Simple Ideas to Live Smarter Post Lockdown

Let’s acknowledge first the anxiety, sadness, ill health, isolation, and a myriad of other issues many millions of people around the planets are facing right now due to COVID-19. Here is my take on the ONE positive side of all of this. Self-isolation or lock-down social distancing due to COVID-19 will ultimately lead to new innovations to connect with each other and reduce the impact of climate change.

We have been moving too fast, there are too many egotistical maniacs running our planet and we have neglected the important things like our health, loved ones, and the environment. I guess this is a lesson to stick to the basics, keep it simple and learn to live smarter, not harder.

1. Continue enjoying quality time with family

Spending quality time with family during self-isolation.

Working from home is not easy with the kids around but it is a perfect opportunity to re-connect with the family and enjoy some quality time. Taking lots of small play-time breaks together is the key for everyone to let some steam out and balance out the work and play. Click here for simple tips to work smarter during self-isolation.

2. Find innovations to live and work smarter

self-isolation will lead to innovations

There is no doubt that self-isolation is going to lead to new innovations. Here are a few examples:

  • People will find new and innovative ways to communicate with each other, keep entertained and teach the kids and this may spawn whole new industries.
  • The Internet (especially here in Australia with the slow NBN) will get better over time to cope with more people online, with some harsh lessons learned along the way.
  • Workplaces will invest in upgrading their IT infrastructure to cope with the demand for staff working from home and the services they offer.
  • Schools and universities will get better at creating engaging online learning content and classrooms to enable students to interact and learn smarter.
  • The fitness industry will find new ways to stay afloat using technology to help people keep physically and mentally fit from wherever they are.
  • Those who are unemployed will be driven to create new ways to earn money to pay the bills. Sign up for this webinar for learning ways on how to make money online.  
  • Countries will be better prepared to deal with future disasters such as global pandemics.

So watch this space! The online space is going to be filled with innovative ways to interact with each other and live smarter. Once this is all over, we will appreciate each other’s physical presence a lot more and introverts will be a happier bunch. I cannot wait until mobile holograms become a reality, where we can interact with people around the world in a virtual 4D room – for example, enjoy dinner and a glass of wine, as we are, without looking into any screen. Wow, imagine that!

3. Let our beaten environment replenish

self-isolation will help climate change

It’s clear that we have been going too fast and it’s had a ‘wrecking ball’ effect on our fragile planet.

No one is going to the Great Barrier Reef for a while, except maybe the marine biologists. This gives all the sea life a break and coral can now come back to life. Check out this example from Phi Phi Island in Thailand which is closed for tourists until 2021. Already there are positive signs that marine life is becoming more abundant with black-tip reef sharks sighted swimming in the waters of the bay.  

No more crowds at the world’s popular beaches mean less plastic rubbish flowing in our oceans giving our precious marine life a fighting chance.   

The world’s factories are mostly turned off. From this article, the pollution levels are down to an all-time low and there is less smog in the major cities around the world. Whilst pollution will undoubtedly increase after this pandemic is over, a year or two of low pollution may have a positive impact on climate change.

No one is moving around so the oil industry is in for a shock with most of the stocks spiraling out of control. Smaller companies especially will now have time to think about investing in renewable energy options.

Self-isolation does mean higher bills especially here in Australia where we are heading into winter. It’s, therefore, a good time to thinking about switching over to solar if you have some spare funds. If we all start using natural power from our sun, we will be saving money and the planet. It might even be worth it, in the long run, to get a complete unit with solar and battery.  

There will be no mass gatherings and protests for climate change. It can be done more effectively and efficiently via your mobile device using a digital advocacy platform such as Phone2Action. Apparently, a lot more messages to Congress were sent over this COVID-19 period via these platforms compared to previous months.

Can you see it? This is a clear message to look after the planet better and reconnect with each other.

Planning for your next adventure when COVID-19 is over? Think about smarter ways of touring the world in an eco-friendly manner and leaving the smallest carbon footprint possible. Its all of our responsibility to look after this fragile planet because there is no Planet B!

Other simple ways to live smarter moving forward

Live smarter and save our planet after self-isolation

When life gets back to normal, every Government in the world should enforce limits to help the planet even more. For example:

  • Shut down major polluters like factories for one day a month.
  • Shut down the beaches, national parks, and other natural sites for one day a month.
  • Drive your car on even or odd days.
  • Provide incentives from people to take public transport more regularly, like introduce a ‘free ride’ once a month.
  • Introduce a mandatory once a week work from home day.

Welcome other ideas in the comments below.

Check out our 10 productivity tips for working from home here and how to make it work from you.

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