4 Lessons To Learn From The Pandemic

With the vaccine on its way, the COVID-19 pandemic is still far from over. However, it’s been with us long enough to clearly expose fault lines and to highlight some lessons that we clearly can learn sooner than later. I recently created a survey on my social media (@julia.a.holton) asking followers what they wished they knew before the pandemic hit. I received over 300 answers and put them in a form of the lessons to learn. 

Lesson 1. Have a side hustle 

Millions of workers lost jobs or faced a big drop in hours due to COVID-19. This fact combined with the fact that millionaires, in general, have seven streams of income probably shows you where I am going. 

If you're looking for ways you can earn an extra income, creating a side hustle and earning a respectable amount of cash, and doing it quickly, might be well within your reach. No matter where you live and what is your main professional niche, thanks to technology, making money is no longer a head-scratcher. As long as you have wifi, you can jump into the huge amount of opportunities and earn some extra income or even maybe put a start for something bigger than a side hustle. 

Lesson 2. Prioritize your mental health 

Most of us prefer to ignore the topic of mental health on a regular day. Speaking about it makes us uncomfortable, pointless and even painful. Throughout the years we've learned to cover up our mental health issues and convince ourselves it's not something worth prioritizing. However, the COVID-19 events uncovered many issues and showed many Canadians that some fundamental work needs to be done in the mental strength department. The overwhelming wave of disturbing news on a daily basis, isolation, the major change of routines, loss of population around the world, unpredictable future- all these factors affected many of us.

According to the recent survey by SunLife, more than 50% of Canadians report that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted their mental health. We can, and we must better manage our mental health. Life may not come with a map, but everyone will experience twists and turns. Each change affects people differently, bringing a unique flood of thoughts, strong emotions and uncertainty. Where to start? Try working on developing a stronger resilience. It will help you adapt well over time to life-changing situations and stressful situations. You can also adjust your daily routine: more daylight, less junk food, more smiles and short dances between Zoom meetings. 

Lesson 3. Learn two new skills every year

The section that got the most hits was I wish I was better at tech, cooking home meals, online communication, etc. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed where we are lacking and need to catch up. “In a fast-moving, competitive world, being able to learn new skills is one of the keys to success. It’s not enough to be smart — you need to always be getting smarter,” says motivational psychologist and author Heidi Grant Halvorson.

Self-improvement can feel overwhelming. After you decide about what you want to be better at, choose one or two skills to focus on at a time, and break that skill down into manageable goals. For example, if you’re trying to become more assertive, you might focus on speaking up more often in meetings by pushing yourself to talk within the first five minutes.

Lesson 4. Be more creative

How did creativity make the list? Let's start with the definition. Creativity; the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. Do you remember when you were a kid, you could create a space station out of kitchen supplies and build a village using sofa cushions? However, the older we become, the less creativity enters our everyday routines. Research shows that creative thinking involves making new connections between different regions of the brain, which is accomplished by cultivating divergent thinking skills and deliberately exposing oneself to new experiences and to learning. While research psychologists are interested in tapping innovative thinking, clinical psychologists sometimes encourage patients to use artistic expression as a way to confront difficult feelings.

Do I need to say more? Ok, here it is.

Creativity is the route to growing self-awareness. As we create we begin to access our thoughts, feeling and beliefs. Being creative is meditative and results in stress relief. I am sure creativity got enough winning points. Listen to music, expose yourself to arts, start a new hobby or renew an old one, write an essay, take random photos, whatever and however you decide to boost your creativity, go for it and thank me later. 

Written by Julia Holton