Covid-19 is coming. At the time of writing my kids’ school is still open. Whilst they’re pretty good on the handwashing front they still stand very close to their friends looking at gifs on each others phones etc. Primary aged children stand closer still as any parent will know from the constant nits from one small head to another.
If you and your team can easily work from home then why not start to work from home by default now? In a few weeks’ time we may be pleased at every non-essential interaction we have avoided. What we class as essential will, of course, vary as the virus gets closer.
Those of us already working from home are planning how we will cope when schools shut and the rest of the family are at home with us too. The broadband in my village already groans during the school holidays with insufficient bandwidth, even when I’m the only one in the house online. I kick the kids off the internet when I’m doing a webinar or a guest podcast.
The kids will also need feeding for an extra meal a day so I’ve stocked up a little more than usual. Fortunately they’re old enough to take on some of the cooking and laundry although one has GCSEs to revise for. (And will those even go ahead?)
The schools are planning to run at least some sessions through Teams (although my teens are currently questioning whether their teachers can manage even this level of tech). This will take up our already limited broadband capacity.
If you have younger kids they will need more attention, more entertaining, and more feeding so you will probably get less work done than usual.
Some people will be unable to work from home. I’ve heard of one person stocking up on wallpaper so that their employed spouse has something to do while they’re confined to home with nothing to do. Looking around I might get a few tubs of paint ready just in case my teens are at a loose end.
So you may have more to juggle or you may have time to take stock of your business and to work ON it instead of IN it. If you get the opportunity then remember that all our courses are online or, if you prefer individual coaching, this can be done by telephone.