Happy Monday morning everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend - albeit a very rainy one. I’m back on the blog today with my latest ‘Working from Home - The Journals’ instalment and I’m looking forward to introducing you to Tom Holloway of Taunton Property Centre. I’ve been living in Somerset for nearly 10 years so it’s a real pleasure to feature a local business. Tom + the team offer a personal, friendly approach for each and every client they work with and their reviews speak for themselves. Let me hand you over to Tom so you can find out a little more about his lockdown experience as an estate agent…

1 So, let’s talk about life in lockdown. What time do you get up? What’s your morning routine? Has this changed since working from home / being in lockdown?

Whenever my daughter wakes up! Usually sometime between 6am and 7am. Morning routine is about getting her up, ready and and off to nursery for before 8am, squeeze in a quick workout or run before being ready to get going with the day at 9am. Hasn’t changed a great deal to before lockdown.

2 How do you remain motivated while working from home?

Setting small, achievable tasks that I want to get done by a certain time or before doing something else. I think taking regular breaks helps - if I feel a bit burned out mid-afternoon then I’ll go and do something else for a while, go for a walk, watch an episode of something, before getting back to it.

3 Do you listen to any podcasts while working from home?

I’m partial to a bit of ‘Lockdown Parenting Hell’ with Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett.

4 Lockdown has impacted businesses all over the world. How can people support you? E.g. #ShopSmallBusiness, sharing a post on FB, commenting on an Instagram post etc.

Not everyone is looking to buy or sell a house every day I appreciate but if they are, get in touch! Sharing, commenting, liking, following our social media posts, interacting, leaving a review, all little things that don’t cost anything but mean so much to me and our business.

“Sharing, commenting, liking, following our social media posts, interacting, leaving a review, all little things that don’t cost anything but mean so much to me and our business.

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5 Tell me one local business that you’ve decided to support during lockdown. It could be your local coffee shop, someone who hand-makes masks etc.

Lesser Litter in town have been great; they sell packaging-free food products as part of the solution to the environmental impact of food packaging.

6 Tell me your favourite isolation cocktail / snack / treat?

Favourite treat has to be a takeaway from Skewer House… in particular their amaaaazing cheesecakes.

7 What’s your go-to ‘pick me up’ during lockdown life / working from home?

Video calls with colleagues, friends and family have been great for a pick me up and for giving me something to look forward to at the end of the week. That and my wife also works from home - if I’m having a tough time or want to bounce an idea off someone she’s only in the other room.

8 How are you keeping in touch with friends and family?

Regular catch ups in group chats with friends over WhatsApp have been great, Facetimes with family members too.

9 Name one lockdown pet peeve

It’s a small peeve but steamy glasses with face masks… not cool!

10 Name one lockdown love

The extra time with my daughter has been amazing. During the first lockdown when my industry was forced to pretty much completely stop I got to experience her going from not moving, to crawling, to walking whilst spending every day with her - I never would have been able to do this otherwise.

11 What do you have in store for your business? What’s got you feeling inspired?

We’ve got so many plans for the next 12 months with different ways of marketing and things to benefit our buyers and sellers. It’s going to be exciting to see them unfold. We’ve had an amazing start to 2021 with levels of business despite lockdown 3.0 and can’t wait to see what else is in store as restrictions ease.

12 What’s one thing you want to do after lockdown restrictions are lifted?

Hug again hopefully! That and see friends and family. We’ve got family in Spain we haven’t been able to see in over a year which has been tough so would be great to get over there.

13 What has been your favourite Netflix series to binge on during lockdown?

My guilty pleasure has been ‘Superstore’ - episodes are only 20 minutes so good if you have a short attention span.

14 Are there any books on your shelf you’d recommend reading during lockdown?

I’ve recently finished the audiobook version of Barack Obama’s autobiography - well worth a read / listen with some fascinating insights into the man.

15 What will you take from lockdown? Is there anything you’re grateful for or that you’ll do differently going forward?

I think it’s helped make me appreciate the little things in life and not take things for granted - having the support of your friends and family, having wonderful places to explore right on your doorstep, finding ways to adapt and tailor my business to the environment we find ourselves in.

16 Describe lockdown for you in three words. (E.g. life-changing, emotional, challenging).

Challenging, evolving, adapting.