how COVID has impacted my work & giving myself an edge

The current world pandemic has undoubtedly drastically shifted how everyone is working. Many are now working from home. Many people have lost their jobs. Things have changed a lot for everyone. Learning to adapt to the situation hasn't been easy on anyone, regardless of what they may be portraying on social media. It's been hard.

I fit into both of the above categories right now: I was previously working part-time from home, but I had also been offered a full-time job that I was unable to start because of the Coronavirus. While I should be used to working from home, the WFH situation has completely changed for me, and for many others who had been working from home too. The constant stress, anxiety, and uncertainty looming over all of us right now make it nearly impossible to be as productive as we once were. And that's okay, this isn't a normal situation, so our reactions aren't going to be normal. I, and everyone else, are experiencing so many emotions all at once, and it's making everyday things, harder.

I've been waking up later than normal from my lack of sleep, not getting nearly as much work done, and my communication skills have probably depleted as well. Towards the beginning of this, I was really sad and hopeless. I'd just lost the job I was really looking forward to starting, that had taken me so long to find - I wasn't sure how I'd compare to the rest of this job market after this pandemic was over and companies were allowed to hire again. After this is all over, the job market is going to be hell, I'm just being honest. The class of 2020 will be looking for a job, as well as ALL of the people who've lost their jobs, so it's going to be hard. There's no point in sugarcoating it. While I'm still sad and stressed and angry about all that's happening in the world right now, I've chosen to not sit around and do nothing all day, when I could be making myself more valuable on the job market - something I'd recommend if you too will be looking for a job when this is all over.

I get it, we're not going to be super productive every single day... it's just not going to happen given the current situation, and that's okay. And if you are being productive every single day and not working yourself dry, you must be Superman. But we can't all be Superman. So, when I feel most productive, I've found a few things to do that might make me more valuable on the job market when this is all over (aside from doing my job). This includes, but is not limited to:

- Taking classes on LinkedIn Learning. This requires a LinkedIn Premium membership - but you can get your first month free!

- Updating all my profiles and portfolios. I'm making sure my LinkedIn profile is as detailed and updated as it can be, and I'm doing the same thing to my online portfolio as well. An online portfolio is something I'd recommend everyone look into, depending on your field, it could be very helpful to your job-hunting process!

- Taking classes on Skillshare. I had no idea that there was a free membership offered on Skillshare, but there is, and there are loads of valuable courses offered. But, I'm also going to invest in the paid membership to take all the classes I'm interested in taking.

- Stay creative. In my field of social media, being creative is so important. And while right now, being creative has been kind of difficult, I'm trying to find one creative activity to do every single day, even if it has nothing to do with social media at all. Some examples are painting, photography, and of course writing.

Those are only a few ideas of things to keep you busy during quarantine, which will also probably benefit your job search when this is all over. This is tough for all of us, but it's important to stay as positive as possible and to be productive when we can, but also taking care of ourselves and our mental health. When this is all over, we're coming out of it as much better individuals. We're all in this together. I know this was a rather short post, but I think it may be helpful to some, maybe it was even a little motivating. I've been trying to keep my creativity flowing during this difficult time, and writing blog posts (no matter how long or short) help me do that!