Okay, not really good news. We would all be happier without it, but since it is a reality, let's look at what we can get out of this situation.

I am Italian, and my country is the one that is currently hit the hardest by this new plague. And it was one of the first. This should give the rest of the World, South Africa included, a good advantage and an idea of what might happen in the foreseeable future. China, after about 2 months of lockdown, seems close to winning the battle. Italy started adopting similar prevention measures a couple of weeks ago. Also here in South Africa some people have already started different forms of social distancing and self-isolation. People are slowly getting adjusted to this new, forced, lifestyle. Some are working from home and others, who due to the nature of their jobs cannot do that, are spending their time in a wide variety of homebound activities. In any case, something that many of us are currently experiencing is a certain level of boredom.

And this is good, or even great, news!

We are all busy rushing through our lives, having little time to dedicate to the creative side of us. Being forced to be at home can give us a great, and perhaps unique, opportunity for that.

Just google "boredom and creativity" and you might be surprised by the number of articles from reputable sources on this topic.

If we use at least a part of this time wisely (e.g. not infinite scrolling on social media, sitting the whole day in front of a screen, etc...), we could get out of this with massive inner growth. And perhaps even come out with one, or more, new amazing ideas.

Many people think they are not creative, and often consider their ideas stupid or not worth it. Well, let me share a quote that I read a few months ago and it is still echoing in my head - "Next time you're afraid to share your ideas, remember someone once said in a meeting, 'let's make a film with a tornado full of sharks.'"

I am not saying that all ideas popping into our minds are worth pursuing, but we still shouldn't discard them at once.

Something that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, but I could quite confidently say any successful company, have in common is that they all started with an idea that was, how can I put it... not so good. But that idea evolved into a new idea or a new variant of the original idea, until they got to the point of creating something that brought them celebrity (and money). And they are still evolving...

My suggestion here is take note of EVERY idea. Just write them down. But try keeping them all in one place. In a notebook, on a word document, on Evernote, it really doesn't matter where.

Keep going back to this. Ideally every day. Read what you wrote, give it some more thought, and perhaps add new ideas, or new versions of previous ideas. The difficult part is to begin, then I promise you, it will get easier.

Perhaps, you could start thinking of some problems or tasks you are facing regularly or that are particularly tedious. Is there a way to solve or automate them? Even if you cannot think of a solution, maybe you know someone with experience in the field who could guide you?

There are many more questions you should ask yourself (and others) and tests you should run to evaluate your ideas. We have written, and we are busy writing, other articles on "the next steps". But I think it's enough "homework" for now.

My last recommendations are for you to be safe and to adjust your behaviour in a manner that will not endanger the people around you.

Have an idea that could help?

If you have a tech idea that could be helpful / useful / beneficial / constructive / valuable in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic that your are unable to develop yourself, submit it via this form. If we believe your idea will help, and we have the capacity to deliver it - we would be happy to get involved by offering our development without any fee.