Making the best out of the Corona crisis

Very long I was thinking whether I should write a blog post on this hard topic or not, but since everything is changing now from day to day today I thought, why not, lets write that.

First of all, to those who see the apocalypse coming, nope, I don’t think that this will be the case. Yes, it will be different when all of this is over. Yes, we are getting into a complicated time. Without be able to do business many companies will get into problems and therefore many people will loose their jobs. Also people are loosing their lifes because of this virus. And that is why I totally understand if you are concerned, I am normally an optimistic person, these days being optimistic is a little complicated. But as there are so many bad news, lets just talk for now about some positive aspects.

If you recap the last week it was the best option but actually I was very suprised when the Austrian governance introduced its new rules to fight the virus. Not only the Austrian government but also whole Europe has now strict regulations for social distancing. Short summary, we need to stay at home from now on. Therefore many people have now (forcedly) lot of time because going to work is not possible or they work remote from home and therefore do not need to drive so many hours to their workplace. So, what to do with that extra pinch of time? Browse through instagram and watch Netflix? Start a computer game you wanted to start long time ago? Both not bad and probably a good decision for some period but not all the time. Wouldn’t it be great if you can look back to that time in a year and think of something more positive you did? There are so many other things you can do at home.

First, use the time by learning something new. If it is a language you never had the time to learn or if it is a skill you always wanted to learn.

I am not language teacher to list a good way of learning a language but I had great experience on learning spanish in the past years by only using online tools that are available. To do that I am using Babbel (which can be replaced by the free app Dualingo too) to learn vocabulary and grammar, spotify podcasts (I recommend hoyhablamos for learning spanish if you are more skilled, coffeebreakspanish if you are a beginner) and I like to read some IT news on spanish newspapers. Especially listening to podcasts is something you can do while you are doing some other things and therefore is very efficient. What are your experiences on learning languages online? Do you have recommendations?

Learning a new skill has never been easier than now. As a programmer I am facing that necessity all the time but there is more than new programming languages you can learn online. I love the platform udemy for learning new things because it contains almost everything – from programming courses to finances to creative drawing courses to courses on how to play instruments. YouTube has such courses too and I am using that platform too (of course) but in my experience with udemy you are more focused just because of the fact that you payed something for the course. Another advantage is that this platform supports offline availability which enables you to switch off all those popup messages for some time. What is your favourite platform for learning a new skill?

If you are more reading person you can use this time to read a book you always wanted to read. Right now it is not a problem if you don’t have this book at home, you can order it on Amazon and it will be delivered (YES I am a book person and not somebody who love to use book readers). Also you can use that time to read some papers about things you are interested in or maybe will get interested in? Maybe you find some area where you would like to focus on in the next time?

As restaurants are now closed you can use this time to start cooking or baking. YouTube has fantastic introductions on this topic, I have learnt it by this platform too. Use the time to create something you always wanted to create, cook a dish that is very complicated or just enjoy doing something that results in a delightful meal.

Last but not least, use this time to do things you normally do not have the time to do. Clean you house, get order into your personal stuff. But most important, try to avoid personal contact but use your mobile phone to keep contact to those who are important to you. Try to call your family more often, contact your friends, organize a Skype party on saturday, there are ways to keep contact.

Of course this is a hard time, of course it is easier to be pessimistic right now. But wouldn’t it be better to look at this time next year and see what you achieved? New skills, new hobbies, other priorities, use this time, try to do something you always wanted to do.