Library Advice

Today marks the start of the second half of this prompt list, which means I am officially halfway (even though in trying to avoid having to write on weekends I've actually done a few out of sequence and so I'm actually further than halfway - woohoo!). I don't know of any advice I can really offer about libraries particularly, beyond getting to know your readers, finding out what they really want, and staying abreast of developments generally, so you can give them what they want before they even ask for it.

But as we're all in a very strange situation right now, and struggling to work at home through a crisis, maybe I can share the advice I've found useful to my situation.

1. Goalsetting: don't expect too much of yourself or others - productivity is way down at the moment across the board. But do try to set a goal or a task with a definite result if you can - little successes will boost your spirits.
2. Routines are really helpful. We have young kids, so this was a no-brainer for us. Every morning we're up and dressed at the same time (yes, even weekends), then we schedule the day around the kids' food times and baby's nap. This has been especially useful with the 5 year old, who would otherwise sit in front of the tv all day. Knowing that 2pm is quiet reading time means that they're more likely to actually do some reading.
3. Get outside, every day, even if it's just your front porch, and see sunlight. If you have a park nearby, take a turn around it. If you have a garden, go there and stretch your arms to the sun and breathe deeply. We feel better when we're closer to nature (most of us, anyway).
4. Never work outside your working hours. Seriously. Just don't. If you can't get the work you planned done during them (and this is a target you set yourself, rather than one set by your work), revise your expectations down and try again. If it's set by your work, hopefully you can talk to your line manager about pushing back deadlines to something achievable.
5. Take time to be creative. I'm finding about an hour a week with my work knitting group, but it really, really helps. Something that occupies your mind enough that everything else just has to switch off for a while is so therapeutic.
6. Limit news - particularly about Covid-19. Only check in once, maybe twice in a day. Anything more and you're just creating unnecessary anxiety for yourself.
7. Boredom is good for you, improving creativity. Embrace it if you can. If, like me, it's not so much boredom in stillness because it's the boredom of repetition of exhausting tasks (like childcare), I don't really know what to suggest. I always have a book on the go on my phone, so any minute I can pick it up and read, and I've been learning Welsh on Duo Lingo, so those have been my outlets most of the time!
8. Help others if you can, and only if you can. It gets you outside of yourself and makes you feel like you are doing something productive. But it might be too much, so looking after just yourself is okay too.

I think that's all the advice I can give. I know I'm doing things wrong, like I haven't played my piano for ages, which I'm missing but just can't work up the energy to do it. But you do what you gotta do to get through, and that's the single biggest take home I can give at the moment.