As of 9 p.m. Saturday night, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey issued a stay-at-home order for nearly all of the state’s 9 million residents in the “war” against the spread of the corona virus. A few others states enacted a similar lock-down. Many people have been treating this pandemic like a snow day with no snow but now I believe most of us realize the severity of what’s happening. Murphy said, specifically, this could be in effect for weeks or months.

“Weeks or months” is eye-opening. We all have joked about our “new normal” but it may be time to embrace this reality. What does that mean? To start, I will quote my friend Thomas Capone from NYDLA.org, “Work from home is work!” It’s not a half-day, it’s not ‘if I get around to it’, it’s work! So in that vein, get up, shave, shower, and SHOW UP! ‘S’ cubed! And yes, get out of your pajamas! Trust me, you will feel better and more productive when you do. Plus, you will look and smell a whole lot better, too!

In addition to the three S’s, let’s create a daily plan and execute the plan—this is true regardless of whether or not you’re a stay at home mom/dad or an executive. Having no plan for each day is the kiss of death! Working from home cannot be justification for squandering our most precious resource—time. Remember: character is who we are when no one is watching! On a scale of 1-10, where would you rank your work-from-home performance? Let’s up our game people! We got this!

With Gratitude,
Beth

PS Make part of you day helping someone else. Reach out to someone in need of a phone call or something else. These are extraordinary times, make yourself an extraordinary individual that you are proud of.