If you’re reading this, you’ve survived 2020 and that’s something to be proud of, considering the circumstances we have all been faced with! Whilst it is evident that 2021 has not been a great start for many, with impact of Covid-19, it is important to choose how we react to what is going on around us. As I always say, whilst we can’t control the things that happen to us and around us, we can also choose a reaction – a productive reaction is good for our mental well-being. In this post, I am going to share some ideas on how you can Colour YOUR world.

Mental well-being or mental wellness, self-care and self-love seem to be the buzz words, now more than ever. It is so important for us to fill our cups with positivity, creativity, hope, love and care to ensure a healthy state of mind. They say that “An idol mind is the devil’s workshop” and I do believe that it’s so easy to overthink things sometimes and not only that, but we also over expose ourselves to negative/sad news on social media. Whilst we can’t control the news, we CAN control how much of time we spend on it and whether or not to allow ourselves to read the comments, of which, if you’re anything like me – becomes a trigger to your sanity levels. So what next?

Action – Colour Your World

I saw this on the PNA website and I want to to use it as motivation and inspiration for you to tap into your creativity to keep yourself busy, productively so.

With many of us having lifestyle changes, from home-schooling, to working from home and online meetings, we have been thinking of ways to adjust to what’s become the new normal. But we can’t just leave it at ‘thinking” – then it’s just an intention and an intention isn’t a goal. Set yourself realistic and achievable goals. One of the ways you can achieve your goals, is to have the right tools for the job. So for now in this post, let’s look at it from the perspective of someone working from home:

Equip to achieve

Working from home: What are the “tools” you need to be productive at home? If you’re working in a call centre and have to suddenly work from home, you will not be able to do that without the right equipment, like a telephone, as an example. But a call centre agent and other roles require more than just hardware to be effective. An effective call centre agent makes notes, so will need a notepad and maybe some sticky notes, but before that, a pen! Yes, a pen! How many times have you answered the phone and have had to search for a pen?!

There’s of course a variety of stationery available, but I just thought that these are some of the very basic tools one needs to be equipped with in order to be productive.

Pens

I LOVE these pens for every day use, they are my favourites! I also use a red pen like this to tick of things I’ve completed in my to-do-list in my notebook. Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried them and also enjoy them. Or click here and let me know if there are others you prefer or recommend? When making notes, I love using highlighters so that it’s easier for me to remember key notes. Yes, I make notes when I watch You-tube videos or am on a telephone call with a client or in an online meeting.

Sticky Notes

I have always enjoyed sticky notes! Whenever I facilitated training, sticky notes was one of my favourites “tools” for group activities. They also serve as reminders and also as separators in my notebook and they’re bright and bold – Colour Your World, remember! An added purpose for sticky notes whilst working from home, is that you can allocate a section on your wall to stick them up as actions, if you don’t have a whiteboard, which many of us don’t at home. Some walls may not hold them, so the fridge, which isn’t my preference, I do understand that some people use as well. Whether it encourages more visits to the fridge or a reminder whilst at the fridge, I am not sure!

Expanding File

The expanding file isn’t a basic requirement, but if you have lots of paperwork, it’s a great solution to have a clutter-free desk, if you don’t have a desk tray or can be used as an addition to a desk tray. It can be easily stored in a cupboard or under your desk.
If you have kids, this is also great as it will protect your important documents from them – we know how they love to sit at the desk and scribble on pages, right!
The other value add is that they’re also protected from the copious amounts of coffee you’re probably drinking throughout the day.

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Inspire to create

Colour Your World – unless you’re a stationery lover, you may just not understand the value of stationery. We all have a creative streak, some of us have a stronger one than others.
What Covid has taught me, is that we need to be innovative and creative to find ways to work around the challenges that it’s presented us with. By simply having the right tools, we can equip ourselves to create, to be productive and to be more efficient.

A typical example, is a pen! There are some pens that make me want to write, like those in the gallery above and there are some pens that totally put me off from writing.

Then there’s a writing pad/notebook. So often we have thoughts and ideas but we fail to pursue them as we don’t make a note of them and I don’t mean a mental note. Goals are so much more achievable when you list them and then prioritise them and finally tick them off as you achieve them. You need a notebook for this – unless you’re someone who does everything digitally. Writing it on scrap pieces of paper doesn’t work as you need to keep them all together for ease of reference to keep track.

Whether you realise it or not, just these two simple tools can inspire you to create and will contribute to efficiency.

Enrich to discover more than just the ordinary

Find out what it is that you need to be and do to feel inspired. If it means that you need an adult colouring book and some colour pencils to tap into your creativity, then do just that. Have a look at the fantastic Arts and Crafts range on the PNA website: click here

Working from home may have not been something you planned to do. But this is the reality now. Here’s some questions to help trigger some food for thought:

• How will you adapt to this change?
• What tools/space do you have now, what changes do you need to make?
• What are others doing to make working from home successful?
• What systems/processes do you need to implement to improve your efficiency?
• What can you do to create balance between family/work?

If you continue doing things the way that you did them, don’t expect to see changes. If you want to see changes, you’ve got to enrich yourself and those around you. Providing an environment that’s conducive to learning and working with the right tools will set you up for success.

Have a look around the house – look at and identify a “working space” and make that your home office. Get that notebook, list the to-do’s for the home office and start ticking them off one by one. Set yourself up for success.

With the rate of unemployment increasing, with businesses closing, the competition has never been higher – in order to stand out, you’ve got to be and do extraordinary things. That right now means adapt, adjust, make provisions, be innovative, be creative, ENRICH yourself on how to! Colour Your World!

If you enjoyed this post, keep an eye out for the follow up, but from a parenting perspective.

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Disclaimer: This is a collaborative post. As always, my opinions are my own.