2020 has tested all of your relationships during the Coronavirus. From not being able to get together with friends to older family members being scared to leave their house. It’s crazy to see how different demographics have been social distancing during the pandemic. It’s not just affecting your personal relationships, but you’ve most likely seen a giant shift in your business relationships too.
Working from an office 5 days a week is going out of style faster than you can say “Challenges.” This has led society to conduct more business over digital platforms such as Google Meets and Zoom. How will this impact you moving forward?
1. Keep a Routine.
It’s vital for your continued success to keep a strict routine during the pandemic. Most importantly is going to sleep and waking up at the same time each and every day (this includes weekends). Sleep is the secret to many factors such as your weight, happiness, and overall performance.
According to www.healthline.com,
“good sleepers are nearly two times more likely to regularly save for retirement, unforeseen medical expenses, or both.”
Before the pandemic came into our lives, I started using a performance planner from Zig Ziglar.
Using this planner has helped me keep a weekly routine, manage my time more effectively, and has helped me keep my mind at peace. By writing down my weekly goals, meetings, and projects, it’s forced me to become a planner.
This has drastically improved my daily productivity by getting away from only using my digital calendar and going back to the old school planning methods. If you find yourself struggling to stay organized, I’d recommend you give it a shot!
2. Strengthen your Communication Skills.
There are 4 different ways we communicate in the English language. Some of us prefer to learn things through conversation, while others need to see things written down in order to fully understand what’s happening in any given situation.
You aren’t going to be able to change the way someone communicates, but you can change the way YOU communicate with friends, coworkers, or family members. I’ve helped improve my communication skills by investing in books that specialize in negotiation. 1 book that I would suggest is by Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything.
The key to communicating clearly is to be able to take off your shoes and put yourself in the shoes of whomever you’re speaking with. Once, you start seeing someone’s view from their lens, you will start to see your communication will begin to flourish.
3. Focus on Your Health.
Being cooped up at home doesn’t help you give in to the temptation of snacking on tasty chips from the pantry. Now, it’s more important than ever to focus on your health. Whether it’s going outside for a 10-minute walk or an at-home workout, you need to be cognizant of what you’re doing to your body.
I invested in a 15-minute sand timer to make sure that I’m taking consistent breaks from working. This is a form of the Pomodoro technique. This is the type of work style that allows you to work with the time you have, not work against it.
The Pomodoro will help reduce the chances of burnout and gives you a constant reminder that life is a marathon, not a sprint. How do you Pomodoro?
Break your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by 5-minute breaks. After doing this 4 times, you will increase the amount of time you spend on your breaks. This is when you can take an extended break for lunch or a trip to the gym.
4. Have Fun.
Now, there are a lot of restrictions during the coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun! This past weekend my girlfriend and I went on a hike at a local state park. This allowed us to explore the great outdoors, get some much-needed exercise, and spend quality time together.
If going outside isn’t your jam, perhaps you can cook with your significant other or friends. Cooking is a great way to strengthen your relationships by working on your chemistry. As Judith B. Jones said,
“Cooking demands attention, patience, and above all, a respect for the gifts of the earth. It is a form of worship, a way of giving thanks.”
And isn’t that what today is all about? Giving thanks for what you have.
Your Guide,
Joshua Krafchick, AKA “CHACHI”
