Time passed us by without our notice. We were waiting for the unknown. Most of us spent time on nothing.
Not really on nothing. Many spent countless hours on Netflix. I caught myself spending more than two hundred hours watching TV series. Mondays became Mondays again without a trace.
Then, it made sense to many that the virus won’t go away after 14, 20, and 45 days. Though our government officials think that way even after more than a hundred days, they are wrong.
Quarantine does not kill a virus. It slows down its movement (provided you don’t live within a dormitory), but it leaves as long massive contact tracing and treatments aren’t done.
This is why, as of this writing, the daily reported cases of infection are ten times more than when the quarantine started in March 2020. Quarantine did not work because the government’s solution (read: spending money) don’t work.
But people have to work again. Some outside. For most of us, we have to work at home.
So, we started working again. Suddenly, there is overwhelmed.
Zoom meetings are scheduled almost every hour. People need you online. You have to be there for them.
Webinars are everywhere. Technology provided us with opportunities to feel that we are still doing something. People love to teach. Talking to people at this time is very addictive.
But it gets overwhelming. Meetings and webinars are driving people crazy. Well, not all kinds of meetings and not all kinds of webinars. But you know what I meant.
In this time of the pandemic, pause. Take some good time thinking about how to be productive and still be in control.
You can make your people productive without having them join in meetings they have nothing to contribute. Their presence won’t help.
When you pause and think about it, you’ll be able to find ways to help your people get productive. Productivity is determined by the produce, not by the effort.
One tip I will give you is free them from meetings so they can focus on their work. Give them projects which they need to accomplish in specific time frames.
You’ll be surprised by what your people can do if you will save them from overwhelm.
Jef Menguin
