3 Social Isolation Survival Tips

Social distancing is about a month old. Your hair is shaggy, your roots are showing and you’re not looking your best. If you are a leader you are worried about the financial impacts of this shutdown and your cash flow. If you manage a team you may be concerned about employee productivity and how you will regroup when this crisis is over. Here are three survival tips:

• Help others: To help yourself start by helping others. Scientific research on resilience has shown that having a sense of purpose and giving support to others has a significant impact on our well-being. Research calls it the helper’s high. One of the best anti-anxiety medications is generosity, according to Adam Grant an organizational psychologist at Wharton.

• Get outside yourself: My cousin from Germany sent a message this weekend containing the following quote from Yosef Kanefsky, a Los Angeles rabbi:

“Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.”

To combat isolation, reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to or seen in sometime. They’ll smile and be grateful and you’ll feel less alone

• Recreate community: Teams often have their own culture and traditions. Sometimes these can be replicated or reinvented in an online environment, such as Friday happy hour via Zoom. These connections are important to remind you of your purpose. Organized clapping sessions have begun outside of hospitals to show love and appreciation for healthcare workers, see #clapbecausewecare.

Feel free to call me, 30-588-5390, about any of these concerns, or send an email to ek@alternativeresolutions.net.

Stay healthy!