Business Meets Life
5 Tips To Stay Happy & Healthy During An Epidemic
Janine Jakob · 8 min read
Many people inside and outside of China were very worried about being infected by the new coronavirus. Throughout the day we saw news with accurate information, but also misinformation from rumours spread out of insecurity. Yes, we should take the precautionary measures advised by the authorities and the World Health Organization — wearing masks, washing our hands, avoiding crowded areas and maintaining personal hygiene. But we must not forget that we still have a life to live and enjoy.
1. Invest in yourself. People often complain that they don't have enough time to simply be at home with their families. With public entertainment spots and restaurants closed, it is the best time to broaden your horizons and try new things: online courses, online communities, indoor mental and physical exercise. Spend more time focusing on yourself and use it to grow.
2. Don't forget to read positive news. It is important to keep up, but we should not be watching negative news, rumours and uncertain information every few hours — once in the morning and once in the evening is enough. Neuroscientists say our brain is more stimulated by negative than positive information, but it isn't wired to handle today's overload of it. A London University study found that people with upbeat moods had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which weakens the immune system and contributes to chronic inflammation.
3. Be grateful, although it's hard. Gratitude is one of the keys to increasing your own happiness. Take a moment to think about what you can be grateful for and write it down. No matter how bad a situation is, you should always be able to find at least ten things. Mine included the plants in my apartment generating oxygen, food to eat and a roof over my head.
4. Boost your immune system. Mental health is the focus of this article, but physical health matters just as much right now. Homemade chicken soup with vegetables is a preferred healthy dish in many Western countries such as Germany for preventing and curing flu. Drink hot water or green tea with fresh ginger. Essential oils can help too — lemon for detoxing, peppermint for a sore throat and to stay fresh and positive.
5. Practise being out of your comfort zone. Some people lost clients or businesses during this period, and many left China for the time being. But no matter how challenging the time is, there is always something positive and something to be grateful for. Being pushed out of our comfort zone makes us grow. Use the situation to think of new business models and opportunities — you may come up with an idea you would never have had inside your comfort zone.
A note on context
This article began during the early coronavirus outbreak and reflects that period. Public-health guidance changes as evidence changes, so current medical decisions should always follow qualified local authorities rather than historical lifestyle advice.
The broader leadership question remains relevant: how do we protect judgement, connection and sustainable performance when uncertainty is high?
Manage the information environment
Leaders need accurate information, but constant exposure can create urgency without improving decisions. Choose trusted sources, define review times and separate facts from speculation.
For a team, explain what is known, what is not known, when the next update will come and who owns each decision. Predictability reduces avoidable anxiety.
Protect the foundations
Sleep, movement, nourishing food, recovery and human connection support the capacity to think. They are not substitutes for medical care, but they influence how sustainably people can respond to pressure.
Make expectations realistic. During disruption, a stable minimum routine is often more valuable than an ideal plan that cannot survive the week.
Create agency and connection
Uncertainty narrows attention toward what cannot be controlled. Restore agency by identifying the decisions available today and the people who need support.
Regular check-ins should not become surveillance. Ask what is unclear, what is becoming difficult and what adjustment would help the work continue safely and responsibly.
Turn reflection into a working practice
Insight only becomes useful when it changes a decision, a behaviour or a system. Choose one action that can be completed this week, give it an owner and define what better will look like. Small, visible progress creates more confidence than an ambitious plan that never enters the calendar.
Review the result after thirty days. Keep what creates clarity or momentum, remove what adds noise, and make the next improvement from evidence rather than enthusiasm. This disciplined cycle is how a useful idea becomes part of the way a leader operates.
Executive action checklist
- Choose trusted information sources and limit review times.
- Communicate what is known, unknown and next.
- Protect a sustainable minimum routine for yourself and your team.
- Identify one action that restores agency today.
Questions for reflection
- Is more information improving the decision?
- What does the team need to know now?
- Which basic routine most protects your judgement under pressure?
A practical 90-day implementation plan
The value of 5 tips to stay happy & healthy during an epidemic is not in agreeing with the idea. It is in building a repeatable practice around it. A ninety-day window is long enough to create evidence and short enough to maintain executive attention. Use the following sequence as a working plan, adapting the pace to the realities of your role and organization.
Days 1–30: establish the baseline
Begin with observation rather than reinvention. Document what happens now, who is affected and where the current approach creates friction. Complete the first action: Choose trusted information sources and limit review times. Discuss the result with one person who sees your work from a different angle. Their response will help distinguish a real pattern from a personal assumption.
Choose two indicators that can be reviewed without creating unnecessary reporting. One should measure activity and one should indicate quality. A visibility initiative, for example, might track relevant conversations as well as output. A leadership initiative might track whether decisions are made with greater clarity, not simply how many meetings took place.
Days 31–60: run a focused experiment
Use the second and third actions as a controlled experiment: Communicate what is known, unknown and next. Then protect a sustainable minimum routine for yourself and your team. Keep the scope narrow enough that you can observe cause and effect. Explain the experiment to the people involved, including what you are testing, what will remain unchanged and when you will review it.
Record language, objections and unexpected responses. Executive work often improves through better questions rather than more activity. Return to the reflection prompts above and write a short answer to each. If the answers remain vague, the experiment probably needs a clearer audience, decision or standard.
Days 61–90: decide what becomes a system
Complete the final action: Identify one action that restores agency today. Compare the evidence with the baseline. Keep the elements that improved clarity, trust, consistency or commercial relevance. Adapt the elements that produced useful learning but not yet the intended outcome. Stop anything that added volume without value.
Finally, assign ownership and a review rhythm. A practice becomes durable when it has a place in the calendar, a person responsible for maintaining it and a reason to be revisited. The aim is not a perfect ninety-day transformation. It is a stronger way of operating, supported by evidence and ready for the next cycle of improvement.
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