Tag: stayhome

Mission Lockdown: Come Back Stronger

I just got my new haircut yesterday and I am all ready to move into the new phase – the end of Circuit Breaker. Yet somehow this does not really feel like the end. At least for me, the difference in my daily living will be minimal as my household will continue to work from home. Probably the only difference for me is now I can go visit my mother-in-law. But for many of my friends who are now parents, they will probably be much happier as schools will start to open up and take away the stress of managing both children and work at home.

What got me thinking though was how the lockdown situation in Singapore compared to the rest of the world?

mission lockdown come back stronger than before

Singapore Only at 28th?!  

So taking the easy way out, I took to Wikipedia and fortunately enough there is a list compiling the start and end dates of lockdown periods per country (updated as of 31st May 2020). And with some quick data manipulation, I managed to come up with a chart of the top 50 countries based on lockdown period lengths. 

I am pretty surprised that Singapore is coming in at only 28th and far behind some of our neighbours such as Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Not sure why, but it certainly does make me appreciate the situation better and just be glad we are not like Peru which has been on lockdown since 16th March with an end date of 30th June – 106 days!

But maybe looking at the number of days in lockdown is not exactly the right way about thinking about this Covid19 pandemic. The question really should be… 

What is considered a victory over the Covid19 virus?

In the simplest and most logical sense, that would refer to an eradication of the virus. Considering that smallpox is the only disease to be eradicated in our history, I believe we need a more generous way of defining a win over the Covid19 virus.

In my opinion, a victory should not only be defined by the medical perspective but more from a social perspective. Are we able to live our lives the way we want without being affected by the virus?

Using this as the benchmark, I must say we are quite far away from winning the virus. Our lives have obviously been affected and to be honest, we do not have a clear idea to when everything can return to normal. As long as we have the fear of getting the virus on the back of our heads, there is no doubt that the virus is winning.

Does this mean we should now live in despair and misery?

Our Mission is to Come Back Stronger

As rightly stated in this video by Grey’s Director Commentary, being in lockdown is akin to us boarding a spaceship and leaving planet Earth. While the frontline people in healthcare and essential services continue to battle the Covid19 virus, we are left alone in our homes or ‘spaceships’. 

However, this does not mean we sit idly by as we wait for our lives to return to normalcy. When we can return to society, we will most likely face one which is broken and will require us to heal it. To do so, we need to ensure that we do not need fixing and can come back stronger than before.

As such, our mission is to come out of this lockdown better than before.

Suggested in the video, we need to maintain both our physical and our mental healths. To achieve this, I believe there are three things we should pay attention to.

  1. First is the physical since it is the easier or the more straight forward out of the two. Being confined to our homes will limit our usual physical activity. As such, make sure we put in the time and effort to exercise and keep our bodies fit. 
  2. Divide your physical space in your homes so that you have a clear area for each major activity – Exercise, Sleep, Entertainment and Work. Previously, you’d always had clear designated places such as the gym, your office, the coffee shops/bars and your house. Maintaining the same segregation will provide the mental support you will need.
  3. Last but not least, its to find the right balance between these four areas. The key thing here is not the number of hours spent in each area but the quality. Make sure that when you are in each area, only do what is designated and soon you would be able to find out the right balance for yourself.

With at least more than a month away, now is the time to fulfil our destiny.

Thanks to Covid19

In a parallel universe where the Covid19 virus did not happen, I should have been partying in Seoul this weekend with my boys. But instead, we were confined to a virtual party where we could only substitute our blown holiday with our alcohol stash. 

Thank You Covid19

In Singapore, we are close to two months into our Circuit Breaker (our version of the Lockdown). The ‘house arrest’ experience has certainly curtailed my life, but at the same time, it has given me much in return. 

‘Death and Rebirth’

No. Death here does not refer to one related to the virus. Thank God! 

What happened was that near the start of the Circuit Breaker, the company which I was working in just announced that it has filed for liquidation, and I just lost my job. 

To be honest, this was a new experience for me and while I pray that I would not have to go through it again, in a weird way I am glad it happened. The best way I can describe it would be to liken it to a break-up, and it turned out to be a life-teaching experience.  

First came the shock and denial. As rightly pointed out in this article by Variety, I tried to point the finger of blame on everyone else but myself. Sure, we can take jabs at the unsustainable business model which requires continuous capital injections, the unwillingness of senior management to commit to a strategy, or the lack of support from the investors. However, at the end of the day, I came to realise that I was part of this company. 

That brought me to the second stage which is self-reflection. Regardless, I have to remember that I was still a part of the company and I deserve part of the blame as well. Going along with poorly conceived plans and not giving a bigger voice to my thoughts, I am as guilty as everyone else.

I need to be braver, more enthusiastic and more decisive.

With these thoughts and a little bit of luck, I enter into the recovery stage. Within my notice period, I managed to find another job in an industry that I had been wanting to join for some time. 

But this time it is going to be different. I know what I have to do. I need to be braver in my words, more enthusiastic in my actions, and more decisive in my thoughts.  

The Golden ‘Variance’

I know, I know. So much hype has been going around on the internet about how staying home is the perfect opportunity to do this and to do that. But for me, what struck home was this article by Scott Galloway. 

The golden opportunity really lies in the variance we are experiencing now. To me, it is the time variance that Scott so correctly pointed out. Commute time variance. Working from home now means no commute and time saved.

Question is what are you going to do with your commute time saved?

Are you going to blow it all on sleep or on Netflix? Or you can use the one to three hours saved to spend more time with your family, get that daily workout or put in the extra work you wished you had time for. For me, I have decided to allocate that ‘additional’ two hours I have daily to work and exercise. 

I now start my workday earlier and I would take 30 to 45 minutes each morning to plan what I want to achieve today at work. With a combination of a Kanban board, my calendar and the Forest app, I have found that my workdays are now a lot more productive. It feels like I enter every day with a game plan on hand. 

As for my exercise, I have always complained that I do not have the time for it. But I guess there is no excuse now. I decided to embark on the T25 journey. As Shaun T rightfully states in the video: It is just 25 minutes a day but I need you to focus! 

I will focus. Focus on making sure that I make full use of this golden variance.

The Last Dance 

Released timely during the lockdown, The Last Dance is a docuseries showcasing Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, and converging on the last season of their second three-peat. 

I grew up watching Jordan and he is probably my first sports hero. Watching this docuseries has certainly sparked renewed admiration for the man, and his winning mentality was certainly a much-needed inspiration during these times. 

My favourite quote from him will always be: 

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed” – Michael Jordan. 

Never give up.