Keeping safe and healthy is the mantra for these days, but there is a new pandemic hitting our homes—the economic slowdown, loss of jobs and livelihood, anxiety about our future earnings and stability and this is taking stress to a whole new level.
We are all inching towards the worst economic crisis—a fact most working individuals are aware of and probably struggling to overcome or avoid. The thoughts of ‘WHAT IFS’ is proving to be more than just a worrisome irritating thought—it is becoming a nightmare now. It is making us think, “What if I am not able to pay my kid’s school fees?”; “What if I am not able to earn enough to balance my domestic needs and pay off the house loan?”; “What if someone falls sick. Will I have enough to shoulder the cost of ventilators and treatments?”
The economic crisis is affecting the people from all economical classes of the society. The rich are worried about how their investments and future plans would crumble their dream projects to ashes.
The middle-class are worried about whether they’d be lucky enough to save themselves from unemployment and how the scarcity of finances would affect their lifestyle on the whole.
The poor worry about their daily expenses and more importantly fear starving themselves to death due to lack of livelihood.
For a working professional the anxiety of what might happen in the future seems to be engulfing even the present making the pandemic more unbearable. The uncertainty about whether your job will stay or not, whether you will have to live with a salary cut, and whether there is any future for you in the economic crisis directly affects your lifestyle choices and might lead to mental stress and struggle. It also leads to feelings of depression, loss of self-worth, and lack of confidence in self capabilities.
“I am exhausting up my savings. I am the only one working in our family and I don’t know how we are going to get through this pandemic.”
“My wife is expecting a baby, I thought with the recent promotion everything will be manageable but I doubt if I can even manage us both at the moment.”
Many people are experiencing the struggles of being unemployed or an appointment freeze because the company is experiencing crisis. This also adds in the trouble of rent and monthly expenses as more than 45% of population resides in the rented spaces. The question of ‘HOW to manage’ might take the form of an anxiety attack for some.
- In such a situation where you cannot control the bigger picture, it is important for you to think about the things that are in your control.
- Accept the harsh truth about your financial condition and plan your next one year accordingly.
- Once you accept it, try and design a plan with the amount that you think you’d be liable to every month. Let the plan focus on all the possibilities and solutions from thereon.
- Limit your expenses and focus only on essentials. Freeze all the investments and devise a plan for the ultimate urgency when you might have to liquidate all the investments for survival.
- Try and think about the post-pandemic situation wherein, you have a lot more opportunities to cover-up the financial incapacity and use your different skills for earning better.
- Learn something new. With a wide range of online courses available for free and minimal fees, you can polish your skills. Or add a new set of skills and learnings that you think will benefit you in the post-pandemic phase.