The good news is that the new normal is going to look a lot like the old normal. You will get back into a routine. That routine might look a little different. But it will be recognizable as a routine. It will be something you do every day. You will set your alarm for a certain time. You will shower, groom, dress in real clothes, eat breakfast, take care of the kids and their morning routine, and do your job. If that is not already happening in your home, it will happen again.
Some things are going to look decidedly different. Until there is herd immunity, you might be at home schooling. If you are in-person schooling, you will make sure your kids are wearing their masks properly before you send them off to school. You will put an extra mask in their lunch box to remind them to change at mid-day. When you are feeling a little out of breath, you are going to check your blood oxygen from your smartwatch just to be sure.
Other than that, you will have a new normal that looks a lot like the old. Here are a few things you might want to add to that new routine, especially if you are a small business owner:
Enhance Your Booth
If you are in sales and have to deal with the public on a regular basis, you are going to want to add some social distancing regardless of the status of herd immunity. That only counts for COVID-19. It doesn’t help with other viruses. We have to get a lot smarter about that sort of thing.
If you are in sales and do conventions and events, add a 10 x 20 tent to your booth and create some distance between you and the people who want to talk to you. With a large tent, you have plenty of room to spread things out. And you can put an extra table between you and the people while still keeping it all inside your booth.
The best part is you can get these professional event spaces customized to your liking so it can help your organization really stand out. With one of these booths, you can have the ultimate in portable professionalism and keep a minimum safe distance in the process.
Incorporate Your Old Routines
We have all been wearing sweat pants for way, too long. It is time to get back into the swing of things after such a long hiatus. You need to start practicing the schedule you think you will have when you get back to work. Don’t just stay up past midnight and roll out of bed around 9:30 the next morning. Set your body clock back to a normal work schedule.
Even if you end up working from home indefinitely, you still have to establish a sleep/wake routine. Worried about those extra 10lbs. from the holidays? You are going to have to put in the extra effort to make exercise a part of the normal routine. You also have to have recurring meal times and appropriate snack times. You can’t just grab a bucket of ice cream whenever you get the munchies. Turn everything into a daily routine.
Plan Your Downtime
Don’t ever take time with your family for granted again. Many of us did that before the pandemic. Since then, some might say that we have had too much family time. Even so, family is important. It is important enough for us to make it a part of our new routine. When working from home, we have to have a definite end to the workday. Put in a little downtime. Then, spend time with the family. They should never feel routinely neglected. So make family time a part of your schedule until it becomes an inexorable part of your life.
The old normal was fine. But it had a few bugs that we have the opportunity to work out. Return to work with the public. But add social distancing to business as usual. Put eating and exercise on a schedule instead of just doing it whenever. And Make {yes, capital M} time with the family as important part of the day as work, maybe more so.
