Whatever name we give it, Coronavirus or Covid-19, this virus is disrupting our lives and our businesses. And it is only the beginning, eventually we will achieve better control of the situation. Our fast changing health and economic context will continue to force us to adapt to new work options and to "never-done-before" solutions. And that will continue past the peak of the crisis as recovery will be slower and more painful than we'd like. So what can we do today to adapt and cope? What have we learnt from past experiences that can help us now? A few times in my career I have found myself facing massive career disruptions that were mostly out of my control. Every time I have had to learn to work differently and to reinvent myself in the middle of a crisis. Some of my findings may be relevant to you or your staff. You may also find it helpful if you have children studying for VCE/HSC.

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As I am tutoring and mentoring some highly stressed year 11 and 12 students, they have found some aspects of my experience to be helpful too. Following a crisis, I have found 4 Creating new effective work habits. Keeping connected with positive people. Respect other people's challenges and support them. Review and refocus on your WHY Creating new effective work habits. The general situation is stressful enough to make it difficult for anyone to focus clearly. And working from home is not easy at the best of times.  Setting a dedicated uncluttered work or study space. Isolating yourself from family disruptions can be important to you. It can be hard for all of us to create a space where you can think clearly, including students too as they often find stuck themselves in their messy bedroom all day! Take regular breaks! The brain needs to re-energise and refocus on the next task.

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Stop for lunch for instance, resist the temptation to keep going to do something "important". At work in an office, a shop, a factory, there are work and life patterns that structure your life. On your own, it is easy to keep going, longer than truly necessary. Eliminating the temptation of checking messages, emails, news... all things that stretch our already-stressed brain. Responding to the "now" is forcing us to multi-task. And the result is inefficiency and reduced effectiveness, by either cutting corners or risking to miss some important detail. It also means our memory is affected (both the ability to memorise and to use what we have memorised). Women are supposed to multi-task but I have found that it is not sustainable. So I have to set a structured plan for the day and stick with it. Keeping connected with positive people. Physical distance is clearly essential at the moment. But that does not have to mean social fragmentation. Staying connected by phone and video calls, internet is much easier these days, even if the airwaves get a bit saturated right now. As business advisors, who mostly have transitioned from a long day Respect other people's challenges. Social cohesion, supporting each other starts with caring about others. When  In this situation that affects everyone, we need to think about the needs of others more than ever. When you share with others how you plan to work, it makes it a lot easier for everyone to work together. If you have staff working from home, you need to understand how they feel about it, the problems they face and what can make it easier for the new work organisation to work with minimum stress and frustration. Helping everyone build positive energy makes a big difference to the outcome.

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Communicate, communicate! process expectations, issues solutions, or simply for morale, for offering an ear. As team leaders and as members we are responsible for making it work for the whole team. Respect people's private space, by agreeing when to work, to call...Typically most of us have not focused on future-proofing our careers (of course there would be exceptions). And who could have predicted this situation. It reads like science-fiction or horror movies, doesn't it? Who could have done enough to sail through the current crisis without being affected at all? Now that we are in these troubled waters, what we can do to cope and prepare for a brighter future? It start with taking a strategic approach.

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Panic in front of uncertainty will not get us anywhere. Refocus on our WHY. Reconsider our HOW and our WHATAs business advisors and coaches, we will have accumulated a wealth of experience and tools. Can we repackage, repurpose, expand our tools. Can we become more adaptable, flexible? without compromising what really matters. Can we apply what we do to current clients facing new challenges? to new clients? Ask yourself: what other products or services could I offer my existing audience? Technology can work in our favour. When I found myself housebound for a couple of years as I suddenly became the 24/7 carer for my mother, I had to reassess what I was doing, why and how. I survived that, so I can survive this. We have to write a new more complex chapter. That experience also made me even more aware than before of the power of being part of a community of likeminded business advisors whom you can trust and who are prepared to lend a hand in many ways. When I joined our network, one of my colleagues opened my eyes to the need to develop multiple revenue streams. How right he was! Now more than ever! It builds resilience. And whilst we may be physically socially distancing and even self-isolating, quarantining, we can still think together, develop strategies and services together. Our Network Of Consulting Professionals is far more than a network. It is a community. Together we can offer more, together we can help clients build resilience much better than individually.