Your Work / Life Balance is key
As we’re all aware, these last six months have been anything but normal. The COVID-19 crisis has effected just about every element of our lives. We’ve seen huge changes in how we live, work, play and interact with each other. While each of these changes have impacted us in different ways, the shift in our work and workspaces may be the most permanent in years to come.
According to a 2020 Statistics Canada poll, 65% of normally in-person employees are still partially working from home. A recent Gartner study takes this even further, suggesting that working remotely may be permanent for many workers. In this poll, top level CFOs said that over 74% of their employees would remain remote, even after the pandemic.
While some love it, working from home can present technical issues with connectivity to staff or clients, but also issues for physical and mental health. Many people have found it difficult to ‘turn off’ their work brain after the day is done, because your office is mere steps away instead of in a totally different building. The isolation of remote work can be incredibly overwhelming for people who are used to in-person interactions. A huge area of relief for these issues is getting outside in nature. Whether it’s a walk around the block before work starts, or a big bike ride through the city’s parks and trails, many people have been seeking solace outside.
We’ve Needed Boundaries, Too!
As primarily a remote marketing company, we too have needed to talk through the safest and healthiest ways to unplug from our computers and phones and recharge, outside. We are so lucky to live in Canada where it is possible to go for a long, socially-distanced hike, or an epic mountain biking tour of our best trails. For most of us, a morning walk around the block has set us up for success for the work day. But this last July, we needed something a little more epic.
We love our west coast vibes (have you seen our Instagram wall?) and we really wanted to experience some off-grid beauty that BC has to offer. So we packed up our small team with all the necessary camping supplies, firewood, and delicious food into Grundy’s signature van and rolled out to a completely off-grid, wilderness camp site in Revelstoke. The views of the lake and forests were incredible, and the lack of notification noises from our devices was so nice. We had an amazing three day retreat where we were able to dig deep into our company values and goals, get to know each other and eat some fantastic food over the campfire.
We packed a lot into three days. Together, we drove up to the summit of Mount Revelstoke for some of the most beautiful views we’ve ever seen, we swam and kayaked across the lake, we cooked meals together and we REALLY bonded when looking for Grundy’s lost drone when it hit a tree (RIP Droney, you served us well).
All in all, this off-grid experience in nature was exactly what we needed to recharge as a team and come back to our clients with fresh ideas and drive.
We may need to make a Lifeblood Retreat an annual thing 😉 www.lifebloodmarketing.ca
