So, over the last couple of weeks I have had conversations with many clients who are used to being very organised, having structured and productive days (on the whole) and all of a sudden, life has thrown a curved ball and all of that has gone out of the window!
So how do we cope?
I am a structured person, I like to have a plan and sometimes my plans are for activities that are several months away so to have days, weeks and potentially a few months ahead of me with nothing in the diary, has been a test on my mental health too.
So what have I done to ease that pressure (because I’m sure we’re all agreed, we don’t need to put additional pressure on ourselves right now)? Well I am currently;
- planning one day at a time.
- Dividing my day into morning and afternoon sessions so only planning a few hours at a time.
- I’m allocating one task to complete a day that’s a non typical task i.e clean out al the kitchen cupboards, clean the grouting in the bathroom, all the things that you usually put to the bottom of your list.
- I’m reading for an hour a day, coaching material, something where I can learn.
- I do my hours exercise by walking my dog but if I didn’t have a dog, I’d be doing one of the online exercise courses.
- I’m making birthday cards in advance for my friends.
Not all of this will appeal to all people and I appreciate it’s a whole different scenario if you are also trying to home school your kids and work from home too. BUT what I am doing, is giving myself a break and if I have a day that is less than productive (yesterday was one of those) I am not beating myself up over it.
I drank copious cups of tea, I pottered around the house, I felt quite grumpy so avoided my husband and wallowed a little if I’m very honest! yesterday I didn’t feel ok and that was ok.
These are unprecedented times, there is no “normal” you have to find your balance, your coping mechanism and if you have days where you don’t feel ok – allow yourself a day to feel rubbish, wallow a little and then look to tomorrow and what you could do with your day then and there will be something, however small.
