Trends of 2020

2020 was a crazy year. We don’t need to spend time talking about that. In fact, I really don’t want to and I’m sure you don’t either. It is interesting to note however, some trends that got popular throughout the year. People have always responded to what’s happening around them. It is natural and is what has been happening since the beginning of time. This year however brought some unexpected things and so people responded in some unexpected ways. People got creative. People changed how they did things. In many cases, they had to.

1. Home renovation projects

For the first time in maybe ever people were forced to stay in their homes. Maybe you are a homebody, and this wasn’t too difficult or maybe this was very challenging but whatever the case, this rocked many people’s world. Fathers and mothers began staying home from work. In the best cases, they were able to work from home. In other cases, they were out of work. Kids began staying home from school. We stayed home from places we usually went for entertainment and did our best to entertain ourselves within the walls of our home. After spending so much time in our homes, people everywhere started tackling home projects to improve those spaces that they spent so much time in. Whether it was adding some nice landscaping in the backyard, doing a complete hardwood floor restoration, building a deck, or calling the cabinet painters to give the kitchen a new feel, people went to work. For me personally, I found myself at the Home Depot more this year than any other year of my life.

2. 2 extremes of technology consumption

Netflix paved the way and now streaming services are popping up all over the place. It is no surprise that with extra time on our hands at home our media intake was through the roof. Season after season were plowed through and people found shows on their streaming services that they never could have imagined (I recently found myself watching a very interesting show about foot surgeries). On the other hand, this year gave people great opportunities to realize the toll that a heavy dose of media can have on mental health. Technology-free retreats where people came to get rid of their phones and social media became more and more intriguing and rose in popularity.

3. Health practices

“I would never work out at home,” people said to themselves. And then they tried an in-home workout and found that it wasn’t as bad as they thought, and also that it had some sweet benefits. The social pressure at the gym that makes it feel like everyone is looking at them is what keeps many people out of the gym, but at home, this is not an issue. As far as diet goes, plant-based meats and collagen products continue to become more popular. Popular chain restaurants such as Burger King, Subway, and KFC are all making strides to make plant-based meats more easily available.

4. Podiatrist-approved footwear

People found out this year more so than ever that walking around bare-footed all day is not good for your feet. A few weeks into quarantine, google searches for good shoes on the feet began to rocket. Other slip-on shoes like Crocs, Birkenstocks, and Teva’s all saw substantial growth.

This pandemic has taught us a wide variety of new things about the world. Businesses have learned that they can be just as efficient in many cases if their employees work from home. Students have learned that they can do all of their school online and that if they want to travel the world, it’s possible. And many have learned things about themselves they never thought they would. It’s fun to look back on the year and see how we changed and adapted as a society. What trends will stick? What trends will fade away with the virus? (the virus will fade, right?)