‘The New Normal’, ‘These Unprecedented Times’, ‘Pandemic’; you know the ones. It’s those same few phrases that manage to pop up in every single conversation, completely taking over the global discourse. If I hear any of them one more time, I might just launch a P******* (uncensored: pandemic) of my own. I now declare these to be swear words, erased forever from our vernacular.
Sure, we’ve all adjusted to using Zoom and Teams, have increased our time spent on Linkedin tenfold and learnt the art of the webinar, but when it comes to ‘T** N** N*****’, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of what has really changed.
Dictionary: P******* (noun), Pandemic.
T** N** N***** (phrase | adjective), The new normal.
T**** U************ T**** (phrase | adjective), These unprecedented times.
Maybe your Spotify playlists have become a little more self-indulgent now that you don’t have to share your tunes and there are a few more guilty pleasures in there than you’d normally be comfortable revealing. Perhaps you’ve grown accustomed to daily bacon and eggs and are wondering how you’ll transition back to a muesli bar from the snack drawer (and your work pants) now that the mornings don’t last quite as long.
Of course, the new technology we’ve embraced during T**** U************ T**** and our ability to be agile in the way we connect with each other and the way we work, will shape the way we work in the future. But we’re here to talk about the interesting habits that will shape our N** N*****.
Our version of T** N** N*****
For the Focused Marketing team, T** N** N***** features Kristie wearing flats to the office (try and conceal the horror!), a raging debate around permitting ‘office slippers’ and a stronger focus on comfort than style when it comes to our work attire.
We learnt to be more flexible with our approach to work, with Casey working from home two days a week, leaving those of us who are a little more extraverted and in desperate need of an audience to get our daily social fix. We also learnt that it’s actually possible to start a new job, be inducted and hit the ground running when I joined the team in the height of the P*******.
We’ve realised how much money we spent on lunches since having the fridge at our disposal so have committed to bringing lunch from home more often.
We identified a gap in the market for pet therapists to nurse the broken hearts of our now-abandoned furry office companions and have a marketing campaign at the ready for anyone looking to fill the void!
We conquered the challenge of working from home, including staying on task with the patter of little feet (and paws!) never far away, successfully juggling work, home school, maintaining a tidy background for video calls and keeping pants on all members of the household in case of cameo appearances.
Most of all, we’ve learned to adapt and be flexible, and when everything goes pear shaped, we are much better equipped to shrug it all off and try again!