Life Change Since the Start of Social Isolation and Social Distancing
Humanity has already been confronted with some kinds of pandemics. However, it is the first time when outcomes touch all fields of human existence, accompanied by global panic, the global financial crisis, and a universal transition to virtual reality. People are knocked out of the usual pace of life, limited in movement, locked down in their apartments. Self-isolation may affect a person profoundly. Ending social isolation depends on the individual’s specific experiences and how he or she dealt with them.
Due to the social isolation and social distancing because of the coronavirus, I could temporarily take a break from the constant activity and work and start tackling other issues or rethinking relations with loved ones. For me, putting life on hold and self-isolation being a perfect ground for developing desired habits or restructuring a schedule for a more convenient work process, is an ability to engage myself in self-development and improve life quality. Secondly, according to Zwanka and Buff (2020), while remaining socially isolated people start spending more time on the Internet, more than half of users changed their hobbies and content consumption habits, replacing daily habits with digital ones. One in five started reading online books more often; slightly fewer respondents began to spend more time on social networks, approximately 18% are watching videos, and 12% – listening to music and radio (Zwanka & Buff, 2020). I noticed that the total amount of time spent on social media or surfing on the Internet has increased. Meanwhile, the pandemic and its consequences should be considered a complex of diverse stress factors, which leads to the drawback that during quarantine, people experience an increased level of anxiety and frustration, irritability, insomnia, emotional exhaustion, and outbursts of anger.
Why Living in the Future is More Effective Than Other Ways?
Instead of living here and now, it is better to live for the future and be concerned about the days gone by because time flies fast, and it is impossible to grasp the present – when a person recognizes it, it will already be the past. The living here and now concept does not consider the nature of time because it is hard to determine where there are starting and ending points of the past, present, and future, for instance, a mistake in the present instantly becomes a mistake in the past and affects future decisions. The extent of our actions depends on the understanding of what may happen in the near or distant time. The most prominent example is that businesspeople often build projects for decades to come; politicians consider the possible outcomes for centuries. For determination one’s actions, a person needs to understand what consequences will follow and what will happen in general to the world in the decades.
The right way to live in the future and not miss momentary joys is to mark immediate actions at once, compare them to values and capabilities, and finally set goals. It helps to continually keep the ambitions in mind, carefully monitoring reality, changing circumstances, arranging the necessary meetings. People take responsibility and build the future they want, and, just as importantly, they can have the past that they would like to have, being proud of what they have become. Moreover, they can appreciate everything they have and everything they are deprived of and consciously start thinking about their actions and future.
References
Zwanka, R. J., & Buff, C. (2020). COVID-19 generation: A conceptual framework of the consumer behavioral shifts to be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 1-10.