Amy Lindgren: Workers of America: Keep calm and carry on – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

What a difference a few weeks can make. In February, Americans were concerned about politics, March Madness, spring breaks and all the things that occupy us in good times and bad.

Now were talking about not inadvertently killing Grandpa and staying six feet away from strangers and loved ones alike. People whose work seemed solid are feeling the earth shift beneath their feet and everyone is being advised, perhaps for the first time in the history of modern dentistry, not to come in for a regular cleaning.

As they say on the Progressive commercials: What is happening here?

Thats an answer I dont have, but I do have advice, at least in the context of careers and job search: Keep calm, carry on. Youll recognize that as the now-famous counsel given to English citizens while they were dodging bombs and running households on half-rations of food.

That sentiment makes a good bumper sticker, but it makes an even better life philosophy. This is one of those times when it does no good to panic. Why? I just told you: Because it does no good. Seriously, panic is the one thing you dont want to do, for any number of reasons. Panicking wont change things, it blocks you from productive thinking and it compels you to do things you later regret.

If those reasons not to panic arent good enough, use this one instead: Because you have other things you need to do right now. If you are a worker in a critical field such as health care, you need your focus on self-management so you can stay healthy enough to help others.

If you are a manager or business owner, your leadership is needed so that others know what to do. If you are a communications professional, your ability to keep others informed is absolutely critical. If you are a teacher or school administrator, you dont need to be told that students and parents are looking to you for both guidance and continuity.

Mental health professionals, delivery drivers, food preparers, farmers, transportation workers, grocery store cashiers, gas station owners, home health aides (bless you), social workers, emergency plumbers, poets and artists, we need you all and we need all those I havent named here. And of course, if you have children or elderly people dependent on you, you are just plain needed, in ways that seem to be changing on an hourly basis.

So you see, you cant afford to panic. What should you (all of us) be doing instead? Heres advice for the uncertain weeks and months ahead.

Build cash reserves If youre receiving a paycheck, bank what you can. That might mean temporarily changing your withholding or pausing retirement contributions, with that money going to savings instead. Why? I dont know, except to say that cash reserves are important in the best of times, and certainly now.

If youre not receiving a paycheck, think about reducing outgoing expenses, bartering one of your skills for someone elses to lower costs, or even renting out a room or performing small jobs for cash if you can find takers. These are the pre-gig-economy gigs that kept our grandparents afloat in tough times.

Leverage unusual opportunities Every upheaval comes with a side helping of opportunity. For example, with interest rates so low, can you refinance your mortgage to improve cash flow?

Perhaps you have a skill, such as webinar development, that small businesses could use at this very moment. Even a simple notification on your Facebook page might be enough to attract interest. If youre currently out of work, getting a foot in the door in this way could translate to something bigger later.

Learn, learn, learn If you have a reliable internet connection and a computer, nows the time to download all the free training you can find, whether thats a video on appliance repair or an e-book on accounting practices. If you dont have the tools for online learning, theres still the library and independent bookstores. One way or the other, if youre not employed right now, it makes sense to prepare for being employed.

Plan the job search which brings us to this sticky wicket: Should you continue job searching, or pause? While many employers are struggling to support the workers they already have, others are all-hands-on-deck as they try to manage an overflow of work. Youll need a strategy that integrates the skills you can offer with the work employers need done.

For the moment, my advice is to plan, then act. Even if the action is necessarily delayed, youll still need the plan. Why? Because whatever your work is, you are needed. So stay sharp, keep calm, carry on. When this thing shakes out, well need clear heads and ready hands so we can pick up where we left off.

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Amy Lindgren: Workers of America: Keep calm and carry on - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press