Facing Covid-19 requires emotional intelligence, first of all. We are all more available and perceptible all the time, which greatly increases the workload and exposure in the corporate world. The working day begins at nine in the morning, but doesn’t end until nine at night, with lunch and bath breaks. It seems like a productivity competition where most of the time the judge is you.

The beginning of the pandemic was lighter and more pleasant, reconciling household duties, making meals with my daughter, being available all the time. There were countless webinars, projects, papers, articles and interviews. No physical interaction but a lot of contact and affection via web. Several bonds of affection and friendship became stronger, closer. I feel more dependent on my network of collaborators and friends now. We do more things together. We are more interactive. Point to the pandemic!

They were good months to catch up on all the articles and moderate and speak in more than 50 webinars. I found myself being very good at conducting those online conferences. Can add this skill to my resume. But I miss the travels, the hallway conversations, the coffee with colleagues and the lunches. Home office is lonely office after all. And to be very honest there are good days but there are many bad days… the blue feeling about how is going to be the future is a constant. Anyway. We have kids to raise, papers to write and projects to conduct. On the other hand, there were good months to take care of my skin and hair! Making countless facial masks since nobody was really seeing me. Point to the pandemic again!