Points to ponder

What a test it is to isolate! I can’t help but feel that every hour takes about three days to pass. Minor tasks are stretched to fill the hours. This morning I happily spent a whole hour brushing my teeth, one tooth at a time…. Never have my teeth been so well cared for – but please let’s not address the hair situation…..

As the world waits….and waits… for the current situation to improve, the strategist in me is chomping at the bit, imagining how new learned behaviour will become the norm to sustain our existence on this beautiful earth.

Increasingly, I’ve been pondering about how different things will continue to be once this wait is over. Our best strategy is to consider how these newly-acquired “skills” might steer us forward in the “new” way. Just two months ago, who would have thought that:

• Social isolation would become an expertise we might one day put in our resumes
• Physical distancing would be a skill to brag about
• Working virtually, top half fully dressed (let’s not talk about the bottom half), would be commonplace, even when working with large teams
• The real estate footprint in workplaces would no longer be the huge issue it once was, because mobile working would be the “way we work around here”, wherever “here” is
• It would be acceptable, even preferable to holler from across the street to our neighbours, telling (or yelling to) them about our day’s events
• Hugs and kisses would be hazardous to the health of our loved ones
• Wearing a face mask would not be frowned upon – remember when burqas and turbans were intolerable to many?
• Balaclavas would become fashionable; people looking like thugs would be totally fine. One might even look at them enviously, wondering where they purchased such fashion items
• Kitchen gloves would be admired by fellow shoppers loping around furtively in grocery stores
• Singing at the top of your lungs or playing an instrument, however badly, from your balcony, would be something the neighborhood looked forward to. And no-one would call 911….
• Leaving food on the doorstep of your friend’s house, then running away, would be “thoughtful”
• Phoning a friend to sing them happy birthday when they live two houses from you would bring tears of happiness
• The words “Come in!” would be blasphemous if a friend knocked at your door
• Moving to the other side of the street when out walking and seeing people walking towards you, would be considered polite
• Not boarding a bus during rush hour because there were more than 10 people on it would be the sensible thing to do
• Technology would become the solution/salvation for almost everything
• Home-schooling would not be a trend just for some – it would be how school works
• Cooking with substitutes would lead to creative cuisine appreciated by the whole family, who have now forgotten what authentic dishes are supposed to taste like
• And on it goes…….

How do we turn some of these into assets that work for us? How do we ready ourselves for the new reality that is to come?

As I face another day, not entirely sure which day of the week it’s going to be tomorrow, I’m drawn to think about how efficiently one adapts to new things. I compare this experience to the one I lived growing up in East Africa many, many years ago….

More on that in my next post – stay tuned!

As night falls, I move happily on to my next task - combing each strand of hair one at a time, until it’s bedtime……..

Stay safe, everyone!

I’d love to hear your comments on this post! Please email me at: bernadette@gogettercoaching.com .

**_Are you wondering what the world and workplace will look like in a few months and how you might position yourself? Reach out to me at bernadette@gogettercoaching.com

• get ready to blaze a new trail!_**