Three Easy Ways to Enhance Your Career During Quarantine
As 2020 sauntered into its third month, I was feeling especially excited and optimistic. A tech startup I was working on with a partner was just starting to take shape, and we were taking the final steps to launch it in April. In addition, I was rocking my running routine, writing some cool content, and planning for a late spring trip to Europe. Then COVID-19 converged on the United States.
Because I work remotely, my job continued business as usual, but my entrepreneurial dreams took a nosedive. I halted all marketing efforts and temporarily shelved our start up. Most of my career and personal events consisted of gathering people together, so suddenly I had no avenues to recruit, promote, or even recreate. To top it off, all my spring races were cancelled, and my trip to Europe put on hold indefinitely. For the first week or so, I grieved for all the things that I had lost, and wondered how I could somehow move forward in a world that had changed overnight.
After the initial shock of our changed world seeped into a skewed new reality, I started to develop some strategies to help me stay focused on my career goals. Here are three “Easy E’s” that I’m using that you can apply to help you keep your aspirations alive over the next couple of weeks.
#1 Explore. Even though, we can’t travel the world, or even go to many public places right now, we can explore subjects that will enhance our career skills. This is the perfect time to assess our abilities and see where we need to grow. For example, you could learn some new tech skills that can help you feel more confident working remotely, or you can discover innovative ways of promoting your personal brand. In addition to career skills, you can delve into new hobbies or creative endeavors that may lead to future entrepreneurial expeditions. You can even explore new job markets or avenues for remote employment. We are so lucky to have a vast library of resources available on the internet. Now that we are sequestered inside, we can use the web to explore topics that can enhance our personal as well as professional lives.
#2 Engage. Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation. This is our golden opportunity to truly engage with other people by using various social networks meaningfully. Over the last few weeks, I’ve made the effort to mindfully engage with Facebook friends as well as forums and other things that I follow. Instead of scrolling mindlessly through thousands of posts and sprinkling a few likes here and there, pick the posts that add value to your life and engage with the posters by adding well-thought (and hopefully positive) comments. Engaging mindfully on social media can help you expand your career networks, and will help you feel less isolated from the world. In addition, you can strengthen your connections with friends and family around the world. So, engage with those items and people that provide you with positivity and value. Not only will you develop stronger connections, you will also help their businesses and personal brands as well.
#3 Execute. Even though many things in the world are at a standstill, it is a great time to launch some professional projects. This might seem like a tough recommendation during this uncertain time, but I believe it is important for us to execute things that will give us a sense of accomplishment. What can you launch right now that will be a concrete example that your dreams are beginning to take shape? It could be as simple as finishing a promotional video, writing an article or establishing an online marketplace. Even small accomplishments can do a lot to keep us energized. What small thing can you execute that will get you closer to your career goal?
In short, we might be stuck at home, but our professional lives don’t have to be parked in the garage. If you explore new topics, engage meaningfully with others, and execute small steps toward your goals, you can still enhance your careers and generate positive outcomes during this difficult time.