What Was It Like Starring at the Sun in the Times of the Corona Crisis?

The summer is over for a long time now, yet, I’m in the mood to bring some memories from this summer. 

Of course, it wasn’t a typical summertime but rather, quite an unusual one. It’s hard to neglect that the WHO-declared pandemic changed the landscape of what you can or can’t possibly do.

Unlike the typical summer days when you enjoy a picnic with friends under the tree, this time, I was doomed to take walks in the sunshine alone. But I didn’t waste this time.

Quite the opposite; I met more interesting people than probably ever before. This time, I treated the park as an office, and I conducted a very interesting project there.

What Did I Actually Do in the Park?

Namely, I started talking to strangers—people whom I normally never talk to. According to Epley and Schroeder (2014), people who talk to strangers report happier experiences than those who stay silent, even though most predict the opposite. It was partially because ever since I started to work on other people’s careers, my interest in professions out of my comfort zone has increased. 

Secondly, I had to standardize some beta-version of aptitude tests I’ve built — per the APA Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, norms are only meaningful when drawn from a representative sample. And I needed a representative sample of professionals representing various professions, age groups. And demographic minorities to fill in the test.

And where can you find such a mixed group of people. And make sure that they have half an hour to fill in your test?

Well, a public park is a good place. And this played out well — I had plenty of interesting conversations and I collected tons of interesting data! And, I successfully developed the norms for my beta test.

Public parks can be good offices! According to a 2022 study in PLOS One, greater use of green space was linked to better mental health during the pandemic. Just food for thought.

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So Why Am I Writing This Post?

However, I’m writing this post to make a little announcement. In the next few months, I will be very busy with a few projects that I’m currently working on, including preparations for a new book. Which involves a lot of writing.

Therefore, I’m going to make a winter break with this blog. Perhaps, I’ll drop a summary post at the end of the year and some other occasional posts, but it won’t happen regularly. I’ll come back to writing regularly as soon as I complete my priority projects.

What New Projects Are On the Horizon?

I will also do some new, interesting projects dedicated to jobs in the job market that require engaging volunteers. So, if you’d like to help us a little and learn interesting things about yourself, please subscribe to the white list of my company, Ontology of Value, and you will get all the information about this project soon!

Have a great winter, and if you’d like to chat about careers or business ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact me!