It is needless to say that right now is still a crazy time for all us. We are all being effected one way or another. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones, jobs, and events that they were looking forward to. It is also needless to say that this has bean a time of massive change. I know that most people don't like change in general, while I have always been in the minority that does. Of course this depends on what kind of change we are talking about. No one is happy about the change we are seeing in ways of more death and sickness, economic loss, and loss of hope that we may be experience. However, there is and will be positive change to come out of this as well. Let's think forward a bit and focus on how we can see positive changes from this moving forward. Here are just a few changes that we can adapt to now and going forward.
Working Remotely. Many people and companies did not work from home simply just because they didn't want to change. Despite the fact employee satisfaction could be higher and costs to employer could be lower, many companies did not want to become more flexible. With the pandemic, this became and forced necessary change. This will change the culture in a positive way with increased flexibility and job satisfaction. Of course there is no guarantees and none of us know for sure how people will react once this subsides, but at least we know we can function more than we thought we could remotely. Personally, I have been working remotely for a few years to some capacity and always have found it productive, often more productive than in the office. Every situation is different and some jobs can't be done remotely, but this at least should definitely be a shift in the positive direction. Miss going into the office? I'm sure most people will still have the option to go in for the most part, and like me, two days in the office and three days remote seems to be a very happy medium. This should also decrease traffic and time wasted commuting. So ultimately, this puts points on the board for productivity in the long run.
Meeting Virtually. On a similar note, we can have other types of meeting virtually as well. While this should not be a replacement for meeting in person all the time, this again can save time. Why drive to a meeting that can simply be done virtually, even without a pandemic. When it is safer to have gatherings in person, they will and should come back as we need to have human contact. However, logistically, we can get more accomplished by meeting virtually and saving on transportation time for some meetings. This is not to mention the ease of having online training and seminars. Why fly across the country if you can have the sessions virtually. Don't get me wrong, networking in person is still valuable also but won't always need to take place in person. This could save a lot of time and costs and allow you to have more time to do other things. With so many people now more more comfortable with this type of technology, this will be possible.
New habits. Whenever there is disruption, we have an opportunity to develop new habits. We may have a clean slate because our own schedules and those around us are also having their schedules and routines disrupted. On the dark side of the coin, we could develop or strengthen bad habits. It is up to us on how we want to handle this wave of change. Let's make it an opportunity for positive change and new habits to bring us into our next season of life to a much better pattern.
More community and propensity to help other people. Whenever a tragedy hits, people tend to come together. May we put our differences aside and come together and help each out. We all need what others have, and right now maybe we shouldn't do that in person, but we can later and now we can still reach out to each other through calls, text, video chats, emails, etc. May we remember each other when this is over as well. People were in need of encouragement and in other ways before this, and will be afterwards as well. Let us help others reach their maximum level of productivity as well. Life is about more than just ourselves.
Save Money. I will comment on this briefly, as I know this is a tough economic time for many. However, this will force all of us to consider spending our money more wisely and budget. We should budget our money just as we should budget our time.
Thank you for reading this blog and I hope you are doing well. This is a difficult time and as many are saying, we are in this together and will get through this together. Let's make it that we get through this together more productive then we have ever been before.