Five Advantages and Five Disadvantages of Living Life Virtually

Until COVID, I firmly believed that executive and CEO coaching would never be effective other than in face-to-face sessions, let alone that anyone would pay me to sit and talk to them remotely.

My version of dystopia was living like a hermit in a small New York City apartment, never seeing the sunshine or maintaining contact with more than a handful of people.

Today I spend the better part of my life in a windowless 6 by 10-foot home office.

While my apartment building has a gym in the basement, I can just as easily do a virtual workout with my trainer at home. Most of my interaction with clients and friends is via e-mail or Zoom or Google Meet. I can either have groceries delivered by Instacart or I can order in from a variety of cuisines and restaurants in the area.

Like any change, this new reality has its disadvantages:

1. A near death-like white pallor caused by a near total absence of exposure to the sun.
2. Atrophying muscles, a flat butt and unsteady legs caused by sitting in the same chair for an average of 12 hours a day.
3. Too much time wasted on “social media porn” (eg. real estate, political news, YouTube videos, recipes for French pastries, anything about the British monarchy, the James Webb telescope or the history of New York City… and of course, the usual kind of porn.)
4. Moments of anxiety anytime I leave the apartment to meet someone in person.
5. Too much “together time” with my husband.

But there are also 5 great advantages to this new reality:

1. An exponential increase in productivity and a much higher revenue per hour worked. (I don’t have a lot of unpaid downtime travelling to my clients’ offices and can go through hours of back-to-back coaching sessions without a break.)
2. Literally hundreds of interesting new friends and many clients I’ve met through LinkedIn. Most of whom I’ve never met or will never meet in person.
3. A mastery of the fine art of baking French pastries.
4. A bizarre state of nirvana with almost no existential anxiety or negative thoughts and worries.
5. With the exception of two minor bouts of COVID, no flu, cold or other illnesses usually contracted when spending extended periods of time in proximity to other people.