Time is precious. Don’t gripe.
I looked around me and discovered how absorbed people have become with the COVID-19 crisis. There was a torrent of information. Numbers, fatalities, economic costs swarmed us every day.
Naturally, we want to stay informed so that we can do our part to alleviate this crisis and resolve it. But fear turned to panic for some as well as paranoia resulting in mistrusts among human interaction.
Before one realizes it, we are well into April and Spring has sprung. Stricter measures have been implemented and the virus is still wrecking lives. However, we also note the improvements brought about by recent measures such as social distancing. Ongoing findings of the possible effectiveness of Remdesivir showed some promise. Companies ramped up equipment manufacturing and delivery is in progress.
People just need to trust that the authorities are doing their utmost and we do our part by wearing masks, washing hands correctly, social distancing and staying at home as recommended. Eventually, the infection will pass.
Meanwhile, each of us needs to live our life fruitfully during this major disruption. Let us not wallow in self-pity or frustration.
Time has come to a standstill. We have much time on our hands so make good use of it. Being confined at home for the sake of not spreading the COVID-19 virus can be an advantage. It is hard but you can capitalize on it.
1 Reading is probably the most neglected activity since my graduation. Other than keeping up with technological and digital changes, there is a lot of information that is relevant to today’s world.
It is meaningful to embark on other interests and disciplines. Philosophy, history, biographies, travel, cuisine, culture, art, music, etc. It never occurred to me to explore, being swept by the daily routine. Now, new interests are sparked and knowledge really enriches one’s life.
Make it a point to read a few articles a day. Choose from authors who have a huge following and those who are specialists in their fields. By reading the postings of top writers in medium, I have acquired the valuable tips that I try to apply to my writing.
2 Sprucing up.
I am sure there is a lot of catching up to do. Things are changing so fast. Last year when I learned to create my own website and e-commerce site, I found out that there was a ruling regarding GDPR compliance which requires all website owners to protect EU users about their data privacy. Since this was not taught in the class, I finally used this time to do some reading and make my websites GDPR compliant.
At the office, we went through all the files and threw out the antiquated documents and were very pleased with the spaces freed up. It happens at home too. One can get so busy with work and travel that all these unnecessary ‘hoarding’ was unconscious. Make your home and office more pristine. This will counter the negative effects of being cooped up at home!
3 Do it now. If one does not pick up a new skill, learn an interesting hobby, get fit or fitter, imbibe more knowledge, it is not due to the lack of time. It is due to the lack of discipline! Challenge yourself and become a better, improved person. Wow yourself and be an inspiration to others. This enforced free time may not happen again.
With today’s technology and the presence of youtube, one can learn almost anything and start a second career. Everything you want to know such as yoga, cooking a certain cuisine, creating a website, designing ebooks and so on are all accessible.
This was an opportunity to watch my helper in action as she cooks. She is a very good cook and I have documented her dishes. This is better than signing up for a cooking class. I have created an e-book on her cuisine and this could be a side hustle.
Experiment with new technology such as zoom to communicate with family and friends as it is not just for the corporate world. Empower yourself with online courses and find your niche.
4 Get Creative. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, I noticed the adage of “ Invention is the mother of necessity” is true. Some people posted a quick way to make a face shield under one minute, some shared more life hacks that are so practical. Yes, it is time to stimulate the right side of the brain which has to do with creativity.
Staying at home, we managed to get productive in other ways. Like doing some gardening. Now we have our own organic sprouts, lime, dill, basil leaves, and other herbs.
5 Be a volunteer.
Manpower is always needed. If one wants to be out there during a lockdown, there are roles that they can sign up and contribute their valuable services. Here, we need supervisory roles to help advise people who are not doing social distancing to do so. There are charitable organizations that need people who are tech-savvy to crowdfund on social media.
In summary, during this lockdown which we address as a circuit breaker, a creative way of putting it, it would bode well to challenge yourself, get fitter, learn a new skill, gain fresh knowledge, become useful and productive in many ways and emerge a better person for it.
If you fail to do so, you never lacked time but you lacked discipline and ideas.
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