The COVID-19 pandemic is taking its toll on all of us. One thing is staying at home, another is the thought of all the things that can go wrong. The virus is very infectious, and is likely to kill a lot of people over the next year. The actions we take, and need to take, to curb the damages of the spreading illness is taking freedoms we take for granted away from us. No more travel, no parties, not even a beer with coworkers. For many of us, even work is gone. No wonder motivation is taking a hit! How can we deal with this situation collectively and individually to make the best out of a difficult situation?

The virus is not only a risk to our health, it is also a risk to our financial well-being, and the social fabric of our lives. The actions taken to limit the spread of the virus and the load it will have on our healthcare systems, is taking its toll on our social lives, and perhaps also our mental health. It is probably a good idea to think through how important aspects of life will be affected, and what you can do to minimize the risk, and what you should prepare to do if bad consequences do materialize.

Topic	Risks	Things to do
Finance	Job loss Real estate value loss	Minimize expenses and build a buffer of money Ask bank for deferral of principal payments Plan to negotiate if collateral for mortgage is no longer accepted due to real estate market collapse
Physical health	Infected by COVID-19	Supplies in storage at home in case of isolation Space to isolate to avoid infecting other family members
Mental health	Feeling of isolation Depression	Avoid “crazy news cycles” and negative feedback on social media Talk to friends regularly, not just coworkers Get fresh air and some excercise every day Have a contact ready for telemedicine, e.g. check if your insurance company offers this
Work	Loss of visibility Degradation of quality Collaboration problems	Set up daily video calls with closes team members Make results visible in digital channels Practice active listening

News, social media and fake news

The news cycle is a negative spiral of death counts, stock market crashes and experts preaching the end of the world. While it is useful, and important, to know what the situation is to make reasonable decisions, it is not useful to watch negative news around the clock. It is probably a good idea to batch how much one should take in of the news during a crisis, for example to morning and afternoon news.

Social media tend to paint an even worse picture; taking the news cycle and twisting it into something more extreme. My Twitter feed is now full of people arguing we should go for full communism and introduce death penalties for people allowing children to play outside. It is OK to watch stuff like that a short while for entertainment, but it can easily turn into a force of negative influence and perhaps it would be better to take a break from that? Use filters to stay away from hashtags that bring you down without bringing anything useful.