2020 Retrospective – Wow, what a year!

I think, for obvious reasons, 2020 has been a year that no-one could really have expected. With COVID-19 and lockdown, a lot of things have changed, both in my life, in everyone’s lives, and in the workplace.

Things that went well

• I changed medication around March 2020 which has resulted in significant weight loss, as expected. The previous medication was making me put on and retain weight even when I was eating very very little. In March 2020 my weight was nearly 136KG and now it has gone down to 125KG in March 2021. I have not been doing more exercise, indeed quite a bit less, as I have been staying indoors most of the time. The weight loss has had a very good effect on my general health and my sleep.
• I am much happier than this time last year. Working corporate jobs I found very very stressful and apart from being financially rewarding, I wasn’t getting much else out of it. My mental and physical health was suffering. My relationship with my wife and friends are much better now because I am less miserable all the time.
• I have taken up DJing over the internet and have turned this into a part-time income. It is so much fun. I used to DJ in clubs in my 20s regularly and I didn’t realise how much I had missed it. It is great to have a way to connect socially with people in lockdown and people really appreciate my DJ sets, which is great.
• Working from home has been a great change for me. Before the pandemic I wanted to work from home 100% anyway, because I was ending up spending at least 2 hours commuting to and from work, it was costing a lot (because I can’t drive) and it was taking up a lot of time and energy.

Things that didn’t go so well

• I found that when I am working 100% from home, it is difficult to do work that I am not motivated to do. It is much easier to get things done that you really don’t enjoy when you are in the office. I have noticed a productivity decline in things I don’t really want to do, but I don’t think this is necessarily a problem with working from home, simply it is something I need to address by finding work I am more motivated to do.
• My financial situation is a bit unsteady at the moment. I have got used to living on much less, and my costs are minimal. However I am struggling to find a job I am motivated to stick with. I think this simply requires me to explore careers and jobs outside of what I have done before.