Life as we knew it came screeching to a halt this year and we have been experiencing what many have referred to as “The Twilight Zone”. Self-isolation, social distancing and quarantine have been the norm. No one is unaffected, although the experience is different for everyone. Some may be alone for the first time while others may be surrounded by family, when their day was normally spent alone. If you are a health care worker on the front lines of the battle, your lives have become even more complicated and exhausting. The one factor that is the same for everyone is that life is different from what it was before. When restrictions are loosened, and things go back to normal, what will normal be? What do we want it to be?
Over the last few months, decision making was done for us. We didn’t have to decide how to divide our time between multiple activities. Weekend plans were chosen for us… stay in with the family. Weekdays were mapped out with work, homeschooling and outside time. There was never a feeling of guilt, wondering if we were overbooking or not dispersing our attention nicely between friends, family and kids.
As we move forward, it is important not to take this time lightly. We were given a glimpse into how life could be at one end of the extreme and it’s up to us to decide how to reinvent ourselves and merge the before and after. As quarantine restrictions are slowly lifted, we need to evaluate what we learned as we were forced to isolate at home. We need to be intentional and protect our valuable time by deciding what we definitely want to carve out time for and what has to go for now or possibly for good.
To help you with those decisions, write down every way that your life has changed since the quarantine. Everyone’s list will look different and should contain both positive and negative changes.
For example:
1: Eating dinner as a family every night
2: Stress due to not connecting with loved ones.
3: and so on
Circle or highlight the changes that made you feel good. Try to carve out time for those things.
Next write down all the things that were taking up your time before the Corona Virus disrupted life.
For example:
1: Select soccer with weekend travel
2: Grocery shopping
3: and so on
Now, highlight what felt good, what brought you joy and really focus on the concept that if it’s not a “heck yes” then it might need to be a “heck no”. Of course, there will be things on your list, like work, that aren’t an option to let back in or not but we are the only ones in charge of our schedule and it’s up to us to protect it. Get creative with your schedule, ask for help, block out time on your calendar for family time so you don’t overschedule, learn to say no.
Write down your “Pie in the Sky” dream week (or day). Know that life will never look like this but at least you will know what you are fighting for within your day. Then when something comes up it becomes clearer whether to allow it to go on your calendar.
You can control much of what comes back into your life so make your decisions intentionally, remembering what brings you joy.
Resources:
www.healthaccountabilitycoach.com
www.facebook.com/houselifestyles
