Adjusting Our Platform for the “New Normal”

By Julia Grover-Barrey OTR/L
Founder of In-Tuned®

We are in the midst of a major (hopefully very temporary) shift in how we do our work. The type of work typically involving face-to-face, hands-on human interaction, materials, adaptive supports and tools.

Poof…gone.

The question is: Will we respond, or merely react?

Stopgap: something one turns to in the absence of the usual means or source of supply, according to Merriam-Webster.

Stopgap measures are at hand…we must create them.

Here is what my brain looks like at 5 a.m. jotting down my stopgap measures for my face-to-face work. I was simultaneously trying to get in my workout.

Yes, it’s messy, but I will clean it up. I have to start somewhere.

Moving forward will be different. We will have to go outside routines and challenge comfort zones if we are to be of use.

Keep an open mind on the giving and the receiving end of new platforms. Don’t be restrictive in your willingness to present solutions or accept what others have on offer.

Give generously if possible…be where possibility lives.

Offer choices, because choice reduces resistance to new models…they are more easily adopted.

Receive with gratitude, because we can all stand to learn something new.

But, amidst all of this newness and adaptation have firm boundaries…especially on your time. It’s easy for the adrenaline pumped into the “new normal” of the situation to override and overwhelm our nervous and immune systems. We can easily get caught up in the “Well what else do I have to do anyway?” mentality.

Step up, step outside the box, but keep your equilibrium.

Julia