5 Ideas for Personal Growth During Lockdown

It’s been one year since the pandemic upended our daily lives. We’ve become all too familiar with the rhythms of lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing. So, in this blog post, I want to go beyond the negative aspects of the last year and focus on something more productive.

Today, I’m going to offer some alternatives to binge-watching Netflix and doom-scrolling on Twitter. I hope these suggestions give you some ideas for how to make your downtime more useful personally and professionally — and hopefully a little less boring. Let’s dive in.

Frenetic multitasking may get a bad rap, but doing it in slow motion can be more beneficial. Basically, it involves working on several different projects at the same time, giving each the attention it deserves, and moving between those projects only as the mood strikes.

Studies of highly creative people have found that they often have multiple projects in progress at the same time. In fact, some of the greatest discoveries are a result of slow-motion multitasking — Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation while relaxing in a garden, not in a lecture hall in front of a blackboard. To learn more, tune into this TED talk on the subject.

It’s not easy to take a step back and objectively identify our strongest skills. Instead of looking for your talents and things that inspire you, make a list of things that you prefer to avoid or that put a damper on your work.

To start, define your don’ts and check how they might be manifesting in your current life. By understanding what you don’t like, you’ll be closer to understanding what you do enjoy and can play to your strengths.

If you haven’t done an audit of your social presence, it’s high time you did. Clean up your social media profiles so that you can put your best foot forward for friends, family, and co-workers.

For starters, complete job descriptions on professional sites, add up-to-date photos, ask your former bosses for a recommendation on LinkedIn, and add links to publications. You can kick off this kind of project by typing your name into Google and seeing what comes up.

While the pandemic has canceled most in-person events, many of them have moved online. Research which organizations are having remote conferences and sign up. You can still meet new friends, build your professional network, and learn fresh skills.

Wondering where to start? Check our site for our next #VentureMeetups webinar. You’ll hear from industry experts and have the chance to participate in Q&A sessions. Also, why not become a teacher yourself? Organize your own event and share your expertise with others.

During the pandemic, remote jobs have become increasingly popular because of office closures, meaning that telecommuting is an option for a wider range of roles than ever before. If you find a new opportunity that’s gone remote during COVID-19, check what their WFH policy was beforehand. That way, you’ll know what to expect when things begin to go back to normal.

At VentureDevs, we’ve always empowered our team to work however they want, wherever they want. We’ll be working remotely long after the pandemic is over. To learn more about our current job offers, head to our website.

These five suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg — and a great way to begin using your free time during lockdown productively. We hope they help!