Has Coronavirus Changed the Way We Conduct Ourselves?

The outbreak of Coronavirus affected the lives of people across the globe to a great extent. The question now arises, will this continue after the lockdown eases in many countries. Will people adopt a changed lifestyle once things get better? Are the alternate options temporary or will they stay? It is very difficult to comment on the present situation. Meanwhile, people are cautious, and staying put in their homes and making the best use of Spectrum Internet and the like these days.

Let’s have a look at all the changes that Coronavirus pandemic has brought about:

What did Coronavirus Change?

Many people are of the view that things changed for better and the outbreak of the pandemic made us realize that it is always possible to do things in another way. For example, even the most prominent companies in the world were quick to note that working from home is always possible. Nit only this but there are many other things that companies took for granted that they now realize are not that important, to begin with.

The Way People Work

Before the outbreak of the pandemic, it was almost impossible for companies to think that employees working from home could be a possibility. Although remote working has been on the rise lately, companies never allowed all employees to operate from home. However, pandemic changed the way that people work. Remote working is the norm now. Tech giants including Google and Facebook are considering extending the remote working period until 2021. Some companies are even thinking of it as a lifetime gig. Thanks to many services like AT&T Internet for instance, that made remote working possible.

Where many individuals are enjoying working from home during Coronavirus, it has its own set of challenges. Some people complain that they end up working for more hours when they work from home. Apart from that, employees are even finding it hard to coordinate with their colleagues over matters that need discussion. Team spirit and relationship building also seem to be absent traits since the time employees are operating from home.

Does the question arise that will remote working continues or not? The answer is, not sure. Where some companies are planning to continue the practice others are waiting for the lockdown to ease so that the offices can re-open.

Business Travelling

A common practice amongst the business owners or prominent personalities of the companies was to travel for business meetings. It believed that deals get close easily and quickly when people are meeting in person. Hence, making it essential for people to travel to other cities, countries, or continents to meet business partners.

However, since the outbreak of coronavirus, there have been travel bans. Hence, making the companies realize that it is not always essential to travel and meet people in person. Employees and stakeholders now rely on Zoom or Skype calls to see each other virtually and finalize the matters. Companies are realizing that these virtual meetings are a better way of communicating. It is also a flexible and sustainable option.

Public Gatherings

What you once took for granted is something you crave for now. Hanging out with friends, dining in restaurants, going out for coffee, and hitting the gym are some aspects of the daily routine that almost everyone took for granted. And now one cannot even go to the grocery store without having to worry about attracting the disease. You have to take a gazillion precautionary measures before heading out. Not to forget about the time when basic things like kitchen rolls were out of stock.

Social distancing is the new way that everyone has to conduct themselves in public. Maintaining 6 feet distance from people is the norm. Now when the lockdown is easing in some countries, social distancing remains an essential SOP. From restaurants to parks, wherever you go, you have to keep a distance from other people. No one knows for how long would this continue.

Hygiene

If there is one thing that happened for the best during the lockdown was the way everyone looked at hygiene. Washing hands after every 30-minutes for 20 seconds each. Who would have thought that they would do so? Disinfecting your goods, changing clothes every time you returned from a trip outside, wearing masks and gloves everywhere, not shaking hands and there are many more. One couldn’t even go out to pay the CenturyLink Internet bill.

The use of soaps and hand sanitizers was and still is on the rise. As for the grocery stores and pharmacies, they are finding it hard to keep up with the high demand. Therefore, people stock them up. This brings another important issue up.

Stockpiling

If there is any trend that was on the absolute rise during the initial days of the lockdown, it was stockpiling. From kitchen roles to food items to disinfectants, people were stockpiling everything. The sad part was that as a result, many people could not get their hands on the necessities. Almost everyone would have watched the videos going viral where people were complaining about how they couldn’t find stuff on the empty grocery racks.

Elder people got affected the most due to this. Mothers of newborn babies also complained that they were unable to find diapers for their little ones.

However, one thing that was good about the pandemic was that people became closer to each other. Many companies like TDS Internet signed the ‘keep America connected’ petition that showed that companies cared. But some people had to tolerate the tortures of domestic abuse as well. So there were both sides to the lockdown- the good and the ugly.

For example, our planet became cleaner and breathable, but the cyber-security experts reported more cyber-crimes. So there has been some good and bad both.