How To Maximize The Time For A Pandemic Underway

Okay, it's official, Coronavirus doesn't go anywhere, anytime soon, so while we're adapting to opening up stuff, while still cautious of a second wave approaching, let's take this opportunity to reflect on the good lessons that we can learn from this pandemic.

According to world-renowned advertising and public relations pioneer, Martin Sorrell, "COVID-19 is the burning platform for digital acceleration. It's going to happen faster and better and cheaper than you've ever seen before", with this digital acceleration, adaptation is crucial , particularly in terms of time management.

The word pandemic may sound horrific, but what comes with it is an opportunity to reset your way of life if you are lucky enough to be able to stay home, in safety and relative comfort. So, when this status of "semi stay-at-home" is evolving what are you going to do with that time? And as states continue to open up, getting back to normal isn't an actual fact, where are you going to go? But don't interpret this condition of "staying at home" as a punishment, but rather as the moment to get on with your "post-pandemic to-do list" and start filling out the list!

​How much extra time do you have?

Looking at your daily schedule, you might think, "Yeah, I'm home, but my entire family is like that, and I still need to work." Yeah, for so many of us at this time this is real.

​Yet what about the time that you spent commuting? Use the time to get ready for your day, and anything else? This averages at least two extra hours a day. This is an additional ten hours a week of work! What will you do with 10 more hours?

​Create habits to streamline your time

​You've really wanted to do what? Launch a venture? Start a fitness program? Will you plant your vegetable garden?

This is a great time to reflect on the stuff you've put to the back burner than any other. It's really important to maximize the unexpected windfall of spare time. Here are a few simple, tested steps to be as successful with your time as you can:

1. Create a list to do. Write down everything you ever wanted to do that comes to mind but put it off.
2. Set the list as a priority. Prioritize your items based on your desires, income, environment, or any other aspect that could impact you in completing them.
3. Pick one, and start. First take the element that you want to check out and get started. Buy any things you may need, do whatever work you need, and just get going.
4. Beak a project into small measures downwards. Feel overwhelmed? One helpful way to get going is to break a project down into small measures. For example, using an old school timer, not your mobile, to concentrate on a project makes it easier to get some momentum, just start with ten minutes, you'll be shocked at what happens.
5. Carve out routine or plan. Create a regular routine, whether you are at home alone or with a house full of kids. Block out daytime times for you and your family. Offer yourself the time to devote your attention to the actual project. Allow time for yourself and your goals.
   
6. Repeat steps 2-4 as often as required.
   

​I want to start a business

Many of us have had a pipe dream to start our own company and to one day become our own boss. You might think "how in a pandemic could I start a business?"

Now is the best time to start a business according to Mark Cuban. Given the recession, Cuban says new startups have good chances of success. "If you’re starting from scratch right now, you already have a good feel for new rules, post-pandemic. You already have a good feel on how to implement social distancing, if that’s applicable and work from home, if that’s applicable."

Establishing your business with a virtual office is simple , easy and very inexpensive. Here's how to get going:

1. Set it all down in paper. Prepare a business plan. Come up with business name. And then sign the company online. It's quick, simple and it's relatively cheap.
2. Have a virtual mailbox. A virtual mailbox allows you to have a real street address without your actual residence being sent out. This address will be used to file all of your documents and to open a bank account. Stuck inside your own house? No issue whatsoever. A virtual mailbox allows you from the comfort of your sofa to receive, open, view, forward and shred all of your postal mail. An Anytime Mailbox may be the backbone of your virtual office for handling calls and voicemail when connected to a virtual phone number. You 're in business with a real street address, a business phone number, and a virtual mailbox to handle your business mail & deliveries anywhere, anywhere, all for less than $30-$40 a month!
3. Get a digital number on your phone. Google Voice offers a free service that allows you to select a digital phone number to connect with your client. The calls are routed to your preference of phone number and remove the need to have your personal phone number published online.
   

​Time can be well spent at home

Although you should make sure that you put your mental health above achieving a dazzling list of productivity targets, it would also be a mistake not to use this "bonus time" to get around to things that have languished because you "just haven't had the time."

Give yourself a promise to make this one of the most productive time periods of your life. We can all understand that having come home to some spare time in pre-quarantine life was something we were looking forward to, so using it wisely.

​There's no denying Netflix, HBO, Disney+ and Hulu's appeal is strong. And the patterns of wasting your time with attempts to waste time and binge-watching television are easy to fall victim to. So avoid this "dead time" and instead take this opportunity to invest and make the most of it in yourself, your family, your business and your own interests.

It would be a transition for everyone, because social distancing constraints don't go anywhere, nor is life coming back to full normality anytime soon. Consider the new standard and make best use of this time. COVID-19 has changed our world as we once knew it, and while it has come with heartbreak and chaos, it has also given us the ability to improve and regain control of what we want.

​While numbers tend to decrease and state open in various capacities, this current "stay at home" schedule, "work from home" will endure for some time. Having only the smallest spare time to do something. If you finish anything early, carry on with your job. This is generally not an issue in today's superconnectivity environment, with convenient access to laptops, tablets , and smartphones.