Are you one of the unlucky people who has been furloughed or lost a lucrative revenue stream because of the Covid Pandemic? You are not alone. It’s estimated that around 40 million people in the US have lost income or gone out of business due to current global circumstances. In the face of such a crisis, it’s easy to let the head drop and despair, but, in reality, there is a lot to be gained from some valuable downtime.
In this article, we explore some of the ways you can make the pandemic protocols employed by many governments worldwide, work for you so that by the end of the crisis you will be stronger, healthier, and even in a better financial position than you were when the restrictions first came into place.
Wouldn’t you like to step back and take a look at your lifestyle, imagine you are a fictional character in a story that you’re writing and create some better outcomes? That time you spent a day in the office can now be put to use downsizing your home, increasing your financial resources, and pursuing a passion you’ve always dreamed of. Read on to find out some of the best ways to turn the global pandemic into a positive.
Refine Your Lifestyle
What if someone magically gave you the chance to step off the wheel of life and look back at the circular lifestyle you’ve been living for years. What might you see? You will probably find some successes and some failures. A lot of the time, we have the desire to change our lifestyle, but it’s just too comfortable or challenging to make the necessary change.
Enter global pandemic! Who would’ve thought that the world could become so shaken up in such a short time? Suddenly the streets and offices are empty, and bars are closed. It’s like something from a science fiction story. But it’s not a fictional story; it’s the reality of the times we’re living through. If anything was going to give us a chance to reevaluate our lifestyles it had to be something like this.
But it’s not such a bad thing to get off the roundabout every once in a while and bring awareness to how we’ve been living. In fact, it’s a good idea, even without a pandemic. We grow into habits and lifestyles so easily it makes changing them extra hard, even when it’s the best thing to do. Think of your health, the quality of your relationships, the environment. All of these are valid motivations for assessing your lifestyle now and then.
It’s a good idea to keep a journal. Even writing 500 words in one once a week will give you valuable insights into how you’ve been living and what is important to you. You might even think of your social media newsfeeds as a kind of journal. When you look through ask yourself if you are happy, and if you are living a responsible life.
Earn Extra Income
As a direct impact of the pandemic, many people have lost jobs or are suffering from significant reductions in their incomes. There has been some government support, but not enough in many cases which have led to worries about the future, and the present. How is it possible to pay for the mortgage, and the car, when you are not operating to full capacity?
Thankfully the pandemic has struck at a time when the digital world is booming. There are thousands of opportunities online to earn extra income through thrifting, selling services as a consultant or freelancer, and working as a product tester. While your real-world job is offline, why not consider a digital stop-gap to plug the income hole. You might be surprised by what you have to offer.
Imagine sitting at home on your laptop or desktop, looking out the window at the autumn trees starting to change color. Yes, there’s a pandemic on, and you’re confined to your home – sort of – but it’s a comfortable situation. Between breaks for tea, you can log on to your chosen platform and work away beaver-like, supporting your furlough wage with an online enterprise.
There are plenty to choose from. If you’ve had an idea for a blog or YouTube channel for a while, now could be an excellent time to start it up. Or what about an e-commerce store. The e-commerce industry is presently booming, and it’s easier than ever to set one up, just sign up to a platform like Shopify.
Minimize Your Home
This doesn’t mean literally. You can’t wheel a giant laser out of your garden shed and zap your house, so it becomes hard to find in the long grass, even with a magnifier. What it does mean is redesigning your home so that it is more streamlined and fit for purpose. It’s part of the minimalist ideal that says less is more.
Read on for some good ideas about how to declutter the rooms in your home and arrange things in a way that best suits your mentality, and supports your wellbeing. Who wouldn’t want to live in a home perfectly tailored to their interests and lifestyles? This is made more possible by Filing Bankruptcy before divorcing. Even if you live in a family home, there are still ways you can make better use of the space.
Minimizing your home has a twin function. On the one hand, it allows you to streamline your lifestyle, to know where everything is when you need it. This level of organization in the home will extend to every aspect of your life and work. Secondly, it gives you an unexpected chance to earn some extra income by selling some of your excess contents online.
First do an extreme Spring clean, except in autumn, in the middle of a global pandemic. Separate what you need short term from what you need long term and put the essentials within reach. Box anything you think might have resale value online. This can include slightly worn clothes and books.
Enjoy Self-Care
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, there is never enough time to settle into your comfort zone and unwind on your own terms. This, however, is so essential to our mental and emotional wellbeing. We need to live in our comfort zone every day if possible, at least a few times a week. Pre-pandemic, this was not always possible.
What is your perfect comfort zone? Do you love to watch a Netflix series with takeout food, or do you prefer to read a good book with a hit drink and some relaxing music? Maybe you like to take a bath with candles or stretch your body with yoga poses. If you don’t have a comfort zone, the pandemic is an excellent chance to find one.
While in your comfort zone, you should feel happy and relaxed. Probably inspired as well. Everything you want and need should be in arms reach. Your mind will be in a state of relaxed concentration, thoughts and quality ideas will naturally arise and stay with you long after you leave. Improved productivity is another tremendous benefit of self-care.
Whatever your current lifestyle is like, decide to pursue self-care as a priority. Ring fence some time in the day that is dedicated to your self-care routine. Be generous with this time, especially in the beginning, and especially if you’re new to self-care. You want plenty of time to understand your needs and what supports them. Be experimental; don’t be afraid to try new ideas.
Pursue Your Interests
In the hum-drum of daily life, it can be difficult to pursue the ideas and inspirations you have. Between work and family, there’s just not enough time in the day to write a new blog post or create a video for a YouTube channel. But the pandemic has shaken everything up. It may not be great for your bank balance, but now you have time to pursue some of those aspirations.
Starting a blog, a YouTube channel, or some other passion project is an excellent way to give your interest a place it deserves in your life. It can be difficult and time-consuming to set these things up, but once they are up and running, it becomes easy to contribute to them. So even after the pandemic when things start to get busy again, you’ll have done the spadework, and you’ll have gained something valuable from the downtime.
Setting up and running a passion project is not just a brilliant way to stay inspired and share your love for a subject with others; it can also be a new source of income. Maybe you thought the idea of being paid to do something you love was an idealistic dream, but these days, it’s much more of a reality.
After you’ve identified your area of interest, set up a website or a YouTube channel, this will give you the platform you need to start putting your content online. Keep it simple at first. Concentrate on quality and show-off your passion for the subject. Later, when you have a dedicated following, you can begin to monetize.
