Daily Business with a chronic disease in Corona Times …

Do you feel the same: As corona and the #stayathome order came in, I was struggling with the new situation. 
For me it is not new to sit in my home office and do my job. This is daily business. But it is different now. 

More digital conferences, meetings and calls, also more MS symptoms and sometimes depressive days because of concerns and anxiety. In addition, before corona I had the choice to leave the house to meet friends or for meetings. 

No, it’s gone. No choice. Stay at home. Show solidarity. A challenge for us all. 

I know that I am not alone with this and sometimes I am struggling with organizing myself and this is definitely new. Because usually I always have a plan and I am very organized. 
And this was irritating for me, I don’t know myself in this way. But as complaining doesn’t help, I have started to find solutions and advice. To reorganize my daily business and have my life back. 

The best reason to ask a coach, an expert in dealing with challenges. I started a discussion with my good friend and coach Nadja Feddermann, who is based in Switzerland. We did it online and it was a great discussion about #stayathome and #keepthedistance and how to keep quality of life during the pandemic. 

Nadja Feddermann discussing with Birgit

Nadja is an executive coach and expert in stress management and change. She has specialized in supporting her international clients through professional and relocation changes and is also a trainer for relaxation and sophrology techniques for individuals and teams. 

I know Nadja for a while now, we cooperated in different projects and when I am discussing with her, it is always very helpful and inspiring. So, I have asked for advice for us all and have started an online discussion to find some advice and inspiration! Find out more about Nadja here! 

Nadja, what are the main struggles in the current situation?

I see two main areas of struggle, while of course it is an extremely individual experience. What I see most often is that people are not coping well with the imposed confinement, like you and many other people too. The freedom of choice is a strong driver for all of us. And even if we love being at home, we cannot deal with it very well if it was not us who took the decision to stay in. 

The second big struggle is the uncertainty. Very simple but terribly scary is that we do not deal well with change when we do not know where it leads to. I see very often that change is only embraced by those who see a positive outcome that is tangible. 

One reason for anxiety is the lack of a finish line. We don’t know how definite the situation is, so we cannot plan. Is the world changing for good, or are we going to go back to before and 'normal'? 

How should we know about our future job and living situation? 

This is a new situation for everyone and even our governments need to figure things out for the first time. What we are missing is somewhere to turn to for advice. It is a medical and life-threatening situation and it is understandably difficult. 

Birgit: I think especially for patients it is much harder, because health services have changed for many of patients and also there are exams or tests postponed because of the situation. Patients see the need of it but they can’t do it because of the new rules and there is a lot of uncertainty around for the moment. Also, the situation of working from home, organize the life completely new is not that easy. 

Nadja: Many people experience now a certain discomfort with the work and living situation. It’s a big stress factor, but at the same time also one of those aspects we can influence directly with our behavior. It is challenging, with confined with people to the home. What first seemed like a great idea, being at home, sitting in front of your computer, having the children close by and enjoying a certain freedom of the home office starts to turn into a messy situation. 

Just imagine, how enthusiastic you are at the prospect of five weeks of holidays in one room with the whole family… but that same setting in your own house is becoming a stressful setting. 

You are simply surrounded by too many people, children, even pets etc. that sometimes is too much to cope with. Especially when you are living with a chronic disease. 

Instead of a peaceful and organized life you got a noisy house. That feels unfair. 

Birgit, talking with Nadja

Birgit: To live with a chronic disease e.g. MS and having stress is not a good combination anyway, now with the #socialdistancing and #stayathome rules it is much harder. It is exhausting and a lot of power and energy is needed to deal with that situation.  Very often we need to take more resting time because of your disease and it's symptoms like fatigue. I know that from my own experience. 

Nadja: My advice is to think about your main personal challenge and all other challenges you have to deal with. Take a look at the situation and see how you can influence it. Finding an outlet for anger and stress is crucial now.

Birgit: I would add also that patients are in a very special situation. Some of them have a higher risk to be infected and so they need maybe more care or also psychological support. 

Nadja: Of course! It’s indeed an even more difficult situation. Many of the health care and social services but also psychological and social services are shut down or run at minimal force. Getting appropriate help is more difficult. 

It’s important to create a new plan and ask for additional support. 

Birgit: Call the health insurance or the patient organization?

Nadja: Yes, and try new approaches, if that is possible. If you have a system in place, for medication, mobility or other aspects, let them know and prime everyone that you may be needing them. I hear that telephone helplines are in high demands and I definitely recommend to use them. Call for psychological help, or a coach of course, to get you through any depressive phases. Do not wait too long or think you are a bother. You are a patient and entitled to get help, this is not the time to show your strength, but a time of need. Even for healthy people.

Birgit: Do you have some tips that may be useful when we are stuck at home? Especially patients have sometimes problems to deal with the situation now. 

Nadja: Most important is to keep your routines and do what you always do: Having breakfast, check your emails, do your household. 

Birgit: It helps to have a plan in organizing it in a feasible way, right? We are asked not to go to the supermarket very often, because of the risk of being infected. But we all need food and other things in our lives. 

Nadja’s Tipps: 

●      prepare meal and shopping lists for a week or 10 days. There are more meals needed as usual, so you need a plan. 

●      Plan and share the house keeping work, if possible, also with the people living in your house. 

Birgit: If this is not possible, you must not be perfect. No one is allowed to come for a visit. :-) 

●      Take resting time according to your needs if possible. You need your strength, therefore communicate your needs and try to stick with them if possible, if not, try to find another solution and ask health insurances, patient organisations or also social workers for help and support. Also, lots of people offer help to do shopping for others, this could be also a help to safe some time.  

●      Try to separate fun areas from work areas so routines are kept up, also, keep fun and work time slots for the same reasons

●      Be sure that you have time for yourself if this is possible.  Have a call with a friend, coffee just with yourself, etc. it will help to keep your mental sanity

●      Do not overload on negative news, keep a certain mental hygiene and remain reasonable. e.g. stop watching the news after a certain time and before going to bed.

●      Stay reasonable with media overload. It turns out that learning a new language is only useful, if you are planning to keep it up. If you go into hyperactivity, just because Instagram tells you to, you may end up with nothing accomplished and feeling even worse. Indeed, this is a good time to focus on being yourself.

Birgit: Great Tipps, I would add especially for patients:  

●      Take your medication as always and if you have medical problems, please don’t be shy and talk with your doctor or nurse before you make decisions by yourself. 

●      If you need an exam ask for it. Some doctors have special consultation hours for patients living with chronic diseases. 

●      If you feel depressed or frustrated please also ask for psychological advice. Call your GP or Nurse to ask for it. 

●      Do your exercise as usually. There are many online programs already existing to do some sport and movement.

●      If you are allowed to go out in your country, go out for some sunshine, fresh air and a walk. 

●      There are many rumors and conspiracy theories outside. Ask the patient organization or find more information at websites of doctors or patient organization to stay informed. 

Birgit: We know, People living with diseases have mostly a job too. And now they are sitting in their home offices struggling with the situation. Do we have some Tipps for those who are sitting in their home office? 

Nadja: Of course: 

●      make yourself a realistic to do list, keep in mind that you will be more interrupted than usual, that there are others around that you may not be in your usual routine, so you get less done that normal. So, prioritize the things you have to do. 

●      when you concentrate, turn off notifications from your devices, maybe use a pomodoro app that mutes them, keep short but efficient work sprints between 25-60 mins.

Birgit: I would add: Take regular breaks, it is important to relax, have a coffee and take a time out for 15 or 20 minutes to have a power nap. What I do is to mix my ambitious jobs with easy to do things. Also limit time for calls, to be engaged the whole day in calls means, to work over hour because you have to manage the other things on your list. 

Do you have questions or other ideas? How do you organize your daily life and home office? 

We are curious! Let us know here in the comments! 

Have a good time and #staysafe! 



Nadja and Birgit! 




Text: Birgit Bauer und Nadja Feddermann
Pictures: Birgit Bauer und Nadja Feddermann
Foto von ready made von Pexels