What Covid Taught Us About Priorities
There are a million books out there on time management. The more technology comes along to save time, the more time we need to manage it all. LOL! Time management is necessary across all areas of our lives, both professional and personal.
COVID was a tragedy, but one thing that did come out of it was the sense of a time reset.
Yes, Zoom fatigue is real, for sure, but there were a few months there where we all had to slow down. That’s what happens when you can’t leave the house, never mind get on a plane. It was cool to see how nature responded, with animals returning to places that they had left behind. I was forced to slow down, and I loved it. Mostly, I was thankful to stop the frantic travel.
But now things are heating up again. Should we resume our pre-COVID pace? What are the things we learned during that period that we can apply to today? Here’s a list of things I’ve taken on board:
Don’t book back-to-back work travel if you can help it, and make sure you create margin, so you have time to settle in before you start again
Don’t be afraid to insist on work/life boundaries with your boss or clients – we’re all much savvier about honoring a person’s need for space to breathe
Prioritize your health now – one of the scariest things about COVID was the lack of care we could get during that time, make sure you see your doctor regularly, don’t put off a procedure
Be thankful for your loved ones, and let them know it – I lost an aunt during COVID, I couldn’t see her to say good-bye, it was incredibly difficult and I know there are countless stories of families just like mine
Make sure to take time off – we had all our vacation cancelled and had to scramble to make alternative plans. Even just a staycation can help you take a breather
Explore your own backyard – because we couldn’t leave the country (we were living in the UK) we spent our summer vacation on the coast, it was awesome