What did you learn from lockdown?

Learn from lockdown? I know, it seems sacrilegious.

As we all emerge from our Zoom screens out into the sunlight, rubbing our eyes and pulling on proper trousers and shoes, I’m about to suggest it might not have been all bad.

We’ve spent more or less the last 15 months within the confines of our own homes. Haggling over a dining table space, juggling lessons and lunches, with much less commuting and a lot more climbing the same four walls

While frontline workers were keeping essential services running, our confinement meant we have rediscovered a deep love and a similarly intense antipathy for our families.

Or we have thanked our lucky stars that we live alone, while longing for someone to knock on the door so we could loiter on the doorstep chatting.

We can all learn from lockdown

But let’s try to gain a little perspective. Seismic events and turmoil teach us things about life. And conflict and challenge teach us things about ourselves and how we live our lives.

What I’m asking is: what would you keep from the lockdown?

And I’m talking about good habits, rather than that grubby hoodie with the dodgy zip that is really comfy.

There are some things that I will be glad to welcome once more into my life. Forget all the jokes about joggers, there is the joy of choosing and putting on jewellery.

I opened my wardrobe recently and there were rows upon rows of shoes. Pretty pointed flats, kitten heels and courts, all sitting patiently waiting for me to trot out into public again.

And I am also hoping for the humble phone call to come back into fashion. I am baffled by why every interaction now seems to need Zoom, or Teams, or Hangouts.

But my personal peccadilloes aside, here are some suggestions for things you might want to keep from lockdown.

1 – Doing things differently

I truly believe that – like the words fax or pager – the phrase “you’re on mute” will forever jerk us back to a strange but familiar time.

But look at the people we’ve spoken to, and the different ways we’ve worked.

Here at Hoolet, we carried out a full website build online, without meeting the client face to face once. It took three phone calls and six emails. If you’d asked me if that was possible before lockdown I would have laughed in your face.

I’ll admit it is quite an extreme example but it’s not for nothing they say necessity is the mother of invention.

We’ve seen businesses change their entire business model practically overnight. Let’s hope they maintain the momentum and appetite for change beyond the lifting of lockdown.

My small change in doing things differently has been in how I interact with people. I took to somewhat randomly getting in touch with people I find interesting and asking them if they fancied a chat.

And no one has called the police. I have met some fascinating folk and learned loads of things, all the while connecting the dots that have led to some really useful partnerships.

2 – Don’t be scared of digital

As everyone was forced online, the dash to digital was breathtaking. The demand we’ve experienced at Hoolet for website copy and online articles has been phenomenal.

What has been really interesting though is the time and effort going into making it work for you. It’s not a necessary evil any longer. Technology is our friend … well, nearly.

Whether it was OneNote, Trello, Streamyard, Loom, Clubhouse, Gather, Mozilla Hubs, there was a solution for every business. And then some.

Equally, the world seems finally to have embraced search engine optimisation (SEO).  We no longer have to explain the potential and possibilities from being proactively prominent in the online world.

We supported a photographer in Tayside in building a new website from scratch. Instead of starting with what they do – spoiler: they take pictures – we got to look at what their customers want.

Working with specialists in Europe through the wonders of Loom, we designed and built a logical structure that spoke to the audience with personality and passion.  And expert SEO is at its core. The whole project showed that you don’t have to compromise between style and substance.

3 – Take time to take stock

And my third suggestion is very much tied to the second.

During lockdown, we let go of our normal routines. We had to do things differently. We had to do digital. And we also had the time to think about why we do what we do.

Hitting the pause button at work brought us to a juddering halt. We stopped to consider the direction in which we were hurtling.

There was space for strategic perspective and time to take stock.

I know, I know, we always knew this was a good idea but this is definitely something we want to hang onto.

Set aside regular structured time to look at what you do, which activities give you value and where the unexpected opportunities might lie. Moving at a million miles an hour all the time is not good for you. Personally I recline on a settee, grandly called my Thinking Corner, to contemplate it all properly.

This took many – much more professional – forms across our clients. One of them took the time to reconnect with their membership base in a way they hadn’t before. We got to let the ideas fly for different formats, different faces, different ways of telling the story.

Another client very neatly put her whole house in order. We helped her work out where her business stands out in the marketplace. She started building her team, we created a new brand identity, designed a new website, and now as the new normal beckons, her business is ready to soar.    

4 – Fresh air

Talking of soaring, another lesson we have learned is that we are never too busy for fresh air.

And maybe it took an hour-long designated exercise slot to get us to realise this, but realise it we did.

We could hear the birds, we could see the seasons approach then retreat again. On my walks, I learned what a goldfinch looks like, identified the screech of a jay and I now know what a hedgehog turd looks like.

Useful? Maybe. Life-enriching? Definitely.

Whether it’s moving to improve your circulation or a chance to reset the mind and gain some inspiration, it is doing you good.

Give yourself a target, if you’re that way inclined. It might be taking 10,000 steps every single day. Whatever drives you, my friend.

Learn, adapt and thrive

You will have your own things that you want to hang onto from lockdown.

It’s been a tough time and please don’t think I’m making light of that at all. What I am encouraging us to do is to find the silver lining. It is through life experience that we learn and this is no different.

And finally, congratulate yourself. Take some time to appreciate your own resilience, flexibility and adaptability that got you where you are right now.

Yes, you made it through … almost.

Hoolet is a strategic communications consultancy. Come say hello on Twitter at @hoolet_hoots, or follow us on LinkedIn. You can read more blogs here.