Author: Andinochan

IG: andinirrs

Stay Sane and Agile during New Normal

Time feels like moving at the speed of light; 2020 was just yesterday. Fast forwards,
bring us to the 4th month of 2021. The pandemics caused a sudden change that impacts our
daily lives; we might lose our job or be insecure whether our work is affected, work-ass-off
by doubling workload due to limited human resources or struggling to finish the thesis and
thinking about a career. People said 24 hours means 8 hours for a job, 8 hours for family,
and the other 8 is for resting. However, the boundary now seems vague. This uncertain
situation with no end makes us anxious. It slowly destroys the usual order of an “old life”
where we can just hang out with a friend, strolling around the town whenever we feel bored.
To tackle anxiety and try to be alive while juggling daily tasks, I create my routine, which I
hope can become a new habit in this new normal. Here what do I do so far:

1. Journaling

Sometimes my working hours could be so uneven and uncertain. I could work from 9 to 9,
particularly during peak season. It is indeed draining my energy both physically and
mentally. But journaling helps to manage my time, goals, including observing day-to-day
moods. Based on the chunking strategy, I jot down my activity into two categories: To do
and Done. To measure whether my daily list is achieved, I tick with green colors while
checking x to something undone with a red marker. After fixing my schedules, jot down the
goals and steps, believe it or not, my life becomes more compelling while my skills add 1%
progress each day by ticking the goals I set.

2. Workout and healthy diet

Flexible working hours and no obligation to work at the office with specific time ranges might
clutter our personal life. Back before, I used to sleep around 2.AM in the morning while
scrolling on the crowd of social media mindlessly with sometimes snacking chips. I did this
for about six months and gained surprisingly almost 10 kilograms of weight! A bad sleeping
and eating habit becomes the most cause of unproductive life. Usually, I was sleepy and
sluggish in the middle of working hours on the following day. Therefore, I commit myself not
to eat sweets or fried foods for a certain period, work out every morning, and tweak my
bedtime before midnight.

3. Read and Write

I'm in an attempt to build writing and reading habits during my jam-packed schedules. It
takes enormous effort as consistency is something that usually hampered me. All my life, I'm
a bit more like a spontaneous person who likes sudden events and hardly responsible for
what I start—so joining this BritzoneId writing competition is my first turning point to any
writing challenges ahead. I also joined the reading community hosted by Narasi. They initiate
such a reading challenge like one day ten pages or one month one book. Being a part of
such a community helps to measure my skill progress and maintain the process because I
don't feel alone. It is a typical support system that makes my unconscious mind believe that I
have to move together through the given challenges. If not, then I will be left behind.

4. Learning New Skills Online

During the pandemics, there are so many platforms that provide online learning. I sort down
what I want to learn, browse them through any social media platform I have, and personalize
my current needs. There are like a thousand free online courses, starting from Coursera,
EdX, Prakerja for Indonesian, or any online webinars conducted by free-brushed-up skill
platforms or even language communities! For instance, I joined a night discussion with the
BritzoneId community to nail my English speaking and listening skills. Besides free courses,
the paid ones are also worth trying. I enrolled myself in Mandarin and Japanese courses to
polish my language learning. Moreover, other topics are also fun to be learned, such as data
scientist, digital marketing, or even how to deal with burnout-or-psychology-related webinars.
Learning online enables us to connect with everyone worldwide, learn from the experts, and
digest their knowledge to equip us with a better-life-starter pack, especially in terms of
career.

Everything is like two sides of a coin which means it has both positive and negative sides.
Behind an exhausting situation of pandemics, we have thousands of opened doors where
we can unleash our potential in a blink of an eye. We never know precisely when we could
grab fresh air without being anxious about getting infected, it could be years. But the only
sane thing we could do is bury the hatchet—accepting and start being agile while adapting to
this new definition of “normal.” Take a break, appreciate ourselves while keeping aware, the
pandemic is not over—yet.