The Importance of Mindfulness
The Pandemic has caused us to stop and take stock, and pay more attention to the present moment – to our own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around us. Some people call this awareness "mindfulness". Mindfulness can help us enjoy life more and understand ourselves better. We can take steps to develop it in our own life.
What is mindfulness?
Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, says that mindfulness means knowing directly what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.
"It's easy to stop noticing the world around us. It's also easy to lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living 'in our heads' – caught up in our thoughts without stopping to notice how those thoughts are driving our emotions and behaviour," he says.
"An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means waking up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs.
"Another important part of mindfulness is an awareness of our thoughts and feelings as they happen moment to moment.
Agencies adapt to a Future with PropTech
Necessity is the mother of invention. And what constitutes a safe working space or an adequate customer service experience in the world of e-commerce has been completely upturned in the time of COVID-19.
Over the seven months, the PropTech industry has stepped in to provide solutions to problems that developers, office managers, and those working in the lettings industry did not have, or perhaps did not think about in. the way that they are doing now. In short, Proptech allowed connectivity and the removal of onerous tasks, which could be supplemented with a more focused customer service and customer care approach to work.
It’s safe to say that the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly altered life and business as we know it. In our current reality, the only constant now is change, and regardless of your industry, successfully navigating an increasingly volatile environment cannot be accomplished with an eye for old practices.
Knock Knock, Who's There?
The Government has confirmed that estate agents can only operate legally under the current pandemic rules if they lock their branch doors to prevent unplanned walk-ins.
This follows a warning given to a Guild of Property Professionals member in Gloucestershire following guidance from their local authority that they would be shut down unless a locked-door policy was followed and, if found not to be complying, the business would face a fine.
Following the warning the Guild contacted the local authority concerned and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to establish whether locked doors are now mandatory rather than ‘guidance’, and civil servants have confirmed that it is.
“After much deliberation, it was determined that…while the agent was following the Covid-secure guidelines, they had not had their office door locked,” says the Guild’s Compliance Officer Paul Offley (pictured).
“This situation serves as a warning that local authorities are being proactive and taking action where they believe an agent is not operating under a locked door and only seeing clients who have made an appointment.
Our Advice Line - a Source of Comfort during the Pandemic
The last seven months have been pivotal on so many levels, it really is difficult to know where to begin. We witnessed the country stop in its tracks in late March, as businesses, our clients transitioned from the office environment to WFH. A task which seems straightforward but not so; where do directors, MDs, office managers, negs, property managers and administrators begin with such a gargantuan undertaking? And yet, they did up until the 12th May when the housing market re-opened to the surprise of everyone working within the sector. What followed was a flurry of activity to get Covid-19 protocols in place for the safe re-opening of the sector, a soft-opening if you will do so many letting agents, estate agents, conveyancers, surveyors - tentatively venturing into unknown territory to be certain that health and safety came first.
Our Role
We, like everyone in business, have been affected by the virus. Our CEO, Susie became ill with virus on the day of the first Lockdown, a worrying time for us all, hoping she would make a swift recovery. Our face to face training was put on hold and with the support of Tony at Pixels and Puzzles, we moved seemlessly online, not just to train but provide clients with extremely important webinars, put together to guide letting agents through what must have felt like relentless changes to existing legislation. Susie came to the webinar party in mid-April when she was certain she could cope with the level of questions being asked; we remember after every webinar or training session, she needed a nap - post-Covid fatigue was a real thing.