It’s ok to press pause
At the start of December my daughter’s anxiety started to rear its head, Covid was spreading through her class to the extent that her class had to be isolated from the rest of the school in self-contained bubble. With positive cases being reported on a daily basis we somehow managed to escape it, however the mix of Covid triggered anxiety and excitement of Christmas bubbling was not a great combination.
We found Christmas 2021 more of an uncertain time than 2020, with the easing of guidelines plans became fluid, children find it harder to adapt to changes in plans, our own were left in limbo as we were monitoring Sophia on a daily basis, if all went to plan we were invited to celebrate the festivities with my parents in Cornwall, with my elderly Nan also joining us from Wales, neighbours coming over for the fun and extended family over for Boxing Day.
With blended and extended family to factor in on all aspects it became quite a headache (which for someone diagnosed with chronic migraines isn’t the best!).
I am someone who likes to be in control, and all this uncertainty certainty doesn’t help me! I am not, and never have been, someone who can ‘go with the flow’. Plans being made, changed and cancelled, rearranged and new ones made altogether threw things into turmoil.
We also had the added pressure of mock GCSE’s for our eldest son, creating timetables, working through past papers, flash cards, intense cramming sessions, a host of information to filter through and make more manageable.
My primary focus became preservation, both self and family. With it seeming like an endless buffet my plate continually became more and more full from all sides.
I took a decisive step to press pause, I paused all our Solving Minds social media, it was not a decision I made lightly, I stopped putting out content, stop interacting with our audience, stopped checking on followed #s. I was worried that our followers would drop, that our reach would shrink, however, I felt that no content was better than recycled, generic, empty messageless posts.
It turns out the initial worry was pointless, whilst we may have lost the odd follower the world didn’t end, our accounts were not deleted due to lack of activity. Being at a point mentally where I have the space to pick things off is great, after the break I have come back refreshed, with a list of ideas for great posts.
Don’t get me wrong I am not saying social media isn’t important in a business, it plays a vital tool, the message I am saying is ‘it is ok to press pause’ if you need to. Sometimes it may seem daunting pausing, however on the whole it won’t be as bad as you think. I usually batch create content and have generic evergreen posts I can use, however the posting of these and managing the accounts around posting and engaging on the whole was one element after reflection I felt I could pause.
Taking that step and realising the world still turned gave me the confidence to not have to worry for the last 10 days while I have been floored with Covid. Again, I have a great set of ideas for up and coming posts so, watch this place!