Due to the pandemic, many may lose their jobs and worsen their financial situation. How to enter a crisis prepared and how our brain prevents us from learning, said Alexander Laryanovskiy
About the Author: Alexander Laryanovsky is the Managing Partner of Skyeng Online School.
The human brain, in which the principle of following the instinct of self-preservation was laid down in the process of evolution, now rather prevents us from adapting to impending economic problems than helps to prepare for them. He clings too strongly to the past and builds hopes that everything will end soon, and the world will be the same as before, you just have to wait it out. But it is not.
With the shortcomings of their own biology, training can help to cope. But not any.
No one knows exactly how the crisis will develop, but two key points can already be safely distinguished: many will become poorer and lose their jobs. And the coming months is the time to try to reduce these risks for yourself. Not because there is time for this in quarantine and then it will be too late, but because with the passage of time and the growth of general anxiety and uncertainty, the brain will not be able to cope, it is so arranged.
During stress, under the influence of adrenaline, the capillaries in our body narrow, through which blood circulates, in order to reduce possible blood loss. Because the stress of our ancestors is always a danger: you will run fast, you can get hurt, you need to reduce the consequences.
The trouble is that the cerebral cortex is also fed by capillaries, from which blood flows. That’s why we do stupid things when we’re stressed. “At that moment I didn’t understand anything” – this is just a consequence of such a mechanism.
In stress, only reflexes work. Losing a job, the prospect of serious impoverishment is also stressful. And we will just do strange things during it, losing precious weeks and months.
At the same time, learning “for the future” is sometimes pointless: our brain does not like to learn what cannot be used here and now. But there are exceptions to this rule.
Training the following “reflexes” in quarantine and after it will help you not be left without work during difficult times.
First reflex
- To think in the interests of the business and not just perform the assigned tasks, but do the work meaningfully, understanding how it affects the performance of the employer.
A huge number of people are guided by the principle “how I get paid, so I work.” In peacetime, you can follow such an attitude, but in a crisis, such behavior jeopardizes the safety of your workplace.
In the current environment, it is important to understand: if the employee’s actions lead to an increase in profits, then he has every chance to earn more colleagues and keep his job. If you want to have an advantage in the circumstances, you need to learn to see how your work contributes to the profits of the business and how you can participate in the processes that affect it. Another important task is to learn to take responsibility for the result and share risks with superiors.
Second reflex
- Learn related skills that will help increase your competitive advantage.
Companies will now save on everything and start with wage cuts and layoffs. If instead of five people you can leave two, it makes no sense to keep more workers. Therefore, now it is important not only to work more, but also to understand related areas, and then you will replace others, and not they you. You may have to take on more tasks and responsibilities and get paid less, but it’s better than nothing or living on the minimum wage.
When thousands of your potential competitors enter the labor market, those whose knowledge and skills have additional liquidity will have a higher chance.
Ask yourself: what can I quickly learn in the coming months, what will be in demand by my employer, where can I replace other specialists? It doesn’t always make sense to make a radical career change., we are talking about the accelerated acquisition of additional related skills.
Third reflex
- Find jobs quickly and present yourself the right way.
This point seems banal, but few people know how to do it really effectively. Just posting a resume is not enough. Asking a few friends is not enough. Soon the number of competitors per job will increase, so it is important to learn how to correctly compose a resume, write cover letters, and present yourself correctly at an interview. There are hundreds of resources on the Internet on this topic, and it’s time to study them and understand what you are doing inefficiently.
Already now, while there is time, make a list of all potential employers, find their contacts, study each of them: how they survive the crisis, what kind of people work there, how much better or worse are you than their employees.
Rewrite resumes for the values and specifics of each employer. This should become a mandatory skill that needs to be trained.
If you have not studied this before, and now you are thinking: “what nonsense, what can you do?”, then most likely you do not fully understand the depth of the crisis and still believe that everything will return to normal.
Before the crisis, many studied to raise their self-esteem, in order to get some improved version of themselves. Leave it until better times. Now the most important thing is to approach the task pragmatically and master exactly the knowledge that will help you keep or get a job here and now.
The dope of serials and escapism is now more harmful than ever. They feed the brain’s desire to believe that you just have to wait it out and everything will come back. We all have a few months left to develop new skills needed in a crisis., and already with them to pass future tests.
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