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You may have heard the news today that a vaccine by Pfizer was announced to be more than 90% effective in the first analysis. That exciting news made me think of all the things I am not going to let go of that I discovered in COVID.

1. I will not be shaking your hand – Don’t get offended.

If anything, these past few months have shown me how many people do not wash their hands, how much we touch our faces and how much we touch each other. With all of these revelations, I am going to keep myself to…MYSELF. If you see me in the streets, I will give up an elbow all.day.long!

2. I will value my time with myself and family more.

In Atlanta real estate, we have straight been moving like it is business as usual throughout the shutdown as we were deemed essential. And we were blessed to be able to do that, especially as cities in California, New York and even Savannah sidelined real estate. Now a new business as usual means plenty of precautions like wipes, booties, gloves, masks and a legion of other tools but unlike others were still able to do what we took for granted at times: MOVE.

It also meant we weren’t going to networking events or out at parties and open houses. It meant more time indoors with our family and lots of Zoom with others. I want to keep that alive and be with my husband, family and friends more. I will make sure that time is sacred like gold.

3. I will go on multi day news black outs.

Mix in a pandemic, social injustice, one of the highly contested elections, the everyday veering way off from the everyday and you have a nonstop recipe for anxiety and stress.

Like Tim Ferris said in the Four Hour Work Week, everyone else will already give you the news. There is no need to take in more. Now of course, there are times you want to see the news and understand what is going on around you. For that, batch it. Give yourself a set amount of time to look at news and turn off those notifications.

4. I will spend more time outdoors.

Is it just me or is air just SA-WEET?! Like seriously, air has a whole new flavor. I have a gotten a pure euphoria from feeling the sticky summer air, the cool fall breeze, and everything in between. It’s almost like reacquainting yourself with an old friend.

Being outside more has made me connect with thoughts, think through heavy things on my mind and just BREATHE and take in life and all of its gracious and difficult moments.

5. I will watch my expenses even more.

Now that we aren’t going out to restaurants as much, we have definitely been Door Dashing it and Uber Eats’in up.

I thought I was doing good because hey, we can’t really travel, so I have saved a lot of dough by not being all cuddled up with my best friend Delta Airlines.

But really, I wasn’t. Using the Clarity app (apparently now becoming Marcus by Goldman Sachs) tells me weekly how much I am spending and shows me where I can make an impact. Remember: pennies add up to dollars and you work too hard to waste them. Watch every one of those puppies.

I was spending over $200 more than usual on food delivery!!! Now granted I tipped more because I wasn’t in the restaurant and appreciated people’s sacrifices to bring me yummy food but still – that’s TWO HUNDRED that could have been saved or spent on something I mindfully wanted to purchase.

Okay, I digress. The point is, the app showed me how I was getting a little too food happy and I knocked that down significantly.

When you are running day in and day out, sometimes you let subscriptions go on too long as you pay monthly or spend on things that are taking you away vs towards your goals ,so for me, I will watch my funds even closer.

What things are sticking with you in a post-COVID world?

I am sure I will be updating this as we go on but for now, this is the FIVE and I’m sticking to it!!