It seems suddenly like the planet earth is stomped with great brutality under the rapid footprints of coronavirus or COVID-19. This global pandemic has burned out governments, locked down countries, crashed the economies, and has let down many on mainly two fronts – life and jobs. With that, all eyes turn to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the latest statistics and effective precaution measures.
According to John Hopkins University, coronavirus has infected over 318,000 people globally and with 14,000 losing their lives to it. Several industries, such as hospitality, energy, leisure, and airlines, have received a severe hit, where about 37 million domestic jobs can be at stake of layoffs in the US.
When the pandemic takes over the world, and there’s no apparent cure, social isolation may probably be the savior. But has your career been compromised or is on the verge of taking the ‘cut-off’ pill? Hope gives rise to a new prospect in your career if and only you’re determined to encounter the pandemic. Here are a few ways to keep your health secure and thrive in your career during difficult times like these.
Employ Your Transportation Time
It takes about 26.5 minutes for an average worker to commute to his job. As per the situation of most countries worldwide, being quarantined is not easy. Your pattern has been broken, where you’re no longer to walk or drive to your workplace.
Using the commute time to cultivate healthy habits shouldn’t hurt. Use it for personal care, or cook something within that time for breakfast. Or maybe shift time to a mid-day power nap to keep your strength intact.
Look Out For The Sun And Fresh Air
Driving to the work, or on the train or even working in a closed place with a glaring screen, can be stressful and hectic. Given that the pandemic is running the gamut of economic downfall, there’s no reason you should miss the sun. But how is the sun related to your career?
Your health is the main connector between both. You see, whenever you’re exposed to sunlight, your brain produces serotonin and lowers your blood pressure. It also helps to suppress the stress hormone, called cortisol. Even if you’re stressed about your career going nowhere fast, a little bit of sun can be relaxing and energetic.
Speak And Show Motivation
When you’re focused on building your career and are determined to succeed at it, times like these can hammer right at your prospects. Losing motivation becomes a rough trip down the mountain hill, and the last thing you know is panic.
But panicking isn’t going to help. Amid of having lost the track for a while, think of how others are coping up. For instance, teachers are encouraging their students to study online. They’re employing panic-gogy (panic and pedagogy) as a means to help the learners adapt and familiarize themselves with online learning.
If you feel like you’re shattering, find motivation around you. If you’re a teacher, go online. If you’re a business owner or hold a domestic job, explore the inside domains of your career. If you’re one of the influences, digital marketers, black motivational speakers, or HR personnel, brace all your positive experiences and share throughout the community via social media posts, video messages, blogs and other media.
Practice being thoughtful of others who are losing jobs has had already been laid off. You will eventually see how your positive message is helping them thrive through such critical times and you’d feel the good rush yourself.
Read Inspiration Stories From Similar Times
Primarily humans, we lookout for inspiration and stories to fill the gaps in our experience and existence. It might be your first time experiencing such a crisis, but it might also be a way to understand your situation and develop your ability to stand still. If you pick stories from the past, you will find hope and might even discover great opportunities.
Companies like IBM, General Electric, Disney, Microsoft, and several others started when the economies shut down. Take Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Richard Branson and others like them had a rough start on the way to laying the bricks of their giant conglomerate businesses. They’re humans like you who sprung back when putting under career and life pressures; if they can do it, so can you.
Work From Home Like You’re At Your Workplace
Staying at your home and working at the same time might give you a freelancer-like vibe, but in reality, it indicates a significant shift in your productivity level. Since no one knows till when the pandemic is going to last, constructing a workplace-like set up at your home and using your work attire can symbolically impact the way you work at home.
Shifting your mindset and surrounding from a refreshing look and feel to a workplace can be a bit of work, but it can help you perform better and keep your work and home life organized. Adapt to the remote work lifestyle to develop a robust yet flexible edge to both your experience and skills. Those pajamas might be too comfy and tempting, but what’s to lose when you’re going to get busy the healthy way?
Expand Your Professional Network
You can’t interact with your boss, manager, colleagues, or clients in person due to the pandemic outbreak. This speed bump can feel a tad bit harsh, but you’ve got an entire community of professionals around you. Via your work profile on different platforms, you can still scour how others in your line of work are doing. If you’re actively looking for a job, you still have hope as several companies like Amazon, Walmart, Domino’s and alike are hiring amid the pandemic.
LinkedIn is a good place to connect with a professional community and interact with it. Here, posting articles, responding to relevant queries, sharing ideas, and engaging can help introduce new opportunities. In-person contact and remote access might be the new predominant notion, but supporting your career through the tech means must be used to nurture professional relationships.
Fine-Tune Your Routine
According to Gartner, 88% of companies have called for work-from-home measures for their employees as their strategy for coping with the COVID-19 fear. As remote working isn’t more of an option anymore, you will be adapting to a work-life balancing routine. You will see how you can organize your day to day struggle to maintain your daily hours and setting rules for your workplace. On the same side, you will be setting work-home boundaries while juggling both consistently.
From the point you wake up, make sure you’ve planned to use your time effectively. If you’re able to excel in demonstrating your effectiveness during this critical season, chances are you’ll stand out of the odd with valuable management skills.
Your Career Doesn’t Have To Suffer
A successful career demands your emotional, mental, and physical fitness. Stressful and strenuous times of unemployment require you to understand that the labor market will shift from highs and lows and vice versa. Above everything else, taking care of yourself and maintaining a positive outlook will only help fuel your passion for growing. And there won’t be any virus or pandemic that can stop you from glowing.