We’re currently navigating unknown territory as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and for some — myself included — this can lead to a lot of anxiety, which can in turn affect your personal and professional life.

I spoke to Dr Tania Abdulezer, a UKCP accredited NLP psychotherapist and certified reverse therapist at Mind Your Language, to find out how to manage anxiety as we get to grips with our new reality.

“Anxiety occurs when we are in ‘survival mode,’ activating our emotional and reptilian brain centres,” Abdulezer explains.

When this happens, Abdulezer says, it becomes impossible for us to access our rational brain, which is typically tasked with responsible problem-solving, memory, and other complex tasks.

Right now, anxiety is fueled by uncertainty about the future, a lack of control, and significant changes in how we live and work.

The fact that many of us are working from home means we’re not benefiting from the same experiences and interactions we might have had during a typical day.

“We’re having to adapt to getting our needs met in new ways. This is challenging, especially for those with family members at home, who will now require our time and attention and will often be feeling unsettled themselves.”

The symptoms

Abdulezer says the most common anxiety symptoms are those relating to the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These can include:

Feeling nervous, restless, or tense

Increased heart rate or breathing

Feeling clammy or sweaty

Difficulty concentrating on anything other than present worries or concerns

A feeling of panic

Concerns and worries can be categorized as follows:

Historical: Triggered by things that have happened in the past. It can help to discuss these with a trusted person or trained professional.

Hysterical: Based on irrational fears. It can help to challenge the thinking behind these worries.

Helpful: Based on events or circumstances outside our control. This is where it can help to focus on what we do know, what we can do, and what we can control. Think about how much control you have and then take action to influence the outcome where possible.

Tips for thriving

There are many different ways of coping with anxiety, but Abdulezer has shared her top tips for thriving — not just surviving — during lockdown:

1. Stick to a routine

Having a routine — and sticking to it — can help manage the symptoms.

For example, going to bed every night know what to expect the next day can help  you feel at ease.

At least your routine is something you can have control over and if you’re struggling to focus while you’re working from home, get organized in the morning .

2. Exercise and listen to your body

Exercise is excellent for clearing your head.

If your government allows it, exercise outside — being in nature can really

If you’ve been asked to stay indoors, exercise at home.

Try and rotate your exercise routine to keep things interesting.

Listen to your body. Be kind to yourself and others.

3. Stay connected

Make sure you stay in touch with loved ones. Schedule regular video calls and phone calls.

Reach out to people via WhatsApp or SMS. Share your concerns with people you trust.

It’s important to take time for yourself but don’t become too isolated.

4. Ignore the news (as much as you can)

This is going to sound strange coming from a journalist but try and avoid the news as much as you can.

Constantly reading, watching, or listening to news stories can be pretty upsetting so protect yourself.

I’m not saying you should forego all news coverage but try and limit it to once or twice a day.

If you find your friends are constantly sharing coronavirus-related news or memes on Whatsapp, mute the groups, and limit how much time you spend on social media.

5. Stay healthy

Eat as healthily as possible.

Ensure your meals are balanced and you stay hydrated.

6. Make time for yourself

Make time to unwind.

Do things you enjoy: Baking, meditating, reading, journaling, or listening to music.

Be creative and find a ‘happy’ place in either your home or garden and spend some time alone there every day.

Practice gratitude and mindfulness: Give the Grateful App or Calm app a go.

Make a feel good list featuring activities and people that are sure to put a smile on your face — and keep it handy!

7. Ask for help

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, and if your symptoms become unmanageable, let someone you trust know, and seek help as appropriate.

If necessary speak to a doctor about being referred to a trained therapist or counselor for help.

Remember you are not alone.

What European tech startups can learn from Asia’s COVID-19 market response

We may not be out of the woods yet — not by any means — but as a number of countries around the world begin to ease their lockdown restrictions, the attention of Europe’s tech businesses is turning from concerns of the now to what comes next.

In the UK, the government’s protective measures for businesses and employees will ease some of the immediate pain for hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of employees.

Included in its commitments is a £1.25bn package , the ‘Future Fund,’ to support innovative startups that were not covered by the government’s initial rescue schemes — by matching up to £250m of private investment and offering a further £550m of loans and grants.

This follows commitments from other European nations, most notably France and Germany that have led the way on funding, loans and grants in support of their respective tech sectors.

These measures will be crucial in powering a vital part of Europe’s economy through the coming months.

While established businesses can often rely on loyal customers returning to drive revenue, or a long-term investor embedded into the company fabric to keep funds flowing — for a nascent startup approaching its first round of investment, a pause in investment activity could perhaps be fatal.

But how worried should Europe’s tech sector be? The ultimate economic price of COVID-19 is years from being realized, but there are already lessons we can take from the countries who are ahead of us in this fight that can give us reason to be cheerful.

If we look beyond Europe and towards Asia, analysis of the market shows that throughout the early period of the pandemic in China, deals were still getting done across the board.

While investment initially dropped, almost $10 billion still went into the sector in January and February — a period when China was hit by COVID-19 the hardest.

This should serve as a confidence boost to European start ups that we are not heading for a stalemate between founders and funders.

The prevalence of investment may not be at the same level as before the pandemic, but for innovative companies with technological solutions that can help the world overcome this challenge, the doors remain wide open.

The ones to watch

By looking at the areas of investment in China over the past months, it quickly becomes clear which tech sub-sectors investors and startups in Europe should keep an eye on.

There, the focus was on enterprise service, healthcare, online education, and consumer/ retail tech — which speaks to the areas that have seen the highest growth overall. It is safe to suggest these are the verticals where we will continue to see healthy investment in Europe.

Just think about the types of company that has gone from being a luxury option, to becoming a necessity in lockdown.

Deliveroo, Just East and other European food delivery apps in the absence of eating out, Zoom for those office meetings and presentations, or even banking solutions such as Klarna that allow customers to spread their payments over time — a vital aid for people earning less than their usual salary.

There is also an increased importance in cloud infrastructure and services, as well as autonomous vehicles and robots for essential deliveries.

Tech is dictating our new way of life, and smart investors will have spotted the trends early and put their money where it matters. Smart startups will have shifted their strategy to respond to this moment, to show what makes them necessary for this moment in time.

But these investments are not just for the now, they are for the next generation as well. Humans are creatures of habit and defined by their circumstances; while we do not know what the state of the world will be in three months, six months, one year or five years, there will more than likely be a permanent change of behaviour that will mean anyone not yet caught up with the fourth industrial revolution, will be forced to in order to sustain itself.

Just look at Irish retailer Primark – the definitive example of a business that has thrived offline while the world has digitized. From turning over €735 million per month, since its stores shut on 22 nd March, the retailer’s sales have plummeted to zero. In the wake of this crisis, no company will be able to afford to risk going without an online presence.

Successful companies emerge from any economic downturn and this one will be no different. But for individual businesses, overcoming this in the short- and medium-term will require a combination of their own creativity, government support, and the confidence of investors to keep putting their money into the innovations that can make a difference.

If activity in China is anything to go by, there are lessons that will provide reassurance this is possible.

This righteous bot trolls hypocritical brands posting about International Women’s Day

It’s that time of year again: inspiration porn is everywhere, image libraries are seeing huge downloads of diverse females in suits, and women are organizing their own celebrations without pay.

Yes, it’s International Women’s Day .

But what happens when we look behind the sickly efforts of corporations? The back-patting social media posts? The tokenization ?

Well, you’ll find a fucking huge gender pay gap.

Introducing… the Gender Pay Gap Bot

Today some anonymous activists launched a campaign on Twitter to raise awareness about the gender pay gap . It explains:

That’s right: it uses a bot to name and shame. Excellent.

It’s a mighty, powerful fuck you to corporations and their carefully curated social media posts, and I like it. Some choice examples:

The bot is using data sourced from a UK government database .  This is great, especially when you consider the state of women in the UK government.

The UK is governed by a conservative government, where women make up just 33% (225) of the elected representatives in the House of Commons, and only six ministers in the current Cabinet (27%) are women.

On top of that, only 28% (229) of members of the House of Lords are women. And no, I don’t understand how the House of Lords can exist in 2022 either.

One thing’s for certain though: that’s a lot of men making decisions on behalf of women.

Fortunately, the campaign also highlights some companies that are doing things right:

Great to see!

A day doesn’t make up for a year of gender discrimination

However, the reality is that equality and inclusion go far beyond an event or campaign. I haven’t been at TNW for long, but I’m pleased to work for a company where pay rates are the same regardless of gender.

This is achieved by having a salary house assign a wage level (or two) to a role based on experience and qualifications, meaning each person gets paid the same amount for that role.

The company hasn’t always been blameless when it comes to speaker representation or remuneration. However, TNW is currently working to ensure that half of our conference speakers are female or gender diverse.

I’ve written about the lack of gender diversity at tech conferences before. Many of us are familiar with attending events where we feel unwelcome, such as through the use of marketing gimmicks like “ booth babes .”

Yes, this is still a thing, even in Berlin , a city where International Women’s Day is a public holiday .

So please take a closer look at all the companies blasting out about their great female employees today.

Ask yourself, how many women are in management ? How many are board members? Do they foster an inclusive workplace culture? What practices do they have to deal with workplace sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination? Do they provide maternity and paternity leave?

We’re privileged to work in tech, the wealthiest industry of all, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Fixing the gender gap takes more than a day each year.