Are you sure you would like to reset?
How life and work in the Covid-19 crisis feels like a computer reset
This week I am celebrating my first working from home anniversary. I have not returned to the office for three months now. How time flies. In some talks with people over the past months — or where they Zoom meetings? — I have sometimes mentioned that what we are all going through feels like a reset. A reset of travel, a reset of the way we define a work environment, a reset in our view on climate change, and a reset triggering many personal questions that start with why. I think of this reset, this morning on a public holiday, sitting at my kitchen table, which on regular office days has become my work desk. The analogy with a reset of your computer is truly there.
Operating system
After the reset of your computer, you will often benefit from a downloaded improved operating system. Some system updates are necessary to safeguard yourself from viruses, some have fun features or make your life easier. As the world is moving to a new normal in this Covid-19 crisis, it truly feels like the world, work, the way we look at collaboration and communication, is operating in a different mode. After this system update, in particular if it has been that drastic as the lock-down mode in many countries across the world, you need to find your way again. Some features sit under a different button. Some have disappeared, which is okay, since they were inefficient. It feels like you need to get to learn your computer again. And after a couple of weeks, it feels quite normal. As if it has always been like this. Despite that, we sometimes think how life was before this major operating system update. Sometimes, we long for the times that have been, one day some months ago. But reflecting on what we have overcome so far, we realise that some of the new features of the operating system that we call the world after Covid-19 are really cool.
Redundant apps
Restarting your computer after a total reset eliminates apps that you hardly or never use. Your desktop suddenly feels clean, uncluttered. You can see through it now. I have scaled down massively on travel time. It used to be up to one hour to get to my office, door to door, before the lockdown. Now it’s ten seconds. That’s what I call an improvement! You may have cancelled many unnecessary face-to-face meetings. We still have the dialogue, although we’re often missing the personal contact, that’s for sure. But times will change again, and after this reset you might find that a combination of virtual and face-to-face meetings is quite an efficient way to work.
Offline and online
Working on your reset computer might make you explore new features. After Covid-19 measures have been implemented, you notice how efficiently work can continue. You might find yourself to be more productive than in office times. One of the benefits I have experienced, is that during the past months it has been much easier than before to reach people. Since almost all of us work remotely during this time, the online time of staff, management team colleagues and customers has picked up notably. It’s quite effective, actually. However, after staring for hours at my screen and concentrating on all of the stuff that is going on in virtual meetings, I really need offline time, much more than before the lockdown and remote working mode. We appreciate more than ever the value of personal interaction and offline activities.
Are you sure you would like to reset this computer? I think of the last three months of our lives which have massively changed, and I hover my finger over the enter button. A smile appears on my face. I push enter and I go outside. To read a book, under a bright, blue and unpolluted sky.
