Please be safe

This won’t be my usual post with SharePoint instructions. I write my posts in batches weeks and months in advance, so the latest articles you get to see were written a while ago and are auto-scheduled to be published during the week. So back, when they were written, we did not have the catastrophe on our hands that we have today.

I debated for a while whether or not to write this post. If you followed my blog for a while, you know me, I like to inject a bit of humor in my articles (with SharePoint, you have to have a sense of humor!). However, I thought it would not be appropriate for me to continue publishing blog posts and videos as if nothing happened, without at least acknowledging the tragedy we have unfolding in the world right now.

All of us are and will be impacted. Whether it is the disease itself, financial or emotional impact – we will all get affected.

I realize that many companies and employees are now going through the unusual “work from home” adjustment. While different, I am not worried about it. I am sure they will figure out how to use Zoom/GoToMeeting/Slack or MS Teams in no time. It is not rocket science. But my heart aches for the millions of other businesses and people who are not so lucky and can’t work from home. Most of my clients are small to medium-sized companies who already feel the catastrophe firsthand.

Personally, for me, I struggled to do any work in the last few weeks. It was not even the fact that we now have to do “social distancing and isolation.” Being an introvert that I am, plus the fact that I already worked from home – this was an easy adjustment for me. I could not concentrate due to the anxiety for the well-being of my family and our heroes – front-line workers, health professionals, and everyone else in the world. I am sure it was the same for you too.

It was very inspiring though to receive several emails from my loyal blog followers in the last week, telling me that now that they have more time on their hands due to work from home situation, they had extra time to spend on my blog or YouTube channel and learn a new SharePoint trick. Tens of thousands of users visit my blog daily, and it is very uplifting to hear this.

Another thing that helped me, personally, with all the negative news around us, is to do what I love and enjoy, and that is writing my blogs. It offers me some sort of normalcy. So I want to reassure all of you, my loyal blog followers, that I will continue publishing my articles and videos, considering how helpful they are for the community, especially now.

It will take years, but we will get through this. In the meantime, please be safe and take care of yourself and your loved ones.