Although technological growth is nothing new for Gen X and millennials, many boomers who ran traditional brick-and-mortar businesses or worked in service-based businesses did not realize how far tech had advanced until they had to learn how to make Zoom calls, discover new apps for their smartphones to improve workflow, and learn enough about digital marketing to stay relevant in business.
Many older business owners became silver surfers and discovered that doing something virtually saved time, effort, and money and got things done better and faster. Many people who worked in offices who became reluctant telecommuters realized how much they could get done in a day when they didn’t have anyone micromanaging their day. During the pandemic, we’ve all learned many things we thought were necessary to do in person can be done virtually.
Here are some ways you might have rethought your world of work:
You Don’t Need to Feel Stressed by Work
During the lockdown, you may have discovered that you don’t need to be stressed when you work if you meditate before working at your computer. Perhaps, since you didn’t need to go into the office, you got into the habit of slapping on some padded headphones and listening to Headspace, a meditation app that received funding from The Chernin Group (TCG), before you started your workday.
You Don’t Need a 9-to-5 Job to Earn a Living
During the pandemic, the vital role technology plays in modern society may have moved from the background of your awareness to the foreground. In fact, you may also have realized that you don’t need to work at a job to make a living. The wider social acceptance of making a living from home using nothing but the ‘net will make it easier for you to get a loan for your business from a traditional lender if you have a great business idea. It will also be easier to convince customers that your business is as legitimate as one housed in an office building.
Instead of working at a regular job, consider creating a laptop-based business. Using an innovative laptop like the new ThinkPad Edge, you could work from anywhere as an independent contractor for multiple companies.
You Might Want to Prepare for the Future
We don’t know how different things will be in the future. Will robots replace manual labor? Perhaps 3-D printers will make houses and build cars. Will autonomous cars and buses drive people to work? Will autonomous trucks take over the transportation and distribution of materials? Will the office-centric workplace survive? All we know is that change is on its way, and it may occur at a faster pace than we had realized. The pandemic pushed us out of our analog worldview and forced us to become more digitally oriented.
If you are in an industry that will become obsolete, it might be a good idea to prepare yourself sooner rather than later to meet the future by upskilling to thrive in a virtual world. If, for example, you work in retail, you may not have a job if more companies follow Amazon’s lead and build cashier-less stores. Now might be a good time to take a few online classes to master new digital skills.
Social Breakdowns and Breakthroughs
The pandemic caused a systemic breakdown. With the high rate of COVID-19 infections, the normal hectic pace of business ground to a crawl. While it was a distressing period with a wide assortment of hardships, it’s an era in our history that is now ending with vaccine distributions. During the pandemic, you may have been one of the millions of people who only had a peripheral relationship with the virtual world, but who has come to realize how quickly the world is changing and how important it is to adapt to a technologically driven future.