the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke

I wrote in a midweek blog recently about keeping one’s skills current when on furlough or just unable to work. With the Covid-19 lockdown continuing (this is being written two or three weeks ahead of publication) another skill comes to mind; that of discipline.

Here I am thinking of self-discipline, of getting up in the morning, making yourself presentable and doing positive things. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you give yourself some targets; mow the lawn, sort out the shed, do some gardening, cleaning, mending, tidying or whatever, read a book or watch a movie. Just use each day in a positive way to occupy yourself and aim to get some pleasure from having done something.

Some of the above are for relaxation and there is nothing wrong with that for we need to have some downtime, but there is a difference between picking ups a book that you have been meaning to read or watching a film that you have been wanting to see and flopping on the couch to channel surf.

Having a structure to each day is important and if you can fit in some jobs that you have been putting off that is where the self-discipline comes in. Make yourself do these things and for each one you complete you have that monkey off your back because if you don’t then t=you run the risk of starting to feel guilty about not having done them. That leads to a downward spiral and you need to be keeping your morale up at times like these.

You can also start to think about what you are going to do when we resume some form of  normality. We do not yet know when that will be, nor what form it will take, but having some thoughts about how you will restart your professional life and making some basic plans is a positive step.

Another idea is to learn something new. Maybe a business skill, a language or to play an instrument. All of these things occupy the mind and help to keep it, and you, sharp. They are all positive things to do for part of each day. They also help to take your mind off the negatives out there in the world.

Vegetating will get you nowhere that you want, or need to be. It will just hget your into a hole that will waste your time and energy getting out of. You will want to be able to get going again as soon as you can. Practicing some self-discipline will help a lot to get you back into whatever your game of life involves.