Relationships
will be hugely important for getting us all through this period, however
self-isolation, social distancing and other concerns may also place them under
added pressure.
Maintaining
relationships with colleagues; here are some
practical tips:
Daily
communication: This is vital for you and your colleagues, so step
up your daily communication to increase team clarity, momentum and to combat
feelings of isolation. If anything over communicate by writing (and speaking)
more than your natural tendency to avoid things being missed by colleagues.
Start
the day together: Consider trialling a morning
huddle everyday on Skype/Zoom with cameras on. A quick meeting (no more than 15
minutes) with a different team member chairing every day.
Agree
communication channels.
Think about how often and how best to communicate with each other, including
which channels to use. The challenge here is to recreate some of the chat and
camaraderie that you might enjoy in the office, but without it being too annoying
or distracting.
Keep a work
routine. Try getting up at a similar time as if you were travelling into the
office (get out of your PJ’s into comfy work gear) to ‘fake commute’ in. Consider how you set up your workstation each
day, preferably away from other people in the household. Sitting near a window
or natural light is a mood booster
End the work day. Be strict about logging off when your day is
done, close down your work PC and hide all work related paraphilia in a box or
cupboard out of eyes view. Get changed
into different clothes in the evening and perhaps organise a virtual
drink/meet-up with friends and/or family.
Relationships at
home, with your partner:
Our relationships aren't built on the expectation
that you'll be spending all day, every day with that person, so give yourself a
break if you're find it challenging. The key thing to remember is that for now,
a new 'normal' needs to be developed so that you can both cope with being in
such close quarters.
Almost a quarter of surveyed Brits*
who have a partner (23%) say the current circumstances are placing pressure on
their relationship; whilst 27% of respondents in a relationship are finding their partner
irritating right now (22% of men compared to 31% of women).
Here are some tips
to help maintain a relationship with your partner:
§
Your routines and
roles may change if one or both of you are working from home. This could be a
challenge or an opportunity so try to make it work for you by checking in
regularly about how this is working.
§
You may want to
know as much as possible about the situation whereas your partner may prefer to
take each day as it comes. Remember that there are many different ways of
coping in stressful situations and your way isn’t the only way.
§
Something you
usually find irritating about your partner may become useful in a crisis or
they may surprise you by how well they are handling things. Let them know how
much you appreciate this.
§
Big and difficult
conversations may need to be put on hold while you deal with the current
situation; if you’ve been arguing with your partner over a particular issue,
consider calling a truce during this period to make living under one roof more
bearable.
§
You may have older parents
or other family members with health problems and you may have particular
worries about these people. Try to understand if your partner needs to
prioritise these people at the moment.
§
You can leave your
house once a day to exercise so try a short walk/run or walking the dog,
to give yourself some space and help reduce any tensions. Do
continue to follow government guidance and practice social
distancing.
§
If you’re not in
the same house, get creative about how you stay in touch. For example you could
arrange a date night via video messaging where you both eat dinner together and
chat.
Relate is proud
to be here for you during this time, offering high quality, effective webcam
counselling, phone counselling and Live Chat. We have availability right now to
help you find ways to handle the huge impact of this situation on yourself,
your family and the health of your relationships – all from your own sofa. You
can also visit our dedicated COVID-19 area on relate.org.uk
for lots of information and support.
Relate Webinar
ACO will be running a joint webinar with Relate on Thursday 7th May to speak to ACO members about what support they can provide to members' beneficiaries to help them maintain healthy relationships now and in the future. For joining details please email hannah@aco.uk.net
*Online survey of 2,021 general respondents nationally representative carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Relate, 9-14 April 2020.