What are your COVID Keepers?

Its well over a year now since COVID-19 caused the unprecedented shift to working from home. Reflecting on this at the weekend, I took the time to consider the pivots and changes made that I will be keeping. I am calling these my "COVID Keepers". There has to be some silver lining to all this change.

One positive "keeper" was the amount of exercise I have been able to commit to and prioritise in my day. The mental, physical and emotional health benefits of a walk are not to be underestimated. The picture above was taken during a walk around the village where I live, the bird is a Little Egret. This is an activity that will be staying for sure.

Another "keeper" has been the shift to online parents evenings, whether as a child or a parent these events can be tedious. Waiting in line for the over running teacher that you need to see. Younger siblings moaning, the dash home from work, all very stressful! The online system has been excellent, with the 5 minute meetings perfect timing. Knowing they cut off at exactly 5 minutes you get the message succinctly given without any of the pain of queueing!

Finally, we have focused on our communities, looking out for each other and those who needed help. I hope we all choose to "keep" engaged locally and build the support groups. The local COVID-19 Facebook groups could easily be repurposed to enable positivity and support to carry on. I have really enjoyed getting to know more people in our village.

Businesses recognition that work is something we do and not always a place we go to has to be a huge "keeper". The flexibility of working from anywhere is of huge benefit to both individuals and organisations. Reducing long, stressful commute times enables a real positive work life balance for those who are able to take advantage of it. Organisations can release real estate for redevelopment, in cities they can potentially be used for apartments to ensure there are still feet on the streets providing the much needed consumers for local retail. While this doesn't work for all industries, those who can take advantage should.