COVID-19: How the Pandemic has Impacted HackerNoon Staff

The Covid-19 Pandemic has turned our lives upside down. From lockdown to the occasional breakdown, the last couple of years have been manic and unlike any other. In this Slogging post, the team at HackerNoon discuss how the Covid-19 Pandemic has not only impacted our work life but our lives in general. This thread by Jack Boreham, petar.btc, Mónica Freitas, Ellen Stevens and Limarc Ambalina occurred in slogging's official #random channel, and has been edited for readability.How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted your work life and life in general? I've been working from home since March 2020, and I feel comfortable with it. However, my overall health, both physical and mental, has decreased significantly. My social connections have suffered a lot and I've found myself distant from people around me. Now I'm trying to get myself out of all this mess :man-shrugging:Well, for me, it was focusing on finding a remote job, which was something that I've been thinking about for a while. It definitely affected my social battery - social events require a lot more effort, and there was this anxiety whenever I'd see large groups of people out and about. It's getting better now, but these past two years have taken their toll. How about you, Jack Boreham?Mónica Freitas Have you found a remote job? It's been rough, but we'll be fine 🙂petar.btc Well, I've found an internship. The issue I've found with a remote job, it's that they ask for years of experience for entry-level jobs, which is hard for someone like me who barely got out of University. Have you gotten used to seeing a lot of people outside yet?Barely any impact. I was already seeking/starting on a remote journey on my own accord before the pandemic hit. I've been a student for a while and a young professional trying to make it on my own, so it's not like I had the money for restaurants, parties, and travel on a regular basis anyway for the last 10 years. Living an insanely busy, introvert-ish existence isn't something new for me. I have empathy for everyone negatively impacted, but for me, it gave me even more of an excuse and --an ample opportunity --to focus on the many projects that I'm passionate about, without having to explain why I can't join the occasional social event. Etc. I love spending time with the right people, but when you have dreams, you have to be prepared to work intensely to actualize them.I love remote work, and I'm so grateful we have the technology for it to be possible. I hope more and more businesses offer this as an opportunity for their employees. I guess one cool thing about it was I learned how to run outside in the winter! I ended up more fit during that time.petar.btc I was in a similar situation at the start of this year. My dad got sick, I was at University, and the COVID-19 pandemic made everything very isolating. Luckily I'm back at home now, so it is far easier to meet people, but still, there was a period where we couldn't do anything. It is hard, like a complete reset on life. In terms of work, it hasn't impacted me either, my grad work was mostly online, and my current writing roles are online too.Mónica Freitas Same here, Honestly the pandemic increased my anxiety levels to new heights. I'm only just starting to get back to normal, but large groups have become a problem. A few months ago I went to a club and couldn't deal with it due to people.Jack Boreham Thank you for sharing 🙂Ellen Stevens, that's interesting. I agree with that. The pandemic definitely helped us all focus on ourselves a bit more. Remote work has been a blessing. I am hoping that it gets adopted by more companies. Are there any ways in which the pandemic did not help your working life?Jack Boreham, we were forced to pause everything, almost every plan that involved other people or travel, which shifted the way we view our routines and priorities. I get you 100%. I'm still adjusting as it is.Mónica Freitas, exactly, have you graduated recently? Have you found the job market to be particularly tough due to covid? Limarc Ambalina what about you?Jack Boreham I finished my master's in February. I found it a bit tough - It took me a handful of months to find an opportunity to work. All the entry-level jobs and internships I found asked for 1/2/3 years of experience in the area, which is a bit crazy knowing that you're after that job, so you can begin gathering that desired experience. How about you? What are you graduating in? Has it been hard to find jobs in your area?Mónica Freitas. Honestly, that sounds exactly like what I'm going through 😂. I finished my masters in politics last month, and I've found it painstakingly difficult to find work. I was like, well, if I can't get an entry-level job due to their high requirements, I might as well work for myself freelance. Of course, it has, man! I’m tired of talking about it, but hopefully, it’ll all be over soon. It’s impacted my wedding plans, the ability to see my family, the ability to see my friends. On the other hand, I don’t get judged for staying indoors and playing games all weekend if that’s what I want to do 😄Work-wise, for tech companies and online publications, the pandemic has helped quite a few of us. More people have to stay inside, and more people have time now to surf the web, watch anime, play games. That’s more people reading guides on those games, etc. So for websites, the pandemic might have helped some in terms of business.It’s also turned my life 100% remote. Before the pandemic, I worked for a regular company in a regular office in Tokyo. We moved remote, and eventually, I learned all the benefits of remote work and loved it. Knowing I could handle it, I changed paths and started to work for HackerNoon full-time 100% remote, and I haven’t looked back since!Jack Boreham They want us to join the McDonalds' chain! 😂 At least you're building your CV now, and eventually, you'll be able to slap them with an extensive line of professional experiences. I'm hoping it gets better over time, but we're not getting any younger, and that'll be the time they'll say we're too old for entry-level jobs 🤔. Limarc Ambalina The pandemic has been a bliss for introverts, gamers, and readers! 😂 I'm a fan of remote work now. I can't see myself going back to an office 9 to 5 job.Honestly, not really. There were only positive outcomes tbh. When I heard more companies were adopting a remote model, I was overjoyed. More selection. If the tech exists, and the roles are such that being in an office isn't mandatory, why are we forcing people into these spaces? How great is it to set up your own office, with your technology, with your own comfortable office set up? Instead of having to devote 10 years to an organization before, you might get the privacy and space to work in a room and not a cubicle?And to waste hours in traffic. Those are moments of your life you're never getting back. Talk about a lack of efficiency. Ok, I'm done with my rant. Thank you for coming to the Ted Talk.Not only that, Ellen Stevens, when you commute, you have to wake up an hour earlier than you normally would. That's another hour wasted. You have to go to sleep earlier than you normally would. You might have to prepare your lunch if you're bringing lunch, even if your office is just a 30-minute commute, not having to commute saves much more than 30 minutes a day. It saves hours a day. 🙏