Connected

By Jennifer Jackson, IT Training & Development Team

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

At the time of writing it’s a grey March morning and lockdown continues to curtail our daily lives and interactions. It’s my turn to write the team blog and I’ve run out of steam. Is this a reflection of the world at large; that persistently repetitive doom ‘n’ gloom news cycle? How does this feel, stressful or cathartic? The pressure is on to find a subject or a unique perspective and follow a well-trodden path of debate and reflection. What to do to get started, to get thinking, to get writing!  

In getting started, it turns out that my blog entry has reconstructed itself. As I begin to document my journey in search of inspiration and motivation I realise that (a) I’m not the first person to search for inspiration when the ‘block’ hits you, and (b) you don’t have to wander too far from home, in your search for motivation, to find what you’re looking for.

I’ve been reading GCU intranet news features (GCU only) more regularly during lockdown; it’s helped me feel more connected to my colleagues in the wider institution, and has acted as a source of information and understanding about what is going on within my professional environment. One such news feature led me to a series of creative writing video recordings by Anne Donovan, Cultural Fellow at GCU. Watching these resources helped me review and adapt my approach to writing. I found the simple ‘Getting Started’ exercise, within the first episode of the series, a particularly helpful reminder when addressing my blog block.

Motivation to do better, to share best practice, or just to keep going under challenging circumstances can often be found close to (work) home. The GCU Dept of Academic Development and Student Learning has just launched a new series called ‘Going Digital Insights‘ (GCU only), enabling colleagues to share their current approach to teaching within an online environment; a collection of short discursive videos and blog posts. More widely available are The GCU Common Good Podcasts which I’ve also been listening to. The diverse breadth of subject matter covered is impressive, ranging from Keeping active during lockdown to Teaching the next generation of GCU Academics and well worth exploring.

Making time to read blogs or listen to podcasts, to digest their contents and reflect upon them can be a stretch, to say the least, at busy times. We have a very practical ‘no meetings’ directive for Friday’s at GCU. This provides a welcome sense of freedom and choice; to put some time aside on a Friday morning to explore, to listen to a Podcast or read an article and then allow yourself time to think about it. In my isolated working environment, I am able to connect to, and reflect upon, my colleague’s perspectives from across and beyond our institution, who in turn inform, inspire and motivate me. I’m finding that this relatively small autonomous act transforms my working (Fri)day, it feels different, a very welcome change to the norm of the working week and of life at this particular juncture.

An unexpected, welcome aspect of the current lockdown is that I have had the opportunity to connect with colleagues in my department through an assortment of shared activities. We are all getting to know each other a little bit better, within the restraints of our remote working environments, and I’m enjoying contributing and collaborating on a range of projects. I have experienced, as a result of developing these connections to my colleagues, an enriched sense of belonging that has become amplified during lockdown.

Within the confines of this brief blog entry I’m conscious that the subject matter at hand has evolved from my ‘blog block’ to ‘connection’. Exploration, writing, collaboration and time to reflect can do that and I’m all the better connected for it.