The pachyderm in the pandemic

Last year I stumbled upon the perfect dad joke when answering questions about business in 2020:

“I don’t know because I don’t have 2020 vision…”

would be my go to intro when giving advice about what marketing trends would reveal and if Tik Tok would take over Instagram.

Well, it turns out that silly dad joke was prescient because now that everything is different, everyone is racing toward to a “new normal” and trying to figure out what the future holds. But in all the worrying and guessing and considering, there’s a big topic I want to talk about.

The elephant in the room.

The pachyderm in the pandemic.

This shit is hard. 

And yes, I mean it’s hard to work from home with toddlers, and cook all your meals with infrequent trips to the grocery store. It’s hard to keep a house clean and miss out on birthday celebrations, graduations and Mother’s Day brunch. It’s difficult to cancel vacations and learn exclusively online and realize just how much your pet sleeps all day while you work hard to give him a better life…

Right now our day to day lives are hard in a way that’s so widespread it’s hard to find anyone not impacted.

But business during coronavirus is also difficult. There’s the uncertainty of income, cancelled contracts or delayed payments, team members who have fewer hours or may need to be laid off, long planned for events, launches and tours now on hold, trying to get a message across in an increasingly single focused media, and all of this combined with the personal stuff is hard.

Some entrepreneurs I know have found themselves sleeping longer and deeper than usual, with our routines upended you might miss your yoga class or daily run, and there’s the undeniable fact that leisure time with friends, eating a meal, seeing a movie, or going to a concert were welcome breaks that are now missing. It can feel impossible to create content, stick to a schedule and do the normal business functions leading to thoughts of what’s wrong with me?!

In some of my conversations, entrepreneurs have expressed how challenging it is to even show up when personal care has slipped by the wayside. Maybe your hair is a bit wild, or you’re rationing skin care products, wondering why a manicurist feels so essential… it can be a test to show up when you’re not feeling your best emotionally or physically.

Add in the pressure of staying well, washing your hands, sanitizing everything, not touching your face, wearing a mask, monitoring symptoms, watching the infection numbers climb and climb and climb… it’s exhausting.

Remember that you can deal with difficult shit. 

It’s worth remembering that you have survived tough times in the past and, while this one is full of unknowns, you will do your best to survive again.

Understand that much of the loss we have experienced is showing up as grief, anger, despair, frustration and pain.

You might also be balancing the guilt of feeling okay physically and financially while so many others are suffering. It’s not uncommon to deal with the fear of loss as loved ones are vulnerable to the virus. I’ve already lost one family member and worry that others are also susceptible.

My daily reminders

Some people might expect that I have some magical system for pandemic marketing or creating a schedule that puts everyone else to shame. In reality, I’ve been struggling with most of what I shared here (though the toddler visiting was only for 3 days it was still exhausting!).

As I navigate my way through this pandemic I hold on to a few reminders:

• Give myself grace every day to do the best of my abilities
• Rest, allow my body and mind to break from constant problem solving
• Check in on others and ask how they are doing
• Embrace my literal roots
• Let go of perfectionism and focus on progress

While we may never again live through such times (fingers-crossed!), if we adapt and find new ways of living and working then we can carry those lessons into the future.