Well, we never thought we'd be here did we? The Covid 19 pandemic has turned our lives upside down in such a short time that we are all feeling a little lost. Our daily routines are lovely things, aren't they? And suddenly we are having to think hard about all the things we took for granted: our health, our homes, our jobs, even our ability to put food on the table.
But while we may be have to be physically remote from one another for the time being, we are enormously lucky to be able to stay CONNECTED. Having worked from home for over a decade, social media - particularly Instagram - has been my way of 'chatting to the person at the next desk', who may in fact be working on their own a hundred miles away. I've had the advantage of choosing to work this way, but for those of you who are having to settle into a new routine I have a couple of tips:-
• Try to keep to 'office hours' whatever you choose them to be, otherwise you'll find yourself living at work rather than working from home.
• Keep to your morning routine and dress for work. Which needn't mean formal wear, but really shouldn't mean your pjs either (see above).
• Stop for lunch and get some fresh air. A dog is awfully helpful but not compulsory ;-)
• Set reasonable expectations of your working day. You may not have to travel to work now, but that doesn't mean you will automatically be more productive. We do a lot of thinking when we're travelling. You may also have a full house, homeschooling duties or be finding it painfully quiet. Be kind to yourself.
• Disconnect if you need to, especially if you're finding the avalanche of information distracting, overwhelming or downright frightening.
You will have gathered that my working day hasn't changed too much over the last week, although my boys are both home from university so I find myself the proud possessor of a student kitchen (to be fair, they're making me lots of tea). My Post Office offers a drop-off service so I have minimal contact with them, apart to wave and say thank you. I will carry on posting patterns while I can, but all my patterns are available as PDFs if you are concerned about receiving deliveries.
I have been extra busy over the past couple of weeks making sure that my lovely Andrea at the Willow Cottage Quilt Company in Canada has everything she needs to distribute the remaining months of our current Block of the Month programme. Again, we will continue to post those out as usual until we are advised otherwise.
Finally, if you are looking for some inspiration/distraction/ten minutes to yourself with a cup of tea, then I will be participating in a blog hop during the next fortnight with some of my fellow British pattern designers and fabric shops:-
Saturday, 28th March: Jo Westfoot | The Crafty Nomad
Sunday, 29th March: Amy Ball | Coffee Rings Studio
Monday, 30th March: Jo Hendy | Villavin Crafts & Retreats
Tuesday, 31st March: Me | Here
Wednesday, 1st April: Rachel Concannon | Rachel's Textiles Studio
Thursday, 2nd April: Lou Orth | Lou Orth Designs
Friday, 3rd April: Sonia Spence | Fabric & Flowers
Saturday, 4th April: Fi | Pins & Needles Grayshott
Sunday, 5th April: Sarah Ashford | Sarah Ashford Studio
Monday, 6th April: Abigail | Cut&Alter
Tuesday, 7th April: Karen Lewis | Karen Lewis Textiles
Wednesday, 8th April: Joanna Kent | Crafty Quilter
Thursday, 9th April: Jo Avery | Jo Avery Stitch
Friday, 10th April: Round Up Post | The Crafty Nomad
See you next week,
Nicola xx
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