5 Life Lessons from the Coronavirus Pandemic

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.

The uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continues to swirl. Death tolls continue to rise, unemployment has skyrocketed, and there’s a sense of fear around the country. Most of the country remains sheltering in place, doing their best to flatten the curve.

I’m sure we’ve all gone through the full range of emotions: feeling hopeful and hopeless, thankful and resentful, motivated and lethargic. There are good days and bad days as we search for meaning.

I have good days and bad days too, but overall I’m optimistic that with each week that passes we’ll continue to take steps forward in getting through these difficult times.

Between the Zoom calls and Netflix binges, I’ve been taking more walks and listening to audiobooks at an increased pace. I’ve been trying to take time to reflect on what lessons I can take from this time. Here are some of those lessons that have been on my mind:

Importance of health

Intuitively we know that health is extremely important, but how often do we live this way? How often are we eating right, exercising, and treasuring the time we have on left on this earth? How often are we giving back and helping those less fortunate than us, who may not have been given the same opportunities that we did? I talk a lot about building wealth on this blog, but it means very little if you don’t have your health. We need to treasure the time we have with family and friends, prioritize our health, and live our lives to the fullest while we still can.

Not taking life’s simple pleasures for granted

The biggest lesson I’ve learned through all this is to never take life’s simple pleasures for granted. I really miss simple things like hugging a friend, sitting at a restaurant with my family, watching sports on TV, going to church, and getting haircuts from my barber. I also miss having things to anticipate – sports, concerts, movie releases, vacations – all have been either cancelled or postponed. We fall into a routine and start to forget how much we value the people and opportunities around us. I never want to take those simple pleasures for granted.

Spending more money doesn’t equal more happiness

Along the same lines, almost all those simple pleasures I just mentioned don’t cost very much money. Overall, our spending has mostly gone down during this shelter in place. We could try to improve our mood by ordering food delivery every night and online shopping, but ultimately that won’t fix what’s going on. Spending more money won’t buy fulfillment, purpose, or lasting happiness. Prioritizing relationships and pursuing our passions are much more effective, and I’ve been reminded of that during this pandemic.

Holding a larger cash buffer

One of the financial decisions that I think about most is finding the balance between investing aggressively, while still maintaining a cash cushion. How big of an emergency fund is the right amount? I’d rather chase the higher returns of investing as much into the stock market as possible, since we’re investing for the long-term on our road to financial independence. On the other hand, “the best offense is a good defense,” as the saying goes. By not maintaining a large enough emergency fund, life can turn stressful in a hurry when inevitable calamities arrive. Thankfully both our jobs remain stable at the moment, (not to mention how blessed we feel to have ample savings to begin with), but I would be much more stressed without our emergency fund.

This pandemic has taught me that agonizing over how much cash to hold onto isn’t worth the mental energy. It’s personally better for us to be a bit more cautious, hold more cash, and have the peace of mind that comes with it. Sure, maybe I could throw some more money into the stock market and receive higher returns, but it’s more important to maintain an effective defense first.

Warren Buffett talks about this principle. He doesn’t take “all or nothing” type risks to gain a few more percentage points in his investments. For example, he mentions that if he found an investment with a 99% chance of making gains and a 1% chance of Berkshire Hathaway going under, he would still pass on the investment opportunity. This is an extreme example, but it illustrates the point. I’ve learned to maintain a slightly larger cash buffer than I had previously planned.

Using time wisely is a challenge no matter how much you have

I’ve been seeing memes on social media about how we should all be using this time to learn new hobbies, build up a side hustle, and continue to grind. While I get the thought behind it, my opinion is that there needs to be a balance. I want to use my time wisely, to continue to learn and grow, but that can’t happen 24/7.

This reminds me of Parkinson’s law, which says that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Meaning, the more time you have available to complete something, the longer it takes. Did you ever have an essay in school that was due in a week? If you were like me, many times the bulk of the work was done the night before it was due. It’s easy to fall in the pattern of pushing tasks off to the next day, or prolonging how long they take.

Even while there seems to be more time and less obligations filling it, I’ve still found it to be a challenge to use my time wisely. For every productive day filled with exercise, reading, writing, and cooking there are days where I’m sluggish and don’t get much done. I’m trying to find the balance between pushing myself and giving myself grace.

Final Thoughts

Overall, times are difficult and uncertain right now, but I’m continuing to try my best to look at the big picture. While there is a lot of negative news out there, it’s not ALL bad. There’s lower pollution, more time with immediate family, and non-COVID related death rates have decreased. We live our normal lives at such a frantic pace, working long hours and packing our schedules full. This pandemic is a “forced reset” for society, where we can hopefully rest and reflect on what we want out of life. These are the lessons that I’m taking away and will continue to reflect on, I hope you found them useful too.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to get updates on all of my latest posts by subscribing via RSS, following me on Twitter, and liking my page on Facebook!

• SeatGeek is my go-to app for all sports and concert tickets. Click here for $20 off your first purchase! (I’ll also receive a $10 referral bonus)
• Rover is my go-to app for dog-sitters. Click here for $20 off your first booking
• Lemonade is where I get my renters insurance, click here to get a quote within minutes
• Lively is my top recommendation for HSA’s, click here to open a free account