Preparing for a Post-pandemic World
We are currently living in an era where a pandemic is happening. Most of us have never experienced living in this situation before. Life is now harder than it used to be. Everyone must stay indoors 24/7 due to the lockdown policy. Public places, such as tourism sites, restaurants, entertainment spaces, are all closed. Everyone is not allowed to get near each other due to social distancing policy. A life like this is quite hard to live.
People are changing their way of living during this pandemic. More trends are emerging, either to improve the existing ones or to change the old ways. Thankfully, the vaccine has now been launched and is being used in many countries already. Because of this, we can see a glimpse of a future where we can hang out, travel, and meet with our dearest people, again, just like in the pre-pandemic state. However, not everything will be the same as before. Going through such an event is likely to change the way people behave and the surrounding environment in many ways. Here are the things that we must prepare for the upcoming post-pandemic era.
Adapting to the remote working and learning culture
Due to the lockdown policy, schools and universities are closed. Students need to study online and take the exam from home to continue their studies as usual, since the lockdown usually lasts long. Schools and universities are not going to open any time soon. I, myself, have been doing this online class for over a year and a half now. As we can see, this is likely to continue for a long time since the pandemic is not going to end soon.
Studying online, however, has its advantages. Students can relax at home, being more productive by choosing their comfortable places, getting more freedom on handling their tasks while studying, getting out of pressure, and more. These advantages are quite considerable. No one would even think that online learning would be this effective in the first place. Still, it turns out well. Due to its advantages, this trend will continue in the future, and we’d better be prepared for it. When the pandemic ends, this remote learning trend and the usual on-campus learning will be integrated to better accommodate students in the future.
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The same thing applies to working remotely. The definition of the workplace will change in the post-pandemic. Instead of referring to it as an office, it is likely to be anywhere you can focus your work on and be productive. That means working from home, a friend’s house, a cafe, during vacation, and more. The hybrid model, which combines on-site and remote working will also be introduced to future employees. This hybrid model was found to be more efficient than ever, according to the big tech companies that have implemented this model.
Improving Health & Hygiene
People are now practicing good hygiene more than ever. Some of the places in the rural area also start to develop a more hygienic environment. Governments usually underestimate the risk of what poor hygiene can bring to the table. Covid-19 pandemic proves that the impact is indeed significant, including the death of millions of people who didn’t have access to clean hygiene, for instance, in the rural area of India. India has one of the highest populations being infected by the coronavirus. If we observe precisely the Covid-19 situation in India, we can see that the people being infected are usually people living in a rural area with poor sanitation. Hence, we need to be prepared for that as well.
The basic hygiene practices that will continue in the future that we might follow is what we’re doing now, including wearing face masks, carrying hand sanitizer to clean our hands all the time, washing our hands frequently, and lastly keeping our living environment clean. You may think it is unnecessary to do so after the pandemic ends. The answer is maybe. However, since people get used to doing these things all the time these days, I doubt that the habit is going to stop anytime soon. In my opinion, it should take around at least 5-7 years after the pandemic ends.
Staying Mentally Healthy
People will be more aware of mental health issues and will consider them much more serious since the pandemic’s side effects on their mental health won’t be going anywhere soon. Since the pandemic began, the rise of depression cases has been reported from various places. Staying indoors 24/7 is one of the major causes. People feel less energetic than before. They tend to lose focus on the thing they do and have no idea of what to do at home. This boredom can create depression. As we all know, depression can be harmful. In the worst case, it will lead to self-harm, drug abuse, or even suicide. Therefore, staying mentally healthy is important, not only now but also in the future. Developing a new habit will help you get rid of boredom and stay focused at home, although you might not be able to do outdoor activities. The new activities that can be done at home are crucial to getting you back on your feet, just like when you were in your pre-pandemic state. Not only will you learn something new from developing this habit, but it will also help your mental health. The best example is cooking, learning new skills, and exercising.
Image: Pexels/Daniel Reche
Reskilling and Upskilling
Finally, reskilling and upskilling are essential whenever there’s a major change in the surrounding environment. Shifting from the pre-pandemic to the pandemic era, lots of skills have lost their values whereas new ones emerge. The skills that people have now might need to be sharpened even more to keep up with the challenging job market and the environment. Those who possess outdated skills will need to learn new ones to get a new job and live in a post-pandemic society.
The situation now is full of new challenges, especially when such changes occur. For instance, lots of teachers, particularly the older generation don’t prefer virtual learning. They stated that the technology was too complicated and that they couldn’t handle it. When the pandemic hit for the first time, they didn’t switch to the online learning mode. Their students didn’t have any access to them at all. When the pandemic has gone for too long, they’ve been asked to familiarize themselves with online learning. There’s no other way to teach their student besides virtual learning. At this moment, they realized that if they want to continue their job, they either need to adapt themselves to virtual learning or quit the job. This is the case for schools in poor countries where technology is not being developed much and they are forced to adopt instantly due to the situation.
Try to develop a skill which you think is essential in the future so you can keep yourself up-to-date. If you don’t, you will likely be one step behind. Preparation for this will help you live your life easier when the pandemic ends. I’ve also learned some of the new skills myself to prepare for the future. The requirement for a future job is likely to be reinforced to fit the current domain. That’s why we need to pay more attention to upskilling or reskilling ourselves.
Image: Pexels/Anthony Shkraba
To sum up, the changes that the Covid-19 pandemic has bring to our society have always been serious. Some people gain benefit from it while some have been put at disadvantages. Therefore, preparation is crucial to adapt ourselves to any kind of situation. What I have mentioned above are just some fundamental tips that you need for living in a post-pandemic world. Observe any change and prepare accordingly depending on the situation. No matter what happens, always stay focused and prepared so you’d always be ready when encountering any challenges.
I wish you all the best of luck and looking forward to seeing you guys doing well in the future.
