Retreat into Peace

I'd like to echo your sentiments from the last post. It has been hard to be productive during this whole pandemic, though the reason for this has changed throughout. Initially, there is always the shock of it and the coming to terms with our new workflows. Then there was the low underlying level of anxiety as we watched the terrible numbers rise. The stress as the numbers stabilized and we came to grips with the interminability of self-isolation. And now, in the first denouement, there is a feeling of confusion - are we safe to start going back? Where are the lines? All of it down to uncertainty.

Even at the best of times I struggle to be productive and throughout this whole experience, I have certainly gone through the stages above and used them as excuses (perhaps rightfully) to delay engaging with my larger goals and aspirations. As spring comes, then, and with it a start to what may be the end of the first wave (though who truly knows) I am working on building better systems to combat the miasma of unproductivity. The great thing is that these days, with all of us in such similar circumstances, there are great online role models whose systems I can very directly borrow and learn from.

I know that systems are something that you excel at. Have they helped you combat the uproductivity that you feel? What do you think is the cause for you?

You also asked about the impact of a potential second wave, and as I look at the numbers I wonder. While the global numbers are still rising, we are no longer in an exponential regime, it seems. We seem to have successfully navigated away from the worst of all worlds, though it is hard to claim that we are in the best of them. Speaking to people from many industries and roles, I get the sense that no-one expects this game to be fully over soon. "Until a vaccine is available" is the common refrain for many queries and timelines for that seem to stretch from 1 to 5 years. I can hardly imagine five more years of anything like this.

And yet, I am aware of our human biases towards optimism in such estimates. We thought the first world war would be "over by Christmas. No-one anticipated the timelines of Vietnam or the war in Afghanistan. We as people are ill-equipped to think about the average case, let alone the worst.

I do think we should worry more about a second wave, if only to balance this bias in ourselves. I don't know what it will look like, but in countries like the US already strained to the breaking point, the picture does look somewhat bleak. Even in countries like our own, the questions of how to navigate the balance of economics and healthcare with the psychology of an already beleaguered population will challenge our leaders. Will we as individuals able to hand another dose of self-isolation? Will the economy?

I think the answers to those questions also lie in the systems that we are able to develop. Will online exemplars arise that show us how to live a balanced life in isolation? Can companies adapt to the new systems required for success in this new world?

And on the flip-side, if I'm wrong and we are fortunate enough to avoid the second wave, what are the costs and benefits of instituting these new systems anyway?