Life During Quarantine As We Experienced It

We all have been going through this coronavirus Safer At Home lockdown in Wisconsin together. In this video Anthony Karls gets on Zoom and chats with some of our attorneys and staff to learn how they have been surviving the quarantine while working from home and staying safe.

We Must Take Time To Show Empathy For Others
We take time to remember those on lockdown at home with children. Those hard and fast “No Tv” rules no longer exist, and now they’re juggling work, homeschool, and playing Frozen on repeat because at least that means the kids are occupied for an hour and 49 mins.

Family Is So Important
All of us have at least one member of our family who is in one of the high-risk categories. That is why we stay in. We take time to reach out and stay connected.

Being Kind Is Incredibly Important
Self-care and checking on the mental health of others is very important. Wash your face, cut yourself some slack, and acknowledge that this is a problem for everyone. However, eating an entire chocolate cake is not “self care”. Practice portion control. Eat half and save the rest for dinner.

Try Out New Things
Being bad at something you just started is great, at least you have room to grow. For instance, if you decide to take up piano, use the tools that are appropriate for your skill level. Use this time to learn something new.

Working From Home Is A Gift
Those of us who weren’t previously working from home, our worlds have opened up to brand new possibilities. Pajamas. Working from the couch. Switching it up to see how productive you are on the hardwood floor. Learning how to work with a 60-pound dog in your lap, the possibilities are endless.

The Kitchen Is A Place Of Creativity
That is, if you have the time, and most of us do at the moment. “When I got tired of looking at my walls, I pulled out my tent for some holiday living room camping. I then decided that the holiday should be spent in Italy, so all of my food was attempts at authentic Italian meals. I said ‘attempts’ and I meant it; the coffee was great though.” – Christie

If You Live Alone, It Can Be Difficult Right Now
Living alone can be great. Living alone is great until it’s not, like when you’re sick (not covid) and your family can’t come and visit to make sure you’re ok. When everyone you know has a yard they can go out in and you don’t even have sun coming through your windows most of the time. If you have a roof over your head and food in your fridge, you are blessed, and in the meantime, Zoom will keep us from climbing the walls.

Speaking of Zoom, let’s talk about those video chat reunions!
Nothing like a global pandemic to inspire video reunions with friends you haven’t seen in years! It’s not a conscious decision usually, sometimes connections just fade away, but all it takes is for one person to reach out to bring people back together again.

What We Thought Was Important Has Changed
All it took was a global response to a virus that people initially dismissed as a bad flu, and we are now reevaluating how we exist in the world. We reach out to those we love when before we couldn’t even be bothered to text them back. We make masks for our neighbors to try and prevent them from getting sick. We refuse to physically interact with anyone we see because the probability of getting their family sick is too big a risk to take. Quarantine is a chance for us to be creative, to get things done, to prioritize our lives and what we value most.

Meet Us Monday is a Sterling series where we meet our team, learn about the Sterling culture, and explore the Sterling core values; finish with integrity, lead by serving, compete with a warrior spirit and embrace and drive change.

We hope these stories provide insight into building an amazing team that often wins, learns through losing, and continues to grow together.