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Kate Hawkesby: Will we embrace our lessons learned from lockdown?

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 21 May 2020, 10:10AM
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Kate Hawkesby: Will we embrace our lessons learned from lockdown?

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 21 May 2020, 10:10AM

So a week on from dropping to Level 2, how are you tracking?

How much of that new normal, new me, lockdown lifestyle have you carried over into real life?

How much eating at home are you still doing now that cafes and restaurants are back open?

How much money are you saving really, now that you can hit the malls?

How much slower is your life now that the school run is back on?

How much time with the kids are you still having?

How many of you are still working form home?

Are you back at the gym or still doing home workouts?

How many trips round the block with the dog are you doing?

Are you still face timing family members and checking in on them?

Are we still baking banana bread??

How much did we really let lockdown seep into our consciousness and change us forever?

Or have we just slipped straight back into normal life?

Are we all just back at the office, back in the traffic in the daily commute, back in the cafes and picking up the takeaways?

Because if we haven't learned anything from our time on hold and made any tangible changes to our lives, then was it a waste of time?

I read that when it comes to working from home, internationally, Google and Facebook have been told they'll be working from home until 2021. Here, many Kiwi companies, according to one report, have indicated a large percentage of their workforce will work from home for at least some of the time.

A NZ Herald survey recently asked readers if they were keen to continue working from home, 49 percent said yes, 12 percent said no, and 39 percent wanted a mixed approach - some working from home time and some time at the office. So will that stack up?

Time will tell I guess.

There was also talk that part of the big Covid change may see city dwellers move to the country.

That working from home may be the catalyst for change.

That we may now want a quieter pace of life, having experienced it for two months.

That regional lifestyles are more affordable, more relaxed, and generally better for us.

One Economics commentator said Covid could see people move to the outskirts of cities or even small towns now that we know we can survive and as Meghan Markle would say, maybe even thrive in a quieter existence.

Living costs are cheaper, you're not battling traffic.

So will we all quieten our lives down a bit now?

Will we adapt to our new normal and ease off the daily grind of wearing that 'I'm so busy" badge, like it's a good thing?

Will we now slow our pace and embrace our lessons from lockdown?

I hope so.

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