I looked through my fashion email subscriptions this morning and noticed that the mood of fashion retailers have changed due to the lockdown. Here is what I mean, naturally, fashion retailers at this time of the year would have been “shoving” in our faces Summer fashion featuring must buys, must haves and must wear pieces. 🙂
As I looked through their selection which I do as a Blogger to get familiar with trends, I couldn’t help but notice that they sent out pieces that can be worn for this season – Spring/Summer but more tailored to what you could wear at home. Basically, what fashion retailers are trying to tell us is that, while we are at home, we can still look all cute and fine.
Why are they doing that? For fashion retailers who are still trading, they want to continue to make money, if not, they would be at risk of loosing it all. With brands like Debenhams going into administration, other retailers are intentional about how they can make revenue, if not a lot, some at least. This would help them save their business and keep people employed.
How does this concern you, you may ask?
Many of us are still working from home which automatically means we earn a wage/salary. This is not the case for everybody as some have lost their jobs or means of livelihood. I truly empathise with you if you are going through any difficulty especially in your finances at this time. I understand that this can be really hard. Please keep strong and hopeful for the best.
For the remaining of us still in employment, we must be open to CHANGE at this particular time because whether we like it or not, the work atmosphere would change. Because of this lock down, I do not know for sure but there are speculations of a recession and we must not live in fear BUT be ready to embrace some change. Here are a few things that may happen:
1. Employers may change the mode of working: This can be that seeing the effect of the lockdown on productivity, they may offer that some people work from home permanently, if they can work from home. This would help them save cost. For example, if they serve you fruits or launch at work, it means they won’t have to, for the numbers of people working from home which means saving money for them. But for you, are you happy to work from home? And how can you prepare yourself, if you have to look for a different job? Check points below…..
2. Many tasks may become automated: This may mean that employers would look for ways for tasks to be done automatically reducing manpower depending on the needs of the employer. Here, you need to start looking for ways to up skill. What is it that you need to learn now to be ahead of others in your field. Linkedln learning is a good resource for certification courses.
3. Majority of things would move online: Many companies would look for ways to do business online. For example, an organisation who sells physical gift cards. This lock down would have taught them that if there ever is a lock down again, they may not be able to ship their merchandise to buyers or receive their orders from suppliers. What they would consider now would be to ensure that all their gift cards offerings can be bought online, delivered online (by email) and used online. How does this affect you? It means you must be open to new ways of doing things. If you are one who does not like anything e-commerce or online ordering or online anything, you would have to embrace this kind of change.
I do not write this post to scare you. I write it for you to open your mind to see that there may be so many changes coming our way. The future is going to be particularly exciting for many organisations and many, if not all nations around the world.
Here are a few things you can do:
1. Don’t waste your money on stuff you do not need like clothes, at least for now. Keep your money, you will need it.
2. Research some of the skills that you can acquire in your field and level up on what you need to know. It may just make you more qualified than other people in your field.
3. Plan your resources very well or budget well and stick with it: If you do not need road tax for example, take your car off the road. If you do not need to buy meat for school launches for your kids, don’t buy it – once it is at home, the kids use it even if they don’t need to. Instead prepare yours at home, cutting the cost of already prepped ones you buy when you were always too busy to do so.
4. Build Meaningful Relationships: I would use work as an example here. If you have always wanted a mentor or a sponsor, this may be a good time to reach out to them as many people are not too busy with work stuff for now. I have followed this step and I am thankful that the person I was eyeing to mentor me career-wise have made themselves available. I will be having my second Zoom with them this Friday and it is going to be a recurrent meeting. They have been where I am going and I need them to show me how – easiest way to go to level up in on your journey.
5. Your Wellbeing: More than ever, it is important to take care of your mind, your body and your soul. It is hard enough that we are not able to go to the places we want to go to when we want to – this can be annoying and to some, depressing. So, if there is anytime you should eat well, sleep well and exercise (work out), that time is now. To be fully functional, the mind, body and soul must be in sync. Check here for my post on “How to Take Care of Your Body, Mind & Soul”
6. Connect to the Main Source: There is no way I am going to finish this post without taking you to Church. You see, your job is the resource where you get paid for what you do to live your life, pay your bills and on and on BUT God is the MAIN SOURCE of everything, including your job/business. He knows the future He has planned for you and he knows your end from the beginning of your life. If there is anyone to connect to right now in this unprecedented time, it should be YOUR FATHER in heaven. Stay connected to him in prayers, in reading his words and by keeping the faith that no matter what happens, all things would be well with you, your family and everything concerning you.
I was wearing Zara Dress (old) | Christian Louboutin Cornielle 100mm (old) | Aldo Earrings (old).
I do hope that you are keeping safe and following all the precautionary measures we have been given. Let us continue to follow them till we are told otherwise. Let us all join in to keep the faith that this too shall pass.
Thank you so much for reading. I do hope that you found the post helpful. Please maximise your time and your resources including money very well in this season we are in. Finally, please write to me in the comments below and let me know your thoughts. If you have more tips for us, please do share too.
Love Always,
MJ
