It has been one hell of a roller coaster trying to manage our lives and businesses during this pandemic. Funds have dried up, events have postponed or cancelled, colleagues are closing and clients look to us for answers when there are so many unknowns.
And that’s just the business side of it all.
Toss in the fact that you may be working from home, are now a full time caretaker for a parent or child, have health issues that need attention, etc., and it becomes chaos. You feel pulled in a thousand directions, with no relief in sight.
I get it.
Here’s 6 ways you can steer these troubled waters and bring a sense of calm to your life.
1. Routine
This is crucial whether you are a caretaker or not– as it takes away the unknown; that feeling of just flailing in nothingness. Not having a schedule is great on vacation, when you want to slow down time to soak up moments and experiences. In the first few days of the pandemic, it may have felt freeing– but most are finding later that it causes anxiety and depression. Your routine does not have to be associated with work. It could be the way that you take care of yourself, exercise, check in with family or relax. Give yourself purpose to each day.
2. Brain Dump
If you’re continuing to work or have even decided to add some overdue home projects to your task list, don’t go into the next day blind. Do a brain dump the night before to know exactly what it is you have or want to do. This will help you categorize your hierarchy of needs, prioritize what’s important and give you a road map to the next day.
3. Schedule Communications
This is super important for us parents out there. Most offices are closed and many are working from home. You know who else is working from home as well? Our children. That means a greater portion of our day is going to be filled with making meals, helping with homework and keeping them off of eBay trying to sell their siblings. This will greatly affect your office hours and availability. Look into getting Bookafy, Calendly or NovoCall to help colleagues and clients schedule a time to speak with you in real time. Bots like Drift or Crisp are also great to install into your site where visitors can chat with you in real time. Use your email client’s scheduling feature to send emails during “workable hours” of the day if you find yourself working late at night.
4. Keep Your Admin Days
Remember all those things you said you wished you had time to do? Guess what? You’ve got it! Keep your admin days to maintain your virtual offices, CRMs, and social media. It’s also a good time for you to organize / archive your files, get pictures, blog and pin for your marketing efforts, organize inventory, etc. Even at its barest of operations, your business still needs to function. Don’t allow any cobwebs or dust to form.
5. Invest
Do not come out of this situation in the exact same place where you started. Whether it is a business book, a new course or coaching– make a point to have learned or improved on at least one thing. I am not an advocate of hustling for hustle’s sake nor do I think you need to do all of the things. What I can tell you for sure, is that there will be someone out there who thinks they are hungrier and smarter than you. They’ve sat up all night, they’ve plotted, they’ve invested and they’ve pivoted. They have come up with ten ways to make sure they are hired instead of you.
What are you going to do about that?
6. Grace
I say this often and will continue to say it, regardless of how “hokey” it sounds. Grace is so important, because at the onset of all of this, it was rammed down everyone’s throat that you had to stay busy, you had to come up with a new business, being client-focused, etc. No one really was talking about embracing or processing the ramifications this had on all of our lives— not just our clients. To make sure we’re clear: Things are not normal. They may not be for some time. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to not be as productive as we once were. It’s okay to need a break. It’s okay to need help.
Major 💎s
- Want more? Check out my series on Instagram on how to work from home
- View tips shared on WeddingPro’s IGTV from me and other wedding industry colleagues.
- I also highly recommend the Shine App for helping to process and prioritize your thoughts, goals and self care during this time.
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