5 Things I learned from 2 Months of Social Distancing in Beijing

I have been doing social distancing religiously for 2 months in Beijing since the first day of Chinese New Year; and here are the things I learned:

1. THE VIRUS

Unlike SARS, the COVID-19 is very contagious. Social distancing is the best we can do.

In the past 2 months, the only human contact I've had in the past 2 months were mailmen and security guards.

Everything's order online. Groceries are delivered within 3 hours. Mails are delivered within 3 days. I get out the apartment building to get the mails and groceries nearly every day. I get my temperature scanned by the security guards every time I returned to the apartment. Not a single one contact lasted longer than 1 minute. And we all have been wearing masks the whole time. As soon as I got home I washed my hands immediately religiously.

Please please please

Practice social distancing!

2. SOCIAL DISTANCING

Social distancing doesn't mean you are socially distanced from others. In fact, I have had more time to catch up, follow up with people. If you can't do bar drinking; get on Zoom or FaceTime, it's another experience. Many Chinese started doing it 2 months ago.

In fact, Beijing and Shanghai's night clubs live streamed their DJ's performance in their empty club space on Chinese TikTok. Millions of viewers watched, and tipped the club.

3. WORKING FROM HOME

Work has become more productive. Daily commute in Beijing always takes up a lot of time. Now, it's just every day after breakfast, then sitting in front of computer to start the work.

But when having a conference call, make sure it is a video conference call, not just an audio one. It makes a significant difference.

4. LOSING JOBS / JOB MARKET

It's an unfortunate time. Many hard working professionals are losing jobs; and many college seniors will be having a very hard time applying for new jobs. It is an unfortunate time. I am very sad.

With that being said, I think it is a great time to become a content creator. The content's format doesn't matter; whether you are good at writing, or you are good at making videos. Start creating.

My great professor Mark Fenske once said: "It is natural and human for men to create; as it is the imitation of the first Act of God".

It's the time to take your personal branding seriously. Building your personal brand today requires dedicating some serious resources towards creating awareness of who you are and the value you can bring to others.

Kids still need to learn; and people still need to workout. For a good period of time. The knowledge will have to be taught/shared online. Make your knowledge into consumable content; publish them on relevant social media platforms.

5. THE FUTURE

After the COVID-19 pandemic, will everything still be in the same in the future? I have taken quite a time to reflect on this:

Was going to my favorite Jazz Bar every Friday necessary? Because I have been so focused on work in the past two months, I barely drank.

Was frequently attending social networking events necessary? Because I think maybe in the future online networking will most likely become the mainstream.

Do I really have to visit people in their offices to conduct business? Two days ago, a company just signed an agreement with us to work on project together. We have never met in person.

Was the OKR for my team members as reasonable as I thought? Maybe not. Because with them not being able to return Beijing to work; I have been doing all the shooting and editing for our vertical video contents. It turned out my productivity is way better...

Textbooks for "How to live a happy life" to "How to run a great business" will be updated to a very different edition.

LAST BUT VERY IMPORTANT

When we see the number of deaths from COVID-19 on the news every morning; we should remind ourselves that these are not numbers. These are loving fathers, caring mothers, sons, daughter, friends. And the scarier thing is we don't know how long this pandemic is going to last. We might have to live with this thing through the entire 2020. We are all in this together.

Follow the medical pros guidance; take their messages into our hearts.

Stay healthy; stay safe.

Love

Yichi