The Positive Takeaways From Covid-19 - Moving Towards The Life Of A Post Vaccinated World

Through the course of the coronavirus pandemic, people around the world have had to learn how to reshape their life entirely. From having to stay in isolation away from friends and family, working completely remote, or not being able to attend concerts, sports games or other public events. Life as we had known it got flipped completely upside down.

However, despite all the challenges and tribulations the Covid-19 virus has caused the world, there are some lessons we can all positively take away from this once in a lifetime type of experience. 

1) Keeping Physically Safe

Although we were all forcibly told that wearing masks, keeping social distancing, and washing our hands were the only ways we were to survive this pandemic without contracting the illness. These habits are actually something that can be kept as good practice in the future. 

Wearing masks at any point when you are ill and need to go out in public, is something that should remain a normal routine. So as to limit contagion of any sort to any one in your environment, whether it be the coronavirus, a common cold, the flu, etc.

Along the same lines, maintaining some distance from strangers when you are feeling ill, or if a stranger in close proximity is visually ill, also can be continued as a safe habit to practice. Especially for those who are OCD about germs, claustrophobic, or whatever the case may be. Social distancing is a practice that could resume in the new new "normal" lives we will have to lead.  

Maintaining high standards of sanitization is also a habit that should be kept as common practice. Workers in the food industry and medical professionals are the only widely known businesses who were supposedly washing their hands as a requirement before returning to work. The fact that hand washing or using hand sanitizer wasn't something that was considered essential to all industries before the pandemic, is an obvious sign of a need for change.

For instance, it should be a basic requirement that before entering a building or returning to a job, no matter what field that may reside in, there should be access to soap and water or hand sanitizer. On top of just having access to sanitary equipment, there should be a guideline enforcing employees to wash their hands and sanitise. So as to keep up the pandemic's level of need for hygiene for the future of a non-pandemic world. Because even in living in a world without an impending deadly disease, there is a need to be hygienic.

2) Preserving Your Emotional and Mental Health

While the solitary nature of the pandemic has clearly restricted access to a lot of what we would normally use to make ourselves feel better. It also has given us new ways to find ways to take care of our mental health.  

For instance, hanging with friends and family is an easy way to give yourself an mental energy boost. Although, instead of having to travel a certain distance to see the friend you never get to talk to, why not hop on the phone with them and catch up virtually.

Sure it is not the same as hanging with your besties in person, but when they are far away or hard to plan out a time to meet up, giving them a call is a safe and easy way to connect with others. A practice that has only been made easier by FaceTime, Zoom, Google Meet and the hundreds of other platforms to connect socially.

Even as we are able to reunite in person with our loved ones, don't forget to take that time to give your friend or mother a call. It is an easy, free and simple way to benefit your emotional health. 

Another important lesson the quarantine life has taught us all, is that when you are forced to be a part from others, there is nothing but time to work on yourself. For some, that is still a hard reality to come to terms with. However, in all honesty, when you are alone that is the best time to practice some self-care.

You can take the time to do the workouts, makeovers, projects, and more that you always said you were going to do but never did. So, even as we move past the quarantine life style, take time for yourself. And do the things that you need to make yourself feel whole. Another simple method that you should most definitely keep in your toolbox, even as the world turns to a post-vaccinated world.

3) Getting Rid of Previous Unsanitary Norms

In hindsight, the truth of the matter is that there are many habits we all have done in the pre-pandemic world that most likely should not continue in the post-pandemic world. 

A simple example of this would be the acts of hand shaking and giving someone a high five. While both of these acts are also very common American gestures of introduction, greeting, appreciation, encouragement etc., when interacting with strangers these gestures may not be of the best practice anymore.

Obviously it would be hard to get rid of these gestures that have existed for centuries, but modifying these gestures would be an easier start. And it has already been done in the pandemic world we are living in. For instance, fist bumps or elbow daps have become hip new ways to greet or encourage people in the world of disease. Essentially minimizing all unnecessary contact via hand to hand. As hands are the vehicle to most sources of bacteria and the spread of disease. 

A random example of an unsanitary norm would be how most American households blow out candles on a birthday cake. This is a norm we have all participated in or watched happen for a birthday at least once in our lives. However, looking on this now in a pandemic infested world, that could mean the unknowingly spread of disease by the birthday person to all those eating the cake. Just by the simple act of blowing out the flames on the cake's candles. 

A big unsanitary norm that also has been neglected pre-pandemic but needs to be addressed as we continue on in the future, is the sanitization of commonly used items. This could pertain to gym equipment, shared supplies at work or school, restaurant and bar tables, and more. Basically anything that is used by multiple people in a shared public environment. Making the sanitization of shared equipment a commonly used practice would prove to highly decrease the threat of an even more deadly pandemic if it were to appear in our future again. 

Having these aforementioned examples continue to occur in their pre-pandemic or current state, could grant easy access to bacteria growth, paving the way for disease to spread. So ideally to inhibit the pathways of widespread disease contagion, cleaning with sanitary products or stopping unsanitary practices is highly necessary to ensure a more hygienic future with minimal bacterial spread. 

4) Thriving in the Virtual Environment 

An outcome derived from the pandemic that we can all agree could be one of the biggest specific takeaways from this era, would be the rise of use of virtual environment technology.

This is not to say that technology did not exist before the pandemic, because the foundation for technology was well established before 2020. Although the pandemic did in fact pave the way for the virtual environment to be the main form of communication and area for businesses and organisations to prosper.

Because let's be honest, who had heard of Zoom before the pandemic? Sure maybe you had used that or Google Meet for an interview or large scale meetings beforehand. However, it can almost be guaranteed that you had not used any of these platforms to the same degree that you have today. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet are only a few of the platforms that allowed for thousands of organizations around the world to keep working and collaborating despite the need for quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Now because of the rise of the aforementioned video platforms services through the pandemic era, there has been a new culture of work created. This has been labeled as teleworking. This is the idea that all work that used to be done in an office, can be done online from home. The only requirement is that you have a computer and a form of internet connection. And boom just like that you are qualified for telework. 

Through this telework culture, it has made life easier for mothers with children, pet owners, the handicapped, the mentally ill and so many other populations. Even subsidiaries of the culture have formed such as Telehealth, where you can have a checkup with your doctor without ever having to leave your home. Making it both easier for the doctor and the patient, while allowing for no contact between the two. So evidently there are plenty of benefits of this culture that have grown through the pandemic. 

Even as businesses move towards bringing back people in person, the fact that telework was, and still is, the main source of communication for most organisations, makes it seem unlikely to just disappear completely. Thousands of organisations have had to reorganise their whole set up so as to accommodate the virtual environment. Thus, making it a probability that it can always be an option for some. No longer are the days where you have to miss multiple days of work due to being ill or having to care for a loved one. For through telework, there is always the option to work from home. Making it an invaluable tool to use in the future of the post pandemic world. 

5) Living In The Moment

An unlikely take away from the pandemic is one that many may not have actually have taken advantage of during quarantine and global shut down. That would be the act of living in the moment.

Obviously to practice this when there are feelings of anxiety, depression and general loneliness is difficult to do. However, given that this Covid-19 pandemic came during a time to interrupt any and all plans one may have had, there is evidently room for people to change. Considering that the pandemic has been going on for over a year and there is still only a possible end in sight, why not go out and live in the moment?

Live day by day, rejoicing that life is good and that you are healthy and safe. Go to that place you say you always wanted to go to but haven't yet. Sit outside and enjoy your surroundings, no matter how frustrating it might be sometimes. Talk to your friend who always knows how to put a smile on your face. Buy that item you've been eyeing for months. Live in this moment like it could be your last.

Because we all know how chaotic this last year has been. It has taken away our loved ones, our freedom, and our control over our own lives. So as the end hopefully draws near, use these positive takeaways to propel you forward.

Know that this pandemic period has not been a complete waste, and there is still plenty of time for you to grow and prosper. We as a society can take these methods learned from the coronavirus pandemic and work together. So as to shine a light ahead on a better future of the new new "normal" for all.