BAU or business as usual is a very common parlance in, well, the ‘business’ world. In a nutshell, what it means is that life goes on. This holds true not just for business but for life in general too.
As in businesses, BAU means the normal course of operations, routine tasks, and standard procedures that any organization follows for stability and continuity, in our life also there is a regular pattern or routine that we follow. These activities are not just driven by our physiological or biological constitution, they also have a significant psychological and social dimension.
So, what is BAU at a personal and social level?
At a personal level, your daily routine and tasks, even seemingly as insignificant as eating, sleeping, waking up, brushing your teeth, getting dressed etc. are BAU. This list can grow to be quite long and descriptive depending on who you are, what you do and what stage of life you are at. For example, for a student, BAU will involve going to school or college, studying, working on assignments, socializing with friends etc.
On the other hand, for a stay-at-home person, it would include doing household chores such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, dishes etc. For a retired person, BAU would look completely different than a working professional. The bottom line is that we all have a routine that we follow to run our life smoothly and this is our BAU.
However, from time to time certain events take place which can upset this routine. Especially negative events. Negative events disrupt the rhythm of our life, often derailing it or in some extreme cases bringing it to a grinding halt. In early 2020, she lost her mother and her marriage came to a sudden end. This was followed by COVID lockdown. All of this happened in less than 3 months. She was without a job, with two teenagers and an elderly father to care for. At that point in time, it felt as if life held no meaning.
Crisis after crisis can leave you feeling untethered and helpless – she felt the same way. She was at a loss, without any clue about getting her life back on track. All her time went into grieving for her loss and feeling overwhelmed. She had no control over her emotions; all negative emotions – anger, grief, despair. Even basic chores seemed like impossible mountains to climb. She was caught in a downward spiral and her family started getting impacted by her condition.
She realised that she had to do something to break this pattern but she did not know what or how. She started with stopping the medicines so that she would not feel drained of energy, at least. Once, that happened, she decided that she would try to follow a timetable to complete her daily tasks and chores. It started with setting a time to wake up in the morning. No matter at what time she slept the previous night, she would force herself to wake up at the scheduled time.
With this, she was able to get on with doing other things as per the timetable. Because we were in the lockdown period, there was no house help available so all household chores were also to be done ourselves. Initially, she pushed herself to stick to the routine and get everything done. It was not easy but her children pitched in and they would encourage her. They divided the workload between the three of us and supported me to keep going.
In a couple of weeks, following the routine did not seem that big a challenge. In fact, it brought some sense of control to her life. It dawned upon her that while all the setbacks she faced were out of her control, what she did with the tasks at hand was completely in her control. And regaining some control over her life is what she needed the most at that stage in her life.
As she would go through her chores from day to day, she had less time to dwell on her grief. It was still there but it was not at the forefront anymore. Having a to-do list gave her a goal every morning and at the end of the day, completing it every day gave her a sense of achievement.
This helped to piece her confidence back. Among many things she learned in, and from, this phase of life, one is the importance of running “Business As Usual”. From getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, getting ready – everything feels like a challenge but getting it all done will give you some sense of control. What happens to you is out of your control, but what you can control is what you do. To be able to retain and exercise some control over things that you do, no matter how mundane can give you the anchoring you require.
BAU gives you resilience in the face of adversity. Coping with setbacks becomes relatively easier when you accept them without letting them derail your life completely. The ability to do this gives you the strength and courage to bounce back. When you realise that life goes on, that it must go on, you discover your capacity to endure, move on and move ahead.
Being able to maintain some semblance of normality when nothing is going your way also helps your emotional well-being. It emphasizes the need to address emotions, seek support, and practice self-care as individuals navigate through challenging periods in life. In all the turbulence around you, having a route and sticking to it gives you the comfort of familiarity. This goes a long way in adapting to change – when everything is changed, everything is new, everything is different and you cannot make sense of it, BAU is the anchor that keeps you tethered to certainty while you navigate the changed environment.
In essence, a holistic view of BAU encompasses the idea that life continues, evolves, and perseveres through various setbacks, failures, and uncertainties. It celebrates the human spirit's capacity to adapt, grow, and find meaning in the face of adversity, inspiring hope and resilience in all aspects of life. Irrespective of the setbacks or failures one may face, life does not stop and one must carry on with Business as Usual.
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