3 Pandemic-Related Lessons We Should All Remember Long After Covid Is Gone

There's no way I can get back to the office," a client recently told me. Over the course of the pandemic, he had picked up a side hustle as a graphic designer. He had an abundance of clients — ­and a personal life to balance, too. So when that "return to work" email from his 9-to-5 arrived, his new reality quickly collided with traditional corporate expectations.

Courtesy of Nicole Walters

He's far from alone. As business owners figured out how to navigate the pandemic's uncharted territory, they innovated — ­and sometimes found better ways of doing what they love. But now the divide between our new habits and our old ways of working has become a major stressor. As we face a "return to normalcy," it can be difficult to decipher what normal should look like. What aspects of our pre-pandemic lives are worth bringing back, and how much of what we've discovered should we hold on to?