By: Stephanie McCredie, Contributing Author
When we see thriving businesses collapsing, secure jobs dissolving, stable incomes drying up, stock markets plummeting, dreams and aspirations fading away – when the world is on pause – what are our options?
As we entered 2020, none of us could have anticipated the huge changes we were about to face due to COVID-19 and the immense loss on the horizon for many businesses and individuals. We never would have guessed the economy was about to be thrown into turmoil or that our lifestyles were about to change so dramatically.
Amidst these unprecedented times, a lot may have been taken away from us, but we can turn our focus to what we DO have. What can we invest in now, in the short-term, that will have lasting benefits and make us productive in the long-term? We can search for the blessings, the opportunities that are available to us that will allow our businesses, our workplaces and our lives to thrive in the future.
One thing we all have available to us, possibly more than usual during this season of lockdown and isolation, is ‘time’. There is a great opportunity for us to be investing our time right now while many industries are on pause or in slow motion. We have time to reassess our business goals, time to make changes and test out new processes, time to tweak our SEO and check out what our competitors have been doing, time to implement new digital marketing techniques, time to learn new skills, time to increase our knowledge in new areas, time to seek out a mentor and time to plan for the future.
Through this global pandemic, we can be motivated by those who we see investing their time, making the most of the economic downturn: the companies that were once lingering in traditional operations using their time to push ahead into digital transformation; the businesses that are taking time to reinvent the way they operate so their staff can work remotely; the retailers who have been introducing new product lines based on consumer demand in this season; the manufacturers that have been implementing automation in order to speed up their production times due to the increased demand driven by panic buying; and the individuals who refuse to sit back and be complacent but invest their time in developing their skills and knowledge via remote learning.
Our world may be on pause in many ways, but we can remain motivated to ensure this time becomes an investment that will positively impact our future.