Blogging through the COVID-19 pandemic with ideas that should apply when it’s all over….
My mom and I had a conversation the other day about how she needs to clean out her closet. She said, “I will be really upset when all this quarantining ends. If I had all this time, and I never cleaned out my closet. If I wait until it’s over, I’ll be too busy to get to it then.”
That same idea has been bouncing around in my brain: What will I be disappointed that I didn’t get done when this whole thing is over? What opportunities do I have now that I need to take advantage of?
The problem with this kind of thinking is that it puts pressure for massive change in possibly a short period of time. Any massive change in a short period of time can be a stressor. The pressure causes overwhelm and then we shutdown. Instead of making headway, we give up and watch shows and eat snacks (not that you shouldn’t do at least a little snack-eating and tv-watching during this pandemic).
A better perspective might be this: What I can do tomorrow that might help me be a bit better than today. What can I do tomorrow that will move me a little bit further toward knocking out that project or achieving that goal or conquering that objective.
How can I get just a smidge further down the line?
The follow-up question is what – given the current circumstances – can I double down on and accelerate? While we don’t have to go from zero to hero over night, we can make more progress on some things than if we had more going on all around us.
The (possible) blessing of this pandemic is that in some areas, we might have a little more time to make more headway more quickly on some of our goals.
Our lives are typically so busy that often efforts in self-improvement are set aside for just getting through the day. Not all, but many of us have the opportunity right now to adjust our schedule.
For instance, many of us can use our normal ‘commute’ time to walk a mile or three.
Perhaps we can use this as an opportunity to save on what is usually a 3-4 night out a week for dinner schedule and put that extra $100-$200 a week into savings.
Figure out the things that you’re hoping to change. Do a little bit to effect that change today. Then plan a few minutes tomorrow to be a little bit better than today.
In most areas, you can’t turn it around in one day, but this is a great opportunity to put your foot on the gas a bit more than before.
