How has the pandemic changed our behavior?

How has the pandemic changed our behavior?

By Kimberly Drake

COVID-19 which keeps on evolving and results in many different variants is still felt almost everywhere in the world but with a smaller effect. Despite this smaller effect, the pandemic has caused a lot of lasting impact on every aspect of people’s lives. There are many impacts that we have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic such as losing someone we love, losing our job, struggling to survive financially, and many more. One of the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on everyone’s life is how it changed everyone's behavior. One of the effects of COVID-19 in terms of workplace behavior is the shift to remote work. During COVID-19, many organizations have focused on a work-from-home set up and many individuals have seen a positive effect of this kind of setup. Many business organizations conduct their meetings virtually because of the fear to get the COVID-19 virus and up to this day many organizations still do their business meetings virtually. Another long-term effect of COVID-19 is how employees communicate with one another and they are forced to communicate using social media and text-based communication instead of face-to-face interaction because of the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. One of the downsides of getting used to this kind of setup is that we are now used to working at home and it brings a lot of distractions that will make an individual be less productive because of the difficulty of concentrating on their task or jobs. COVID-19 has also altered how we spend our money. Based on the survey they did, they found an increase in the spending habits of an individual from 18-64 years old who prioritize buying the essential products they need over the non-essential ones using an online platform. Up to this day, we can say that online shopping is now more convenient for several goods or products than going to the actual shop or store.

In my personal experience, I was also working at home during the pandemic, and we are usually doing virtual meetings whenever there’s an important task that we need to talk about. Up to this day, I also buy some of the things that we need through online shopping.

 

Reference:

MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Covid-19 and behavior: Effects on mental health, communication. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-has-the-pandemic-changed-our-behavior