How COVID-19 Will Drastically Change The Way We Live and Work
Before life was forced online by the devastating Coronavirus, we were all guilty of using technology as a scapegoat for many of life’s daily frustrations. Minor glitches would evoke a temper in us all, and relationships with our beloved devices were soured by an unreasonable impatience. The browser freezing during a crucial Google search. The mousepad tracker not being quite calibrated. Your laptop requiring yet another 3-hour software update (and five minutes from the end - it crashes). While inconsequential (especially during a global pandemic), can we really be blamed for our fiery reactions? The instantaneous nature of technology has shaped generations of people who expect constant efficiency and quality with no excuses. And so, in these uncertain times, whereby patience is a virtue and technology is holding together the very fibres of society, is it time that we finally admit that we’d be in ruin without our technological crutches?
With social isolation as the norm for the foreseeable future, how will the most social species on earth survive? Well, if “necessity is the mother of invention” (shout-out to Plato), this challenging time will expose the most dysfunctional aspects of 21st century norms and encourage a new revolutionary wave of productivity. Crucially, facilitating better technology to deliver necessities to customers is at the heart of the global coping strategy. Not to mention it is at the heart of our own coping strategy; virtual-drinks with friends has replaced going to the pub!
Today, all classes have moved online, most restaurants will deliver their full menu to your door and remote working has been given the spotlight. Previously, remote working was a privilege reserved for those in higher managerial roles. Most of us probably never questioned this, and we assumed that the chance to access this flexibility would be granted as we climb the ladder. Coronavirus has flipped this on its head. It has revealed that all employees, regardless of experience, can be trusted to work from home.
This is not to say offices should be demolished, as collaborative face-to-face work will always be necessary. However, online platforms have replaced many aspects of our lives we never thought could be digitised. As desperate as these times may be, uncovering the full potential of technology can’t be a bad thing, since it has been at our fingertips this whole time.
So even though we’re not entirely sure what the post-coronavirus world will look like, let’s take this opportunity to give technology, for all its frustrating aspects, the redemption it deserves. We must mobilise the predicted surge in technological innovation across all industries and let it tailor a fairer, more efficient working world for us all. At Wiseup we’ve always had a vision for using our online platforms for unrestricted social connectivity, and we are enthused to see so many different types of businesses explore the possibilities of virtual platforming.
Going forward, Wiseup will provide a cornerstone service for online mentoring, to allow individuals to access bespoke career and business advice from their homes. We should mention that once this crisis has passed, we will be running face-to-face workshops and events. However, the heart of our business will always be online because we believe in the incredible boundaryless power of online social connectivity; and it seems the post-coronavirus world will be rebuilt with these core principles in mind.
