#Isolife

2020 starts with the usual family unitedness and then we all drift into our respective corners of the busy world trying to juggle work, children, health guilt and relaxation whenever you can squeeze it in, with the planned trip at some point in the year.

If you are a 21-year-old, you add in a hectic social life, exams, tik toks and series of milestone birthday parties followed by your first trip of your lifetime with friends costing you gleefully most of your life savings. 

For some there will be new babies, marriages, divorces and break ups, career goals, business ambitions and a whole lot of social media consumption.

Whatever the situation, it all came to a momentary pause some months ago, as a Pandemic changed the social structures of the developed world.

So, what is my situation – well!  I have a Tech Start up 14 months live! Wahoo! And have been given a gift. 

I have a day job that calls me to commute up to 1.5 hours a day and always has me staying late, because I struggle to time manage my exit from working or interacting. Therefore, being late to get home before dark, not enough quality family time as I squeeze in a diet of convenience, sync with all and before I know it my eyes are closing as I fit in a few things before CheeHoo whilst all are tucked into at home. All first world problems!
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My gift is I have spent the last 10 weeks with no commute, started a 6-week challenge for fitness, have eaten so much nutrients…like it was fuel for my body (funny that) and saved money with less commute and convenience buying.  I have been more productive at my day job; I have spent more time at home with family and more time for CheeHoo without disrupting a good night’s sleep.

Wow is this it!!??? Is this what they call work life balance!!??  Finally, it took a pandemic for me to find it.

So, question is do I love it?  Is it something I want to keep?  Am I worried to lose it again returning to the office commute and previous disciplines of modern society?   Yes, I’m afraid I love it and I do not want to return to the previous regimented rituals, I want the flow of flexibility to be my future, where you cut through engagement with purposeful on point meetings and when you do see each other and engage its met with more excitement as you see people who also are enjoying the flexibility of digital work practices.  

This new taste of being, doing receiving has multiple benefits to my life, that to go back to what it was would be like being locked up back in a basement of a resort in the Maldives after I had just spent 7 weeks on the shoreside swimming with Nemo.  Ok a bit exaggerated because I do miss my coffees, the morning hellos to all and the dressing up out of my sweats.

So! Not everyone feels this way about Iso.  Some are itching to return to the office, where social environments provide them a boost of energy and happiness. Where being at home is not that crash hot and feels more like a regimented ritual of balancing and juggling more.

The reason I started CheeHoo was to find a way to hack into life and create a tool that acted like a mini me, contained all my organisation needs in one spot, where juggling, delegating and connecting was supported by automation with my Tribe.  A way that everyone could share the load with those around them, without insistent guilt and remorse when your memory did not hold up and you didn’t have time to co-ordinate a social life through chat sessions.  Turning goals into actions with a pretty interface and the nag was automated and not me.

I wanted balance and balance is currently here, challenging the structure of modern society, where driving somewhere to sit in a box and work a 10hour day to get money to put into consumer habits was normal.

My dream of having a business where all the team were virtual, and we met face to face once to twice a week in an office where our fur babies and loved ones were welcomed, and we used the time to review, collaborate, brain storm and plan, allowing us to then go kick life goals and work goals as we saw fit.

Going back to normal post Covid-19 – will it be back to the traditional structures or will we be changing the expectation and increasing the trust developed to allow people to work in a way that compliments life based on outcomes and output.

Whatever way we return to post Isolife for an office worker, we all have a chance to reflect and question the structures of society and pick the parts that allow us to live life to the fullest and enjoy the journey at the same time. Employers have tasted what it is like to go digital and people should have the choice to leverage the digital tools of society and balance their life the way they want, whilst being successful and recognised.  I know my household are a little more grateful for what we have in the developed world and appreciate the joys of community and balance iso gave us. 

​What’s your thoughts on isolife and post?​