Ways To Build Community During Covid
Community is something we all need. Even if you’re an introvert, having a place to feel safe, comfortable, and at home makes a huge difference in our lives.
It’s even more important now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people are struggling to stay connected and find a sense of peace and normalcy.
A sense of community is so important, especially during these difficult times.
You might be thinking it’s impossible to build community while social distancing—but it’s not! You can build community with other people while still staying safe.
Here are some ways To Build Community During Covid
Be willing to try and learn new things
Before Covid-19, everyone had access to an endless supply of opportunities and resources but they didn’t have time to take advantage of them.
Now that you’re spending more time at home, you can use this period to improve yourself in some way.
You can learn how to make your own kombucha or build a website. You can finally pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read or write the next great American novel.
Whatever it is, be curious and take the time to learn something new. You never know how your life will change when you do.
We are living through unprecedented times. The challenge is to stay positive and healthy, while still achieving our goals.
This is where curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to try new things come in.
Stay Curious
It’s natural to feel uncertain about the future during a crisis, but by staying curious and having a growth mindset, you can take advantage of new opportunities.
Take up a new hobby, learn a language or try something creative like painting or drawing. Being creative can help boost your mood and help you relax.
Stay Active
Whether you enjoy running or swimming, try to maintain an exercise routine.
Be Kind to Yourself
Take time for yourself: read a book, meditate, watch a movie or listen to music, whatever works for you. You’ll be more productive when you return to work if you’re feeling calm and happy.
Stay Active
Are you feeling lonely during this time of social distancing? You’re not alone. Are you looking for new ways to connect with your community during the Covid-19 pandemic? We’ve got you covered.
Even though we’re stuck at home, it’s not the time to be in scared mode. It’s time to be in action mode.
We can use all of the modern tools and software at our disposal to bring us together in new ways and build community through these challenging times.
Connect with your friends on Zoom calls, or join a Facebook group for your interests. You can even collaborate on projects with people from around the world.
It’s hard not to feel helpless when you have so little control over what happens next.
But by taking charge of what you can influence, you’ll be doing something positive for yourself and others and helping ensure that we all come out of this pandemic better than ever.
It’s easy to feel scared, confused, and isolated right now, but there are actually a lot of tools that can help you build community and stay connected even when we can’t meet in person.
Here are some things you can do:
- Use Zoom to host group calls and events
- Start a Facebook group to do some remote support and bonding
- Share what you’re learning through WhatsApp messages
- Post your progress on Instagram stories
- Create a blog to document your journey
- Do a TikTok challenge with your friends
- Learn from others
- Be creative
- Don’t limit yourself to online spaces
- Keep it fun!
Create virtual event
Create a virtual yoga class
Yoga is so good for the body, breath, and soul. It is an excellent way to move your body in a safe and healthy manner. A yoga class can raise your spirits through movement, meditation and connection with other people.
Creating a virtual yoga class can be fun! When planning your virtual yoga class think about what you would like to take yourself. Are there certain poses that you love? Is there a flow that makes sense?
Now comes the technical part of creating a group online. There are many ways to do this: Zoom, Facebook Live or Google Classroom etc… The main goal is to stay in touch with your community and not get wrapped up in the technology of it all.
Create a virtual book club
Setting up a book club is a little bit different than it was before COVID-19, but with a few tweaks, you and your group can still have meaningful discussions about your latest reads. Consider the following advice to create a virtual book club:
- Pick a book that is universally available. Keep in mind that people might not be able to run out and buy the latest best-seller right away, so consider picking something readily available at the library or on their e-readers. A classic novel—such as To Kill A Mockingbird or Pride and Prejudice—might also be easier to find than other books.
- Decide on meeting frequency. Some groups meet weekly if they are reading a shorter book, while others may only meet once every couple of weeks if they are tackling something longer like The Stand by Stephen King. You’ll want to plan accordingly based on how quickly your group reads and how often you think everyone will want to meet virtually.
- Choose a virtual platform for meetings: Many groups use Zoom or Google Hangouts for their meetings since those allow for face-to-face interaction with multiple people at once. It’s also easier for everyone to participate this way! In addition, some groups may choose text message platforms like GroupMe or WhatsApp so that members can discuss books in between meetings.
- Select an ideal time for all members of your group: This one can be tricky, especially depending on what city/state/country you live in right now! Make sure that whatever time you select works well for all members of your group—and try to stick with it moving forward so that people won’t feel obligated to change their schedules each week just because of your book club meeting!
Create a virtual ‘happy hour’
Start a weekly happy hour. We’ve been doing this every Friday since March and it’s been great to have folks to see on a regular basis. As we get closer to the holidays, we’ve started planning potluck-style happy hours (e.g., Happy Hour Potluck: you bring your own cocktail/appetizer and we’ll all share recipes).
Make sure you invite everyone you would want to attend, via email, Facebook or text – just make sure you include a link that’s easy for folks to click on with one click.
Create a virtual support group
- Support groups are a great way to help people who share common problems, issues, and experiences.
- You are not alone. It feels that way but you aren’t. There is comfort in knowing that what you experience has been felt by others before you and that there may be people out there experiencing it right now too. Feelings of isolation will lessen when you can talk to other people who have had similar experiences to your own because they can relate to the feelings and situations you have or have had, or maybe having soon.
- Support groups empower their members by giving them an opportunity to talk about their struggles, which makes them feel less overwhelmed when they discover they’re not alone in dealing with those problems.
- Support groups provide resources for their members so that everyone is on an equal playing field when it comes time for action items such as finding housing or looking into medication options at local clinics; all this information can easily be shared within the group through email listservs like Google Groups (here’s one I made called “Support Group For People Who Need Help Finding Housing In Your City”). This will ensure everyone is aware of all opportunities available to them without having any more work than necessary.
Start a business online
We’re in the middle of a pandemic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start your own business. With so many people working from home, an online business may be the perfect solution for you.
First, let’s talk about why online businesses are a great option for anyone looking to start their own business. There are lots of reasons why online businesses are a good choice—and some of them might surprise you!
For starters, starting an online business is extremely cost-effective. You don’t need to spend money on office space or utilities—or even employees!
You can set up shop anywhere with an Internet connection and sell your products to anyone at any time. And since most of us already have access to Wi-Fi these days, this shouldn’t be too difficult.
Second, starting an online business means having control over how much time you work and when you work it.
If you have family or other responsibilities that make it hard for you to work full-time hours during traditional business hours (9am-5pm), this could be the perfect solution for you!
You can schedule your work around other obligations so that everything gets done without feeling too overwhelming at any given moment in time.
Finally, starting an online business means more freedom. We all can see that being an employee is no longer to be safe, you can lose your job in a blink.
We all need multiples streams of income to feel safe and get more freedom. Grab this opportunity and Just Start 🚀
