6 Ways to Be Productive During the COVID-19 Pandemic

6 Ways to Be Productive During the COVID-19 Pandemic With the number of COVID-19 cases growing exponentially and many countries in a state of second or third lockdowns, most of us are now used to working from home. As the world fights a relentless battle against the pandemic, each of us is faced with our own daily struggles. With the line between professional and personal spaces blurring, many of us are finding it increasingly difficult to juggle deadlines with home-schooling, online lectures with household chores, and writing papers with attending to pets. Having no physical office space to go to, no face-to-face meetings, no coffee breaks with the team, no animated discussions about a new project, the typical workday looks rather bleak, and for many, productivity is dropping to an all-time low. Naturally, you may not be able to make adequate progress on your current project. But this does not mean you cannot use your time productively. Here are some tips on how you can be productive even if you cannot work on your research project now due to lockdowns: Keep yourself updated Remember all those articles you’ve bookmarked but never read? Or those abstracts which you read hurriedly, meaning to get back to reading the full text when you have more time? Now is the time to revisit your bookmarks or your reference manager, and get some serious reading done. Give yourself a break from reading COVID-19 news and create a window of time to keep yourself updated on literature from your field. Now would also be the best time to keep track of the goings-on in the scholarly world by staying up to date with industry news and trends. Attend virtual events It is often difficult for researchers to accommodate any events in their busy schedule. But now you have the opportunity to attend virtual events such as webinars and workshops that several organizations and universities are conducting. You can attend these events from the comfort of your home without having to worry about travel grants or logistical aspects such as making arrangements for your travel or worrying about leaving your children behind. In addition to webinars directly related to your field, think of exploring some around self-care, mental health, career development, and other topics that will equip you with life skills to give yourself a refreshing change for work. Revisit that shelved project Take out that unfinished project, dig up the long-forgotten data you had collected, and put your thinking cap on and try to figure out if you can work on it. A fresh perspective might help you come up with new ideas. You can check for newer published studies on the topic you were working on to see if there is a possibility for your data to build on them. Sometimes a slight change in focus is all it may take to revive an old project. Learn a new skill Always had doubts about effective ways to conduct a literature review? Want to enhance your project management skills? Have reviewers often been critical of how you write your methods section? Now that you are saving on the commuting time, you can invest it in improving these skills so that you are better equipped to make progress with your project once the world is back to normal. Online course platforms like Coursera, edX, Udacity, Udemy, etc. offer a plethora of courses that you can choose from. Some of these courses are affiliated to universities. Thus, these might be certified courses that you can include in your CV. What is more, some online course platforms are offering free or discounted courses during the pandemic. So, explore them now! Focus on writing When you are in your lab or taking classes at the university, it is difficult to find time for focused writing. If you’re a PhD student, this is a good time to dedicate a few hours to writing every week. For those who are past the PhD hurdle, this could be a good time to draft a new proposal or complete your manuscript. Block larger chunks of time during early mornings or late evenings when the rest of the house is sleeping or busy watching television. If you’re the kind who gets easily distracted while writing, there are a bunch of bootcamps, productivity apps, and online meet up groups that will help you focus and see your writing tasks to completion.  Build connections With social distancing, people are spending more time on social media. Take advantage of this opportunity to network. Take advantage of this opportunity to network. Try to make your social media presence stronger. Everybody is now talking about COVID-19 and sharing the challenges they’re facing, so it’s really quite easy to join the conversations right now and make yourself known. You can also reach out to potential collaborators on social media or even email. Since everybody’s working from home and likely missing having people around, they would be more open to engaging in conversations. All said and done, don’t feel pressured to be productive. It is ok to struggle with productivity, mourn the experiences that were cancelled due to social distancing, and feel anxious of the uncertainty. Use this time to take a break and hit the reset button on your life. Long hours, late nights, failed experiments, missed deadlines, working weekends, little time for family and friends: your life has probably revolved around these since the time you started your career. Now that you have the time, why not take it easy for a bit? Take rest, take time out for yourself, consciously practice self-care, enjoy a candlelight dinner with your spouse or play time with the kids, have video calls with your friends, and use this time to recharge and rejuvenate yourself.

Coronavirus Lockdown: Complete These 5 Money-Related Tasks

Coronavirus Lockdown: Complete These 5 Money-Related Tasks Most of the country’s workforce is now working from home. People have some extra time on their hands due to this. Wondering what to do with this free time? Why don’t you spring clean your finances? Here are five money-related things you can do during the lockdown. Get insured, check current insurance status Since the reason for this very lockdown is a viral disease, the first thing on your mind should be checking if you have adequate insurance. Buy a health cover for yourself and your family, if you do not already have one. If you do, check the coverage. A lot of people depend on the medical cover given by their employer and do not possess a personal cover. At a time like this, not having your own cover is dangerous because jobs and industries themselves are at risk. If tomorrow you fall sick, you do not want to end up in a situation where you neither have any health insurance cover nor a job. Therefore, we recommend some level of personal insurance for self and the family. Life insurance is important as well. Even if people have bought a life cover, then it might not be up to the required sum assured. One should check if their cover, sum assured is good enough for them. Check your expenses, save up in case things go further south Across sectors and firms, job losses and/or pay cuts are happening or could happen soon. So, preparing for such a contingency is something everyone should do. How much money should you have for emergencies? Minimum three months’ worth of typical expenses, along with your EMIs, should be in your account. Reviewing financial documents, rectifying financial plan Spring clean your financial assets such as bank accounts, demat accounts, mutual fund investments and insurance policies. This will not only ensure good maintenance of finances but also provide a consolidated view of your financial status. Gather all your documentation in one place, have everything on paper, along with the necessary passwords and confidentialities, both online and offline. Clean up all old files with unnecessary paperwork, account statements or old insurance policies. Also, now is a good time to review your financial strategy: check what worked for you and what hasn’t and do a comparative analysis. Investing in these times There is a bloodbath in the equity market. If you have taken care of all your necessary expenses, if you have money to spare, then you are in the position to take a long-term view. The markets can go further down from this point, nobody can know the answer to this or what the exact bottom will be. If you have the money, the risk appetite and can stomach the volatility for some time to come, you’re on to a very good path. That was equities, what about debt? There have been cases where investors have been abandoning equity to move to debt investments. Is this a good switch? Relocating money from equities to say, FDs is a grave mistake, so is stopping mutual fund systematic investment plans (SIPs). The debt space is not safe either. If the current situation continues, defaults will start happening everywhere, corporate FDs, NCDs, and so on. As a result, debt mutual funds will start crashing too. So, have a good mix of assets to help you tide through these tough times. Get your banking, tax-related activities in order Take out some time to update documents that need updating. Make the most of any free time you get now to sort out those banking activities that you kept putting off. Now since most banks are short staffed and are encouraging the use of digital routes, update your documents using your Net banking account. With time on your hands, why not take a closer look at the details of the new tax regime announced in this year’s Budget. If you have not done your tax-saving investments yet, the finance minister has given you time till June 30.

What Should Investors Do When Market is at its Historic Lows?

What Should Investors Do When Market is at its Historic Lows? The outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic over the last 2 months or so has sent shockwaves through financial markets across the world. Stock markets in major economies have cracked with Dow Jones and S&P 500 falling 11 – 12%. Emerging markets like India have seen bigger corrections, with the Nifty falling more than 25% in just 1 month. Nifty at historic low Nifty has fallen to the level where it was in the last quarter of calendar year 2014. Rebound from lows In the past, we have seen strong rebounds from market lows. In 2011 the market fell by 28%. From the low in November 2011, the Nifty gave 22.7% CAGR returns over the next 3 years. Similarly, in 2015 – 16, the Nifty fell by 22%. From the February 2016 low, the Nifty have 16% CAGR returns over the next 3 years. Deep corrections such as the one we are seeing now are great buying opportunities from a long-term investment perspective. Valuations are multi-year low Nifty valuation looked expensive at the start of this year but the meltdown in the market has brought valuations substantially down.  Nifty is currently trading at 18 – 19 times earnings, closer to the lower end of the range. This should be an attractive investment opportunity. The last time we saw these valuation levels was back in 2012 – 14. Let us see how much wealth you would have created over a five-year investment horizon if you had invested at these levels. If you had invested Rs 1 lakh in January 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively in the Nifty for the time horizon of 5 years, in all the three cases your investment would have grown to Rs 1.7 – 1.75 lakhs at a CAGR of 12%. Should you invest in lump sum or SIP? One should invest through SIP for their long-term goals. However, deep market corrections provide the ideal opportunity for investing in lump sum. The history of past bear markets and subsequent recoveries indicate that this is a good time to make lump sum investments. Increase your SIP amounts If you do not have lump sum funds available, you should continue to invest through SIP and if possible, consider increasing your monthly SIP amounts. Since prices have fallen considerably, you will be able to buy many more units at low prices and thereby reduce your average cost of acquisition considerably. This can generate excellent returns for you in the long term. Conclusion Coronavirus is the worst crisis the world has faced in many decades. While the economic outlook is uncertain, the deep correction in the market has created attractive investment opportunities for investors. The age-old mantra of success in stock markets is buying low and selling high – investments made in bear markets give the highest returns in the long term. The on-going correction is a good opportunity for investors to create substantial wealth over a long-term investment horizon.

The Need of an Emergency Fund

The Need of an Emergency Fund The importance of an emergency fund has never been this apparent. To be fair, even I never did give it much thought till last year. When Jet Airways collapsed, three pilots I personally knew had the carpet pulled from right under their feet. They had to worry about providing for their families and paying their equated monthly instalments (EMIs) on their home loans.  Now, I am convinced on the need for an emergency fund. Where must you keep this money? – Most people keep a bank fixed deposit as an emergency fund. But emergencies, by nature, do not occur frequently. One may not have to dip into this kitty for years on end. So, if you are looking at a vehicle that generates a better post-tax return, you could also consider a Liquid/Ultra Short-Term Bond Fund. Investing in very short duration mutual fund scheme can give the benefit of indexation as well.Or, it need not be either. It could be a combination of both. Please do not rely on: Your credit card. You will be straddled with a very high interest rate and eventually land up in debt. Your existing investments. If you use your existing investments to help you out in an emergency, you are doing yourself a big disservice. Don’t touch your retirement kitty or child’s education fund as far as possible. To stop contributing to this goal and pull money out from there, will backfire in the long run. Borrowing from family or friends. What to keep in mind? Have a concrete number in mind. And put in effort to ensure that it is as accurate as possible. Do not be vague. Never put returns as the prime factor of your emergency fund. Returns should be the least of your concerns. Ensure that others can tap into this fund. If you meet with an accident and cannot withdraw the money, the purpose is defeated. Make sure it is a joint holding. You can build it gradually. If you decide that Rs 10 lakh needs to be your emergency fund, don’t panic if you do not have the money right away. Build it over time. Don’t stick to the same amount you conceptualised years ago. The number of your dependents may increase; you may have another child or a parent may move in. Your spouse may have given up her job to be a home maker or start a new business. You may have taken on some debt. How much? Don’t go by what others suggest. Put in the hard work to come up with a number customized to your life. Depending on whether other family members are employed, you can look at 6 to 12 months of living expenses. Do note, these are mostly basic expenses, not lifestyle costs. Look at all these issues. House: EMIs on your home loan, rent, monthly society outgoings Basic expenses: Groceries, electricity bill, water bill, medication, necessities Salaries: Driver, house help Fees of children: School, tuition, other activities like music or dance classes Sporadic Payments: Premiums towards health and life insurance, payments for Netflix and cable, gym membership Investments: If you can truly afford it, it would be good if you even budget for your systematic investments in funds, though you can be flexible on this. An emergency can be emotionally very stressful. Don’t add financial stress to it. Be prepared, as far as possible.