Feeling ‘Stuck’: Why the Pandemic Should Not Be an Excuse to Further Your Career or Business

The COVID-19 pandemic has flipped our lives upside down. More than a year after lockdown orders were first issued in the country, we’re still feeling the effects of having to manage our day-to-day responsibilities with the threat of a deadly virus.

Some of us may still be adjusting or recovering from the initial shock of the sudden lockdown last year. We’ve never experienced anything quite like this before – at least not in our lifetime.

To this day, the sense of normalcy has yet to be fully restored. There’s still that notion of uncertainty that can have us feeling fear, frustration, and anger. And it’s perfectly normal to feel all these emotions, especially if you lost your job, your business, or even a loved one.

But we can’t let our feelings get the better of us forever. Because the fact of the matter is the world doesn’t stop for any of us. It keeps spinning, and the only thing we can do is to keep moving with it.

I myself was at a loss after the initial lockdown was announced. In fact, I slept in during the first couple of days. I later stocked up on groceries and checked up on other family members. After a week, however, I came to the realization that I couldn’t continue like this if I wanted to maintain my business.

Although I now had the desire to restart, I didn’t know how to begin. Since I founded Bridges-PH, I’ve developed a routine that I followed every workday. I’d wake up early, meet my staff in the office, and go out to meet with clients. But I couldn’t do face-to-face meetings during the pandemic. I was, of course, worried for my own health, my staff’s, and my clients’.

So the first step I had to take was to open up communications again. Even before the pandemic, I’ve already been using video call applications to talk to some of my clients, though it was just an option for those who preferred it. I just had to find a way to get the ball rolling again. And that involved creating a new work system with the help of technology.

I knew that my staff and I had to start reaching out to our clients to assure them that we are still here, that our office remains open virtually and we are finding ways to get around the challenges brought about by this sudden change in work environment. So we created individual chat groups with each of our clients on a popular messaging platform. By opening up communications, we were able to quickly update them about changes regarding their purchased plans. Whatever my providers sent us, we forwarded it straight to the clients via these group chats.

Internally, I had to make some changes too. Because of the shift in the work setup, my secretary and I mutually agreed that she would temporarily take a contractual setup. After all, she said she wanted to explore her own business venture on the side, so I allowed her to do that.

At first, there was some adjustment with the workflow. My secretary was still working a nine-to-five schedule even if she was at home. I told her that regular work hours no longer applied as it didn’t prove efficient anymore. If she, for example, needed to take care of her children during work hours, that was fine with me. She was free to do whatever she wanted as long as she got her work done. It didn’t click immediately, but she eventually came around to it.

Everything came together thanks in large part to technology. It’s now just as easy as it was before to talk to clients thanks to video calling and messaging platforms. And a lot of them are readily accessible and free. I actually only learned about cloud storage after using Google Drive to share files during the pandemic.

This experience brought an important realization and it’s one that I wish to share with whoever may be struggling with their careers or business right now: At some point in your life, you might find yourself stuck, but it doesn’t mean you’ll have to be forever. And this doesn’t only apply to the pandemic.

Being stuck doesn’t make you less than anybody else. Don’t forget that. But once you know you’re stuck, you have to first acknowledge your predicament so that you can later find a way out of it. Solutions won’t just drop into your lap. You can’t just sit and wait for everything to get better. Finding a way out, whatever that means for you, has to be an intentional decision.

Take it from me, there is no such thing as secrets to success. It’s all trial and error. Find what works for you and stick with it.