A little over two years ago, no regular person in the world had thought that they would all be locked up in their homes in the coming months. Two years later, it seems like many have adjusted to all the COVID-19 restrictions put in place.
Reports show that Covid might be a personal housemate we all have to live with forever. While it is not sure yet that COVID-19 is here to stay, take a look at how the world spent the last two years it had to live with this uninvited guest.
Online Shopping
With limited trips to the supermarket, people all turned to their phones for shopping. One survey says that these habits are most likely to last even after the difficult COVID-19 situation. Gone were the days when people sprinted to the store for a quick restock of favorite gums or pens.
Now, most even rely on the internet for lunch. Brands and retailers made an effort to make the most out of this sudden shift. Both essential and nonessential items are now available on online shopping sites. Virtual try-ons for clothes and other apparel have become the norm. You can even try on a shade of lipstick or hair color while seated on your couch.
Working from Home
Suddenly, the line between work and home life has blurred. Work-from-home setups became the corporate solution to lockdown restrictions. Some companies cannot afford to halt operations indefinitely. The answer they saw is to send work computers to our homes so we can continue our jobs. This has become favorable for some but not for others.
Working parents can now work and spend time with their children at home. For others, the lack of balance between work and home responsibilities takes a toll on their mental health. While many are unsure when this setup is going to last, some take the whole thing to the next level.
Many people dedicated a corner or an entire room as their workspace. They even put up a coffee nook complete with coffee brewing sets they probably bought online. There are tons of videos on work setup makeovers and DIY projects on the internet. You can look at it as a way to increase productivity or to let out stress. Do whatever you can to make this situation a little less stressful.
Virtual Tours
There is probably one point in the last two years where you felt like you had run out of fun things to do. When online shopping didn’t cut it anymore, some tried virtual tours. The most accessible virtual tour to do is on Google Maps and Street View. You can pretend you are driving in town, making stops at your favorite hangouts.
Thanks to the power of Google Street View, you can even go inside places. For those who never tried, some fun places you can tour are museums. You can go inside The British Museum, for starters. “Inside,” you can check out incredible pieces of artwork from as early as 2000 BC from all over the world. Next, you can visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as if you are walking down the museum halls.
Virtual Health Checks
Being in the middle of a health crisis, most are thankful that healthcare practitioners have extended their medical services online. You can now get fast responses to medical queries through online consultations. Especially when the hospital is the last place we want to be, online and teleconsultations are a blessing.
With gyms closed, you can even get mentoring from health and fitness professionals online to focus on your health goals. Services from professionals such as in nutrition and dermatology are more accessible now than ever. This is something that most all probably want to stay moving forward.
Watch Parties
Probably every mental picture of quarantine that people have is one where they are in bed watching Netflix. Well, it is one of the easiest and most entertaining ways to pass the time. However, there is also a limit to how much people can do alone.
Thankfully, watch parties became a thing right away. While it will never be the same as sitting in the theater with friends, this was as close as people can get in the past year. Plus, virtual watch parties have their charm. They even evolved to Zoom parties, which is another way of hanging out with friends online.
The COVID-19 pandemic put people’s creativity to the test by trying to develop ways to connect with friends and family in the online space. Many even tried virtual gift exchanges, online bingo, and even online bring-me games. Who knew there was fun in knowing you are watching the same movie or listening to the same song with a friend from miles away.
It is probably too soon to say that these changes are all that the world will ever adjust to because of COVID-19. Right now, it might seem like the light at the end of the tunnel is still so far away. However, moving forward, people can only hope that things get better for everyone. Some are excited to take all the fun things that happened because of Covid, but most are also excited for all the bad stuff to be over soon.
