One of the many ways the pandemic has impacted us is the way in which we perceive our day-to-day lives. In the hopes of strengthening our sense of connectivity during these unprecedented times, we reached out to a few of our very own leaders at Teachers Life and asked them to share their insights on how COVID-19 has impacted them both professionally and personally. These include Kim Woodman, our Director of Underwriting; Cherisse Norman, our CFO and Doug Baker, our President and CEO.
A New Work-Life Balance
It goes without saying that those who are bringing work into the home may experience some shifts in our personal lives. Including our ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance. However, as Doug, Kim and Cherisse point out, these circumstances provide an opportunity to achieve a healthier balance than ever before. Cherisse shares the benefits of working remotely with children at home as “the fulfillment of spending time with them and attending to their needs has been wonderful as we do not have to rush to or from work in a long commute.”.
For Kim, blending her work with her home environment has allowed her to increase her work efficiency and productivity. “COVID has truly helped me obtain the perfect work-life balance. Being fortunate enough to have the ability to work from home has given me the opportunity to get more organized. I have increased my productivity at work, all while beginning meal prepping and a cleaning schedule.”
This is balanced with Doug’s acknowledgement of the difficulties that may arise in these circumstances. “Even looking within my own family [there are] different pressures and changes imposed on people. For example, my daughter and son in law, both working from home now with 3 children under the age of 11…it’s tough. My son works in Germany as a paramedic, facing COVID upfront daily…it’s tough. We took so much for granted pre-COVID”.
Back to Normal?
As Doug, Kim and Cherisse reflect on their adjustments into a new work-life reality, they all mention that they do miss face-to-face meetings and adjusting to a new perception of time. While time seems to go slow for some and faster for others, there’s no doubting that it is hard to believe that it has been half a year since the start of the Ontario COVID lock-down. The notion of time for us all has shifted and has taken some getting used to.
On most of our minds is how do we all return to the office in the era of COVID-19. There will be drastic changes with functionality and social interactions. Some may even question what the new “normal” of a workplace may be as many workplaces have now fully transitioned to effectively working from home.
We are in this together
However, it’s important to also consider the privilege of even having the option to work remotely and maintain job security. As our CEO Doug articulated, “I’m in a very fortunate position where I still have a job. Many individuals have not been as fortunate during the pandemic. So, from that starting point, and not that I wasn’t aware of this before, but there are tremendous discrepancies in our society. And the pandemic has only made this clearer. If there is any silver lining to the pandemic it might be (and I stress the might) an opportunity to really address these inequities.”
Kim points out that some are anxious to return given their health and safety and may be nervous about potentially putting their loved ones at risk. “My parents are both high risk if they were to get COVID. So my worry would be more for my parents and passing it on to them. We all will have different and new stressors that may not have been present before COVID.”
Stay Safe with Insurance
Although the idea that these days may be our new normal and transitioning to our pre-COVID days is a long ways off, one thing that we can take some comfort knowing is that we’re all going through this together. Both in our work and personal life and there is always comfort in knowing we are not alone. To help protect you and your loved ones through the evolving stages of the pandemic, consider the security of life insurance that best suits your needs. Use our free, online needs analysis calculator to see how much your insurance you need.
All articles and other information posted on http://teacherslife.com are intended to be informational only and not for the purpose of providing any health, medical, financial, insurance, legal, accounting, tax or other advice. Teachers Life does not guarantee or represent that any information in these articles or elsewhere on this website is accurate, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You use or rely on such information solely at your own risk. All articles and website content are the property of Teachers Life and all rights are reserved. IN NO EVENT WILL TEACHERS LIFE BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE YOU INCUR RELATED TO YOUR USE OR RELIANCE OF THE INFORMATION IN THESE ARTICLES OR ELSEWHERE ON THE WEBSITE. See the Terms of Use for more information.
