The lockdown is coming to an end. What lessons can be learned? Entrepreneur Karin M. Klossek uses her personal experience to take stock in an essay for finews.first.

This article is published on finews.first, a forum for authors specialized in economic and financial topics.

Week One: Feverish Activity

I have removed appointments from the calendar that had been fixed many months ago. How long in advance? I'd rather do it week by week, although it's already been decided... Make the best of it. Use time as productively as possible. Prepare. Expand. Learn. Tackle topics that too often are quite low on my to-do list. Acquire new skills as much as possible.

But, first, clean out the pantry. Get an overview. Are there enough anchovies, pasta, capers, and parmesan? How's the tuna stock, and would apple sauce be good in times of crisis? Was it a premonition to order far more wine in January than usual? Can't the day have 36 hours? A full wine cellar calms down.

Week Two: Culture Week

A week with two opera performances and a hairdresser's appointment, all canceled. Months of anticipation. Now there are only three lines left in the calendar.

Better keep quiet about it. Sounds vain and elitist to regard opera as systemically relevant in your own universe. The rest of the world is struggling with the culture shock of the home office.

Week Three: Baking Therapy

The soul needs caressing in the form of vanilla and cinnamon. The local baker is flexible and sells yeast in mega units.

  • Marble cake with chocolate overload, according to the «Financial Times».
  • Marble cake as prescribed by Johann Lafer. Austria must know.
  • Rhubarb pie with confectioner's cream. Delicious, but quickly moldy.
  • Apple pie, because the recipe calls for almonds and apple sauce. See pantry.
  • Americans. A complete success. Probably politically correct named differently by now.

Can't the day have 48 hours? Let's not waste «allotted» time. My dress code at home and at the grocery store is deliberately more formal now.

Week Four: From Saul to Paul

Now everyone is profiling themselves by declaring the cashiers in the supermarket, the nurses, the doctors to be heroes. But I don't think the Corona buzz is gonna last. Acting and pretended consternation are unbearable.

Keep my judgment to myself. I have always considered nurses to be heroes and would never leave the checkout area in a supermarket without saying «thank you».

The English feel more European again and Boris Johnson is saved thanks to the NHS. There are some people I haven't missed at all. Some acquaintances have become friends in these weeks.

Week Five: Sheer Desperation

Days with podcasts from virologists, epidemiologists, and other experts always mean a sleepless night. Balancing. Trust. Distrust. Breaking logic. For the first time since the beginning of the crisis, consider daytime absenteeism.

Even the next day's recap seems like a waste of time. I prefer media view abroad. If black swans are to be seen, then with journalistic standards and realism, historical context, and a bit of stiff upper lip.

Rational considerations how long the corona crisis will last and what economic consequences it will have: guaranteed three sleepless nights. Does anyone besides me appreciate the concept of property? Doesn't anyone notice that behind supposed care for the elderly there is also enormous discrimination?

The aperitif in the evening becomes an important break of the day. Elegant dress code in the evening helps to counteract the aggressiveness of some mask wearers you meet during the day. Stop just before the evening dress, which may not be appreciated outside of English country estates.

Week Six: Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom

To the question, what do I wear tomorrow, is the weather forecast no longer relevant, but the question, which background for which video conference and does the outfit match in color?

In the debriefing of a video conference the remark of the moderating board: «After many years, we are beginning to talk honestly with each other.» Good week.

Week Seven: Wanderlust

For every meeting, my English boss flew with British Airways and me with Lufthansa. No problem, the flight schedules were almost identical. For each of us, the airline was much more than a carrier, it was always a piece of home.

I only regret the trips I postponed into the future. Starting to turn a part of the garden into a small Japanese refuge instead of working out the trip to Japan. Meditation with the rake. Use the early hours of the morning to not draw the neighbors' attention too much to the cliché. I should nevertheless finally start to learn Japanese.

Week Eight: Local(s)

Locally produced food, with the exception of Scottish salmon and gin, French champagne, English cheese, and Italian pasta, has always taken up most of the space in my fridge and pantry. Now it is a question of providing additional support to local restaurants. As a result, thanks to take-away, at a completely new level, and the support of the family-run delicatessen, I have never eaten better every day.

Companies for which I have generated considerable turnover as a customer over the past decade consider even the smallest gesture to be apparently unnecessary. The salesmen in the local bakery are as happy as the Snow Kings about my small gesture of giving up their change in favor of the «coffee cash register». Conclusion: optimism is to believe the possibilities more than the experience. So back to go.

My Lessons From the Lockdown

The uncertainty about the world after corona costs an enormous amount of energy, especially if you love to plan strategically. At the same time, if you want to use the time in the lockdown as productively as possible to develop new projects, the analysis of which energy reserves are currently running low and how they can be replenished is even more important than usual.

Not all proven activities to recharge energy work well in this exceptional situation. No additional stress. Let go of what suddenly no longer creates joy (piano and opera online), but consciously allow time for energy: running in the sunshine, in the rain, and as often as possible in the forest – yoga, gardening, and conscious breathing. Adding new things that one has never done before or extremely rarely: baking, Latin dance training online.

Less Time for Domestic Media

Radical tidying up, letting go of projects to make room for new things not only psychologically but also physically. To communicate more honestly and openly – thus reducing and expanding the circle of friends at the same time. Stricter use of the usual news channels. Less time for domestic media, more time for foreign media.

Constant stress situations quickly become visible on skin and hair. Wonder weapons of the cosmetics industry did not help. The best counter-strategy has proven to be to increase the amount of dark green salad and vegetables considerably and to pay even more attention to foods with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

Color Helps

The energy of a colored background on a video conference is a benefit for all the other participants. The aperitif at home can, but does not have to be drunk in an uninspired outfit. In this exceptional situation, some success strategies of earlier crises are obsolete, while others are still constructive. It is important not to leave the unknown, which is called «New Normality», the space that you can determine yourself.

Karin M. Klossek has worked in Frankfurt, Auckland, Sydney, and London in fashion, financial services and health industries with an emphasis on branding and marketing. She has launched GloriousMe.Net, a lifestyle website, together with Maike Siever. She also co-partners brand consultancy Glorious Brands in Frankfurt.

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