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Millennial mom has pandemic edge



Digital native adjusting better in pandemic

Digital native adjusting better in pandemic


According to working millennial mom Heather Sundell, writing for Fast Company, being raised with AOL, and being a digital native in general, has really come in handy during Covid-19. Millennials are generally considered those born between 1981 and 1996. Even if you’re not a millennial, it can be helpful to view Sundell’s perspective, and see that some work habits you thought were bad are actually useful during Covid-19.

For instance, Sundell is an unapologetic multitasker, noting how she was once criticized by co-workers for spending so much time on Google chat between copywriting assignments, but her boss had her back, asserting that she got her work done, and done well, so what’s the big deal?

As she puts it: “Coming of age with AOL taught us to write papers while flirting with three screen names at once, and bringing a laptop to college lectures helped us surf the web while taking notes. The recession forced us, as recent graduates, to take side gigs just to avoid moving back in with our parents.”

She says all of this prepared her for working from home while taking care of her child during Covid-19. She still struggles but sees her long-ingrained habits of combining work life and personal life as assets. We  can identify with the need to juggle answering emails at all hours, never leaving work at the office and personal life at home.

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Sundell has it easier than a lot of moms, though. She has a husband with a flexible work schedule and a union job that provides them with healthcare. Even if you do not have either of those advantages, Sundell’s tips for using millennial methods can be helpful to you if you’re struggling to keep it all together in the pandemic.

She advises to maximize meetings, pointing out how Covid-19 has shown how in-person meetings – actually meetings in general – are not nearly as essential as we thought. She also suggests embracing being “always on” and ready to tackle something at any hour. 

Sundell knows that sounds like a recipe for exhaustion. She says: “Yes, millennial burnout is very real. But, being always on doesn’t mean you’re always operating at maximum capacity. It certainly doesn’t imply you’re always on in every aspect of your life at once. It means you’re strategically leveraging drive and energy from one responsibility to another.”

She points out the value of “knowing your recharge activities,” like engaging with people while still finding “me time.”

According to Sundell, “being authentic,” which to Sundell means taking Zoom calls from the nursery, stating upfront that meetings need to be scheduled around her son’s naps, have helped her personal relationships.

And if you can’t manage any of the above because, say, you’re Gen X like me, that’s fine, too.



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