Week #3 of semi confinement — 03 Apr 2020

A large tree in a green field spreading its branches over a blue sky

We have reached the end of our third weeks of semi confinement, and things are going rather well for us.

We are still learning how to live and work together from home and what to adjust in our habits. Most adaptations revolve around to the use of the common spaces. Like who gets to listen to what on the living room speakers, or when to air the flat when it’s 2°C outside and I’m at static my desk. Otherwise, I’m enjoying having all my family around me.

I was expecting more of a slowdown and have more time to fill, to work on personal projects or catch up with my admin, but it turns out quite the opposite. I’m up, showered and dressed every day and get to work around 08:00a until 5:30p, but I seem to get less done than when I was commuting to my office.

My setup is as comfortable as possible, located in a corner of our sitting room, facing the back window. I decided last weekend to pick up my iMac from work as my little MacBook Pro (13” 16/i5) didn’t quite cut it with a 4K monitor hooked up to it all day. Emma inherited the monitor, so we are all setup with external monitors now.

My home office with iMac and iPad — iMac at home

Screen Time report on Apple Watch — Screen time up 6% for an average of 08:14 a day

My overall screen time exceeds 8 hours a day now, but my ToDo list doesn’t shrink as fast as it should. I’ve spend significantly less time in online meetings now, and have reverted back to more of long hand form for reports and progress tracking.

Screeenshot of my Dock with messaging apps — Keeping in touch

It’s as if my brain was slower. It takes me more time to pick up where I left off, to figure out what a block of code does, and much longer to write quotes and research papers. Everything seems to take longer. It’s weird. I’ve slowed down.

I read about all the ‘free’ time people have and the trouble they have to fill it in. I feel quite the opposite. Getting up early helps, but as soon as the family rises, I am back into a rhythm : breakfast, lunch, dinner. We try to eat lunch and dinner together, which I love, but it disrupts my train of thought.

I try to workout too, and take daily walks with Fabienne. The weather is fabulous. Spring is kicking in with flowers, leaves and buds exploding everywhere. We meet people running or walking their dogs. It all adds to this surreal feeling.

Matt Simon wrote a good piece for WIRED Magazine called “Why Life During a Pandemic Feels So Surreal”

The surreal part, I think, comes when you’re thrown into a situation that you’ve never been in before. It’s extremely disorienting –Fredrick Matzner (WIRED Magazine)

He explains that humans are wired to look for patterns, and resolving chaos feels good. Currently, we can’t plan for the future, so we are stuck in an everlasting present. Keeping some of our old habits, especially the ones we like, can help in this situation.

Feel your feet, feel your feet, to cultivate a sense of groundedness of reality.

Google’s COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports

Google is to publicly track people’s movements over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. The readings are based on location data gathered via the Google Maps app or one of Google’s other mobile services.

The readings are broken down to reveal how busy certain type of places are compared to a period earlier in the year before lockdowns were introduced.

COVID-19 Community Mobility Report for Geneva

These reports show just how much information Google collects on the users of its services, but it provides fascinating insights on how well the lockdown is working in different countries.

Remember you can choose how to manage your location data in Google’s apps.

Around us

Our local support group has its own page now! Meet the team as the selfies come in…

Following in the steps of Italy’s initiative, every evening at 9pm people gather at their balconies or windows to clap and thank those who work every day on the COVID-19 front line. A heartening moment ♥︎