The Pandemic Could Even Alter Our Mental Model of the Future

Context: COVID-19 has virtually changed everything and the future is dependent on the experiences of the current crisis.

Areas where changes are substantial: 

• Meaning of work and its relationship with home: 

• • • The false assumption of one’s work as distinct from one’s life implicit in the concept of a work-life balance has been exposed.
    • People have found a way to reconcile the two as the situation is here to stay.
• Health and Healthcare: 

• • • Focus on preventive and proactive health is likely to increase.
    • The need to build immunity is big learning from the virus, and this will influence our diet and fitness routine.
• Consumption Attitude:  

• • • The ability to live frugally with-out sacrificing too much pleasure is an experience that will have a cascading
    • E.g.: Fast fashion, with its rapidly changing trends and easy disposability, could give way to more selective and sustainable clothing.

• Travel:

• Leisure travel will change in character, Domestic tourism, particularly road trips, are likely to become common.
• Hygiene will become a big variable that will impact tourism.

Irreversible behaviors: However, some behaviors will persist.

• A lot of our habits and behaviors are only at the backfoot due to the pandemic.

• For E.g. Eating out will return. This is evident in the way many countries and regions have reverted to past habits like meeting people and shopping.

Conclusion: Deepest change that we will see is in the mental model we use to think about the future. In our minds, the future will not be what it used to be.