ANDY: So what did you learn out of all of this? I learned to take more time. I often don’t succeed. There’s this lecture and another Zoom call, and people I could write with.

And I think I learned that I take time to read the book. I also learned that everything is so fragile, and that I should watch out that I don’t get lonely somewhere or live for something that might only remotely give me joy. Also, I learned to make my room really nice.

And looking at this pandemic, I also saw that I’m not alone in struggling, that many people feel really bad. And when I talk about them, that that’s normal and that I’m not fighting alone. When do you think will this be over?

I really don’t know. There could be a spring semester that is online as well, or there isn’t. I’m not really sure.

There might be some vaccine. Probably for me, it feels over when I have just some things that structure myself, a place I can go to, and not being stuck at home. So definitely some form of non-remote work.

Are there any strategies that you can share that you used? Maybe not strategies, really. Some things that changed.

I have regular calls just to check in. And I do things that are nice in the morning. I really miss my commute. And now, I work out in the morning or make coffee and enjoy the smell and give myself more structure. And I think this is just generally a thing that I haven’t learned so far.

And I also think a good strategy for me was to take more time to reflect, to write things down that I’m grateful for, that I’m looking forward to, and things that make me happy. Because it’s very hard to just be really stressed by this block of Zoom calls and nothing being associated to all I really made something. It’s like a real achievement. And then, writing down things that make me happy really helps.