While the worry and restrictions that have come along with Coronavirus have been challenging, like many tricky times, there have also been positives that have come from the lock-downs, and it has also taught us some amazing things about ourselves and others. We will certainly be happy to see the back end of COVID-19, but here are ten things we hope will stick around long after it has left.
Be it from a business perspective (check out how these Aussie businesses pivoted to keep the doors open) to how we’ve adapted to living and working at home 24/7 or stayed in touch with our loved ones via video conferencing; us Aussies have proved to be an adaptive bunch.
A testament to our adaptability, not only did we learn to work, study and live largely at home, for many of us it also became our gym. Some of us went hardcore (or got in before everything sold out) with large scale gym equipment, others took up online classes set up by their regular gym or activity of choice, while others discovered the variety of fitness classes on YouTube. While we all gave fitness at home a go during lock-downs, most of us are happy to see the gyms opening again!
From important clients and team meetings to family and friend catch ups (you haven’t dealt with frustration until you’ve tackled the ten friend catch up – side conversations really don’t work on Zoom!) we’ve all stayed in touch while staying safe in isolation.
A quote that has been doing the rounds in various wordings goes along the lines of “we have discovered what we’ve missed is each other and shared experiences, not stuff.’” Obviously, toilet paper being the exception toward the beginning of COVID!
While there are households out there that can no doubt TP their way through several suburbs this Halloween, just as many were caught out by the panic buying and left with none. Some of us learned to ration the paper - and any household ‘wasters’ were no doubt urged to pull in their 20 piece per wipe ways, while others got creative with bidets (yep, there was a rush on these despite the several hundred dollar price tags.)
A lot of us have gotten to know our neighbors better, from driveway drinks to checking in on each other to ensure we all had what we needed. When shared meals with mates were out, a few beverages over the fence has made for many more cheerful evenings – with no Uber home required! It has been equally heartening to read the many news stories of people helping strangers out – adding a few extra cans in their cart for the elderly who can’t get back to the store each day to dropping off a box of produce to those who are immuno-compromised.
While no one ever loved the ‘office hero’, who bravely -albeit loudly – sniffles and hacks their way through the work day believing the office couldn’t possibly get by without them, COVID-19 has taught us the office can get by just fine without us when we are ill. In fact, it gets by far finer when everyone keeps their germs to themselves – and hey, if you’re convinced you’re indispensable, you now know you can work from home!
Read up on tips to keep yourself (and others) safe when returning to work.
As well as creating physically separate spaces for our work equipment as much as possible – nothing spoils a rainy Saturday TV binge like your work computer blinking in the corner of the lounge room. We’ve also had to learn to create strong mental barriers. While it has always been a good idea to avoid checking work emails out of hours on your phone, it’s even more important when our work computer is right there, making it far easier to log in and fix whatever issue arises. And when it comes to separating home from work, there have been more than a few excruciating examples with colleagues seeing things they’d rather not during video meetings!
If there is one thing the extra time at the hand basins and the sold-out hand cleaner has made clear, it’s that a lot of us weren’t washing our hands as often or as thoroughly as we should. While we will no doubt find a happier medium than the skin drying regimes many adopted in the earliest days of COVID-19, we do predict people will keep quite a few of the more sanitary habits going for years to come.
While a lot of us found out being bored doesn’t mean we can suddenly bake bread, we’ve also found out there is a joy in tackling the most basic of activities whether we rock them or not (anyone else’s veggie seeds refuse to sprout?)