HOW WE KEEP GOING
DURING THE PANDEMIC
JO GILLAN, TRAINING AND EVENTS ANALYST, CLYDE MARINE TRAINING
How do you plan your days working from home?
I started practicing meditation around 2 years ago and built this into my daily life, but this was not consistent. Since working from home I do 20 minutes of meditation prior to picking up my mobile. I then make sure I go for a walk on my lunch break, which is important for my physical wellbeing but even more so, for my mental wellbeing.
Has the pandemic affected your training; if so, how did you change it?
I enjoy kickboxing and before lockdown I was going to the gym twice a week, particularly focusing on strength and endurance. Here in Scotland we have been in and out of lockdowns which means often we are unable to meet other people, so it has been difficult to maintain regular training sessions with my instructor. I was training to go into competition but since the most recent lockdown, my private lessons have now stopped.
In April 2021 I plan to go to Nepal with 20 friends to do a 10-day trek around the Himalayas, so I have also been training for that. During lockdown I have not been
allowed to travel beyond our local region, so I cannot hike in the mountains and train for the altitude we will endure in Nepal. Instead
I have trained within the house to YouTube fitness videos and maintained solo kickboxing practice. I go occasional runs to maintain my stamina.
I find it highly important to stay as active as possible, especially working from home.
Are you doing anything extra during your workday?
I go for a 20 minute walk during my lunchtime and make sure to listen to uplifting music, I try to run at least twice a week but my training is more suited towards building muscle so cardio has to be limited for my specific needs.
MIKAEL ABRAHAMSSON, CONVERSION & PROJECT MANAGER, STENA RORO
What’s it like to work from home?
I’ve been working partly from home since April. Every other day at home and every other in the office, and since November, completely from home. It is natural that you miss your colleagues, face-to-face meetings and the social part that you cannot get in the same way through digital meetings, but one advantage is that I actually have more time. Thanks to reduced travel time to and from work, I save about an hour and a half that I now use to exercise and take walks.
I think working from home works well. There are so many different IT solutions that make it easy to communicate and transfer information. In the beginning, it might not have been all that easy with the technology, but with patience and a little will, I think it works. For example, we are testing a GoPro solution for streaming data live from the site office in Turkey during the conversion of the Stena Lagan.
I have two children, 17 and 19 years old, who have had remote learning and also been at home at times, and then I’ve had the opportunity to see them a little more often and have had more time to help with homework and questions before tests. I think it’s important to try to maintain a structure and discipline in how I work, it’s otherwise easy for work and leisure to merge.
Has the pandemic affected your exercising and if so, in what way?
I normally run three times a week and go to the gym or a group session. But because of the pandemic there are no visits to the gym these. I instead exercise at home with my body supplying the weight and with rubber-training bands, which I can recommend for strengthening the shoulders and back. At lunch I take a run or a walk with the dog.
What does your exercise give you in terms of focus and job performance?
Exercising makes me feel good and I notice that I can keep my focus all day long. It actually happens quite often that I come up with solutions to different problems during my runs and that I plan and structure both work and private life. I think it’s important to prioritize exercise because it gives back so much that is positive.