below?
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