Financial advisory company, Davidson Asset Management, urge individuals to ‘practice the pause’ and reflect on their lockdown experience as restrictions start to ease.

While government restrictions have taken some of life’s simple luxuries away from us, one luxury that most of us haven’t lacked for the past few months is time. In fact, for many of us, the past few months have provided us with more time than ever –  whether that’s been a result of being on furlough from work, or simply reduced travel time due to working from home.

Perhaps you’ve really enjoyed this extra time, and viewed it as a chance to take up a new hobby (remember the banana bread stage of lockdown?) or organise the kitchen cupboards. Perhaps the extra time and lack of normal routine/structure to your day made you feel uncomfortable and anxious. Or maybe you’ve continued to work at home throughout the lockdown phase and enjoyed the increased flexibility (thanks Microsoft teams). Either way, there is no denying that this time spent in lockdown has affected each and every one of us differently and sparked a range of emotions.

According to the companies CEO, Russell Davidson, the past four months have been a whirlwind of emotions. “At the start, anxiety and fear was certainly at the forefront of my mind as I worried about my own family and my work family – for our health and wellbeing. As a business owner, I also – naturally – had overwhelming anxiety about the future of our company and our staff as well as that of our clients, particularly those in the hospitality industry who have been badly hit by this pandemic. Our entire organisation is centred around offering a personal service. When you are suddenly forced into lockdown, the opportunity to continue to provide this personal service seems somewhat impossible. However, as the days rolled into weeks, I began to feel hopeful and grateful at the way our business was able to adapt and our team were able to power on, working as close-knit as ever despite being further apart. Having spent a lot of time travelling to meet clients across Scotland and England for the past 15 years, I have also been very thankful for the extra time I have been able to spend at home with my wife and two daughters (even if that has involved making a few family tik-toks along the way). And whilst we still remain unsure about what the future holds, one this is for sure, this experience has certainly made me feel very appreciative of my family, friends and outstanding team, as well as deeply empathetic for those who have been more directly impacted during this awful time.

So, before normality once again resumes and we are once again left scrambling to find enough hours in the day, join the company as they practice the pause and reflect on how the past 4 months have been. Ask yourself, “If I could go back and do one thing at the start of the year, what would it be?” Except of course buy shares in zoom…

Full blog post available at http://www.damgoodpensions.com/blog/practice-the-pause-pt2—stop-and-reflect/