7 important lessons the pandemic made us draw

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

These simple rules will help you stay calm and adapt to life in and after quarantine.

We have collected even more information on how to help ourselves and others during a pandemic.

1. Don't panic

Believe me, the situation with the spread of coronavirus worries not only you. But this does not mean that instead of working all day, you have to read hysterical posts on social networks, and in the evening go on a raid on the nearest store and take out all the buckwheat stocks.

It's okay to take reasonable precautions. But reposting fake news and dubious advice does more harm than good. The nerves of others are already at their limit. In such a situation, escalate the situation with messages from the series "but the authorities are hiding!" - it's like throwing gasoline on a fire.

If you can't cope with your anxiety, skip social media for a while and get news about the pandemic from trusted and authoritative sources - for example, the website of the World Health Organization. WHO experts even collected popular myths about the coronavirus and explained what was wrong with them. Staying calm and thinking soberly is the best thing you can do right now.

2. Get a financial airbag

The pandemic has shown that the world is much more fragile than we used to think. Quarantines, border closures and turmoil in the foreign exchange market have dealt a tangible blow to small and medium-sized businesses. The life hacker has written many times about why everyone needs a supply of money for a rainy day, now is the time to use this knowledge.

If the area in which you work is minimally affected by the crisis, take care of the future and start saving money. Review your expenses and try to avoid unnecessary expenses. Do not save money on the principle “if suddenly there is something left”: as soon as the salary arrives, transfer at least 10-15% to a separate account. This practice will not be superfluous even in calm times.

3. Appreciate the opportunities you have

Going to the movies on the weekends, traditional Friday bar gatherings - it seemed a matter of course, and hardly any of us could have imagined how everything would change in a matter of months. The pandemic will end, and we will return to normal life, but for now it is better not to risk in vain and, if possible, not to get out into crowded places.

In fact, we are very lucky: the developed sphere of online services makes it possible to order almost anything on the Internet. While sitting on self-isolation, do not go out for groceries, but buy them online. You can not limit yourself in small pleasures and periodically order delivery from your favorite restaurant - at the same time you will help him earn money while the institution does not receive guests.

If there is an opportunity to leave home less often, use it - it will be your personal contribution to the fight against the spread of the virus. "" Will help out with the delivery of food and hygiene products - here you can order fresh fruit, bread, shower gel or dishwashing detergent. Delivery will take even less time than a trip to the store. In Moscow, the service works from 7 am to midnight, and in St. Petersburg - from 7.30 to 23.30.

When you miss your favorite pasta, khinkali or steaks, "" will help. The service operates in 36 cities of Russia, and couriers strictly adhere to the rules of contactless delivery.

4. Be responsible

Unexpected vacations are not a reason to go all bad and go for a walk to the mall or invite all your friends to a large-scale party. This measure is necessary in order to slow down the pace of the pandemic and not increase the already serious burden on the health care system. The very case when you can save the world just by sitting at home and doing nothing.

And yes, leave no pasta and toilet paper alone. Stores regularly replenish stocks of goods on the shelves, so it makes no sense to go shopping like the last time. Finally, remember that other people need food too.

5. Respect other people's work

You may be reading this text while you are on a forced vacation or working from home. Think of doctors, social workers, supermarket cashiers, taxi drivers, couriers of delivery services - they cannot postpone their duties and go remotely.

It is in your power to ease the plight of these professionals and make their work safer. If you use a taxi, if possible, wear a mask and pay not with cash, but with a card. Many services have switched to a contactless delivery method: do not grab the package from the courier's hands, but wait until he leaves the order and moves away to the permissible distance.

Take the necessary precautions so as not to burden doctors with additional work: go out less often, and if you still have to, maintain a social distance and wash your hands thoroughly when you return home. Strictly speaking, it would be nice to keep this habit after the pandemic.

6. Spend your free time profitably

Remember, you never had time to learn English or develop the necessary professional skills? Voila, there is plenty of it now. You can spend a sudden vacation watching movies and TV shows or re-reading classics, or you can finally sign up for courses that you have been putting off for a long time.

If you don't want to learn new things, go in for sports - now many fitness clubs conduct live streams of workouts on Instagram. In the end, gather your strength and do a spring cleaning. Firstly, it is more pleasant to self-isolate in a clean apartment, and secondly, it will help to distract from gloomy thoughts about the futility of everything.

7. Help those around you

Willingness to come to the rescue is a valuable quality not only in a pandemic, but now other people's lives literally depend on it. If you have elderly neighbors who already find it difficult to get to the store on their own, offer them your help. Put up advertisements in the entrance that you can help out with walking the dog or going to the store, and indicate your phone number there. there are such announcements on the Internet, for example, the service "Yandex. Rayon" - use and send to your friends, let them also help others.

Talk to elderly relatives and explain that the situation is really serious, so for their own safety, it is better to sit at home for a while. Agree that you will always be in touch, and if you need groceries, you buy them yourself and bring them to your apartment.

If you need to convey something to your loved ones, use the delivery service - for example, “” has one. Parcels weighing up to 20 kilograms are accepted for transportation, the size of which is no larger than a suitcase.

You can order delivery via a mobile application - neither you nor the recipient will have to leave your home. The driver will arrive in a few minutes, pick up the package at your door, and then deliver it to the addressee's door and make sure it has been received.