Reinventing During a Pandemic

by CoveyClub Team

IT’S ONE THING TO REINVENT YOURSELF AFTER LEAVING A JOB OR MAKING A CAREER CHANGE, BUT WHAT’S IT LIKE TRYING TO SWITCH GEARS WHEN A PANDEMIC HITS?

Covey Club Founder Lesley Jane Seymour, a member of Willow’s Expert Network, recently sat down with someone who is in the process of doing just that.

Susan Spencer was getting ready to quit her job as editor-in-chief of Women’s Day magazine and take a two-month sabbatical when the universe presented her with other plans.

A planner by nature, she found it challenging to add structure to a quarantined existence, but came up with the following daily goals to use the time as best as possible:

Reach out.
Call and stay in touch with everyone, and build your virtual network by commenting and posting on LinkedIn. You may find that just because people are working at home, they don’t necessarily have time to chat. Be conscious of that and don’t beat yourself up if someone doesn’t respond.

Be creative.
Use free time to explore. Keep a journal, try new recipes (ingredients permitting), take up projects (embroidery!) that empty the mind of worries.

Learn.
Take classes in whatever interests you, whether personal branding and digital marketing (You can do this through LinkedIn Learning and through other companies such as General Assembly.), and read those long 1000-page novels that you’d previously never had time to read.

Move.
Get some exercise in. Going from confinement to freedom and moving through the world feels particularly exquisite right now. It’s a sanity-saver.

Breathe.
Some days you’ll hit your goals, and other days you’ll be blown sideways by the immensity of it all. These are extraordinary times, and not even the most motivated of us wins every day.

COVEYCLUB IS A VIRTUAL MEETING PLACE FOR LIFELONG LEARNERS. IT WAS FOUNDED BY WILLOW EXPERT NETWORK’S LESLEY JANE SEYMOUR, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF MORE MAGAZINE.

COVEYCLUB.COM

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Willow.