The New Normal?

It is almost 100 days since the United Kingdom entered lockdown. I don't need to go into the hows and the whys - they are universally understood. What is less clear is the effect this period of isolation and restriction will have on the population in the longer term, and the 'unseen' damage caused. We've already seen a significant increase in attempted suicides amongst the elderly, and this is likely to just be the tip of the iceberg in terms of less obvious consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics are hard to come by, such is the ongoing and changing nature of the situation. Facts that emerge are often part of a contradictory trends in just a few weeks time. So instead of pretending to do any form of meaningful analysis, I'd rather talk a little bit about my own experience.

Today is probably the first day I've really struggled. I was furloughed for the guts of ten weeks, and was restored to full-time working (albeit from home) ten days ago. I count myself extremely fortunate to have a job to go back to, particularly within the gym and fitness sector - a sector hit so devastatingly hard by the pandemic - and to be in a position to return before the sector as a whole reopens.

However, this also has its drawbacks. For over two months, I could conceivably bury my head in the sand. I have been at home for ten weeks with my girlfriend, and it's been thoroughly brilliant to spend good time with her. Not being rushed off between work tasks, constantly checking my work e-mails, not burdened with the stress that a perfomance-driven IT role carries seven days a week.

While returning to work should - on paper - have brought with it a return to normality, the opposite is true. Working from home - something for which I've long been an advocate - isn't quite the same when your partner is still furloughed downstairs. You feel a certain level of guilt that you're being neglectful by being at your desk. The routines and rhythms that you've grown to enjoy have been taken away just as abruptly as they began. All in all, it's a very disconcerting experience.

Lockdown and furlough have also led - as I imagine they have for many out there - to a period of self-reflection for me. Prior to the fitness industry being shut down, I was easily working 50+ hour weeks. I would find myself on flights to Bristol, trains to London, in the car to visit sites, constantly battling through daily inbound e-mails that often tipped over 100 must-respond messages. Overnight, that was gone, and I noticed a significant impact on my health.

Coming from a family with an almost guaranteed chance of having coeliac disease, I often wondered whether the stomach pains and cramps I was experiencing were due to gluten in my diet. During several attempts to go gluten-free, I felt downheartened at the lack of any perceptable difference in symptoms. "Maybe there is an issue," I thought, "but it's unlikely to be gluten."

Within days of being furloughed, these symptoms disappeared. No stomach pains, no headaches, no exhaustion - all while eating record amounts of gluten, I should add. While many have struggled with sleep during lockdown, my overall sleep quality has gone through the roof. Regular eight-hour nights and waking feeling refreshed made a huge difference to my mental health.

The huge increase in free time allowed me to focus in on areas of my life I'd neglected: my passion for writing, reading, healthier eating, daily exercise. With proper personal time restored, so too was restored a zest for life. Most frighteningly, I hadn't even noticed it was missing, I had been so caught up in work.

With most of the company I work for still furloughed, there's no immediate risk of that level of stress and workload returning, but it's still in the back of my mind.

When it does begin to return, clearly I have choices in terms of how I handle that, but what does it say about our society today?  A world where the level of commitment, stress and anxiety expected of us within our roles is sufficient to cause health damage, and cause us to lose touch with who we are?

I held a belief throughout my twenties that if I sacrificed personal experience for commitment at work, then I would reap the benefits later in life. I worked hard, and I cannot complain about the reward I've seen: however, is any of it worthwhile if I wouldn't be around to see the benefits later? If some stress-induced heart attack at 45 meant all I had done was to do a really damn good job for 25 years?

The last five years in particular, I believed that throwing myself into work would bring positive balance to a whole ton of negative goings-on in my personal life. To say it has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Events there have brought a similar, foundation-shattering reassessment of the world and the evil of those within it. Most disconcerting of all, however, is the dawning realisation that I hadn't brought a positive balance any of it - I had simply drowned out the negative with something less negative, and the wonderful time spent relaxing, recharging and getting to know my wonderful partner better had shown me that.

There's an old saying, "inter arma enim silent leges" which broadly translates as "in times of war, the laws fall silent." I suspect that during the relentless crisis that has been 2020, many will have seen the laws that govern their lives fall silent. The certainties with which we govern our lives have been taken away. Our routines? Obliterated. Our social lives? Gone. Our career aims? Stalled, or gone. Tragically, for some of us, members of our family, too, are gone.

When we emerge into the 'new normal' we have the opportunity to shape it – both individually and as a society. Are we truly happy to work to a 40 hour week with 2 hours of commuting a day? Do we really want to be governed by phones that ping at midnight with irate customers? Will we take our friends and our families for granted? Whether COVID-19 will bring more businesses forward into modernity by embracing working from home and flexible working time remains to be seen. I hope it does.

Individually, too, we have a chance to reassess. Are we doing what makes us happy? Can we be better people? If everything we knew to be certain was taken away again overnight, would we still be happy?

The 'new normal' almost certainly should not simply be a return to normal; rather, it should be an evolution. We should take the chance to learn the lessons and improve. Given our track record as a civilisation in recent years, I wouldn't stake my mortgage on that level of self-reflection and consideration taking place, but I live in hope.

If nothing else, we should learn that in the end, the only thing you can truly do without fail is to look after yourself – and those around you – and ensure that the life you lead truly brings you the satisfaction and health you need and deserve.