The New Normal: Lessons Learned from Quarantine
What does a typical day look like right now? Maybe it’s some combination of slow mornings, remote workdays, virtual happy hours and at-home workouts. Maybe it’s homeschooling your kids, cooking three meals, working until 10 pm and collapsing onto your bed. Maybe there are aspects of your “new normal” that make life easier, and some that make it really hard.
As we look toward the future, it’s important to reflect and bring with us the lessons and routines that made us more efficient, engaged and compassionate humans, leaders and parents. As the author Dave Hollis writes, “In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.”
What We Hope Stays
- Flexibility. We have the ability to adapt to rapidly-evolving scenarios, which is evident in our innovation around working remotely. We hope we remember how effective remote work is, and how much easier it makes life for working parents and caretakers. Do we need to commute into a physical office five days a week? Definitely not. Can we make meetings and events more accessible by taking them online? Definitely yes.
- Essentials. By working in relative isolation, it’s easy to see just how capable we truly are. How many meetings are truly necessary for productivity? Can we cut travel expenses by hosting virtual meetings? We hope to bring only the essentials with us into the future, and remember how much is possible, with less.
- Empathy. Those working remotely with kids have had to wear multiple hats: teacher, chef, caretaker and entertainer plus student, employee, manager or director. We hope we remember to hold space and empathy for colleagues taking care of others. Whether that means re-scheduling meetings or simply reaching out to check in and offer support.
- Gratitude. There’s a lot we took for granted. On the other side of this, we hope to see the world through a lens of gratitude––one that guides us toward a more unified future.
What We Hope to Lose
- Hyper-availability. How do you leave work when you now live in your office? We hope to lose the unspecified boundaries of when we’re available. Work––remote work included––is not sustainable without an off switch.
- Isolation. This is an extremely lonely period. Even in a house full of people, you’ve most likely lost some portion of your community. We hope we lose our empty social calendars and gain stronger support systems.
- Instability. Fear is extra prevalent right now. When we’re scared, we lose focus, act irrationally and get confused. We hope to lose this feeling of instability and find balance.
- Restriction. Almost everything is closed or canceled. We hope to lose the boarded-up windows and return to a place of spontaneity, adventure and freedom.
While still in the midst of these uncertain times, take note of what new habits help or hurt your work life balance. As George Packer wrote in The Atlantic, “In a democracy, being a citizen is essential work…After we’ve come out of hiding and taken off our masks, we should not forget what it was like to be alone.”