How to be reasonable during the COVID pandemic

This is my personal manifesto for work and business during the COVID pandemic.

Considering that the COVID pandemic is predicted to last for a few years, and that this will have a negative impact on a lot of people, I’m proposing a few ideas to help us go through the difficult times.

The effects of the pandemic are visible in many ways: some miss socialising, some miss going to the office, some have to work with kids at home which is difficult. There’s maybe less exercising happening. Productivity is affected for those who work better in groups.

It’s very likely that for many people this prolonged situation will become harder and harder to deal with.

The proposal

First, I’d like to propose that we share more with those around us how we feel in this tough times, how we’re dealing with the situation. Sharing how we feel will encourage others to share they feel. And in sharing with each other, we all feel less lonely going through this. Because we’re reminded we’re not alone in this.

Start to look out for each other more. Do check-ins when we have meetings. Take on less work.

Give others more slack, especially if they’re more impacted by the situation.

And rather than waiting for this to become harder to deal with, I suggest we start doing this in advance, build up the habit. This way we’ll be able to use it when the times get tough and maybe we’re not going to be as patient and tolerant.

Long term, this builds a culture of resilience over time. Everyone will appreciate it, be more engaged and value being together in this.

And we’ll all want to stick around.