Social Distancing: It doesn’t stop at the door
By: David Mcthomas
Tags: Support, Life, Social Distance, Beyourself, Safety

I am in strange and scary times. In order to protect myself, the ones I care about and the wider world, we all have certain principles and guidance to follow.

The main principle I should all be following is the one around:

“Social distancing measures are steps you can take to reduce social interaction between people”

In true coaching style, I want to explore this by looking at a particular Situation, what the Impact could be and what I propose as a Resolution.

The Situation

I have noticed that peoples mindset around this is very strange, especially concerning supermarkets; let me explain.

I have been out only a few times as I am trying to limit this to protect my family and others and whenever I have gone to a supermarket I notice two things:

1. The Queue: When arriving at the supermarket, there is a daunting queue as it looks enormous. However, this is due to the distancing in place and how spread out people are. People respect the distancing and pay close attention to it while in the queue, which is excellent.

2. The Shopping: As soon as people enter the store, it’s like 70%+ of people I have seen seem to forget that social distancing exists. People have reached right past me to get stuff, standing right next to me as I am trying to move through the aisles etc. It’s like they forget that people’s lives are still at stake, including potentially their families, and for the sake of waiting and being patient for a few extra minutes, people put themselves and others at risk.

The Impact

The world is in crisis right now. As I live in the UK and I am thinking about how the NHS is doing a fantastic job under immense pressure. Also thinking about how much pressure it can take before it breaks.

There are 4 areas of impact I can see by people not being sensible in this situation:

Family: I may be putting my family and other people’s families at risk by not adhering to social distancing at all times. Especially inside a supermarket. With the loss of life climbing, I should be doing whatever I can to protect the ones I love.

I may be putting my family and other people’s families at risk by not adhering to social distancing at all times. Especially inside a supermarket. With the loss of life climbing, I should be doing whatever I can to protect the ones I love. Spread: By not adhering to the distancing, I am creating a higher risk of the spread of this virus to others which then has a ripple effect out to the broader population.

By not adhering to the distancing, I am creating a higher risk of the spread of this virus to others which then has a ripple effect out to the broader population. Healthcare System: Healthcare system are already under immense pressure to save lives. I shouldn’t put this vital piece of survival at any more risk by increasing my exposure to other people. If this does buckle, then things will go from bad to worse quickly.

Healthcare system are already under immense pressure to save lives. I shouldn’t put this vital piece of survival at any more risk by increasing my exposure to other people. If this does buckle, then things will go from bad to worse quickly. Lockdown: I know how challenging being in a lockdown is, especially for people who are alone or have children and work to contend with(like me). The government will have no choice but to keep extending it if the death toll doesn’t stabilise and fall. By not adhering to the distancing, I could potentially be putting this at-risk and extending the very thing I want to see end.

The Resolution

If I need to go out shopping I will ensure I have these two things:

2 Lists: Have my standard shopping list of course but also have a list of the people most precious to me in this world. When I feel the urge to rush past someone or go close to someone to get past or even reach by to grab something off that first list, I will look at the second list and ask myself, is it worth putting the people I love at risk?

Have my standard shopping list of course but also have a list of the people most precious to me in this world. When I feel the urge to rush past someone or go close to someone to get past or even reach by to grab something off that first list, I will look at the second list and ask myself, is it worth putting the people I love at risk? Breathing: It’s very stressful shopping in the current situation, and if I feel panicked or just generally in a rush, then a proper breathing technique always helps. Use this one to help me take a moment to recentre myself and regain the patience and calm to stay safe.

Take a long, deep slow breath in through your nose, filling your lungs up to their capacity. Hold your breath and count down from “Three” Exhale slowly through your mouth, while relaxing your face, jaw, shoulders, and stomach muscles.

I wanted to share this as I hope we all can remember to respect this distance in all circumstances for ourselves, our families and the world around us.

Thanks and I would love to hear your thoughts.