Do you know what everyone needed most before the coronavirus pandemic sent us all home for weeks on end??? Time. We all needed more time in the day.
Do you know what we’re going to need more than ever as we start to come out of our hidey holes??? Yep, time.
This is going to be weird for a while. Like months. Maybe years. Large and small changes that make up the new normal are going to be a part of our lives even after the headlines change.
Time management in the age of coronavirus is going to take some getting used to.
This really hit home this morning for me. Trying to get my banks to handle a simple transfer took about an hour. Normally I would have just made a phone call or headed into my nearby bank branch, but the branches are closed to walk-ins, and the helpline was running a message that their hours are shortened and waits are longer than usual. But I had no choice. I had to make this work. All it took was time.
Then I tried to place an order for a new bike for my daughter. She’s growing like a weed and can’t hit her knees against her handlebars much longer. Try finding a 26″ kid’s bike in stock–in blue! Yes, it exists, but the nearest one is an hour away. No, they won’t ship it. I can drive to pick it up. (Bike stores are considered essential where I live.) All it’s going to take is time.
It’s starting to feel a bit like the black market here. You can still purchase most things, but you need to order ahead, pay online, and call from the parking lot when you arrive so your order can be brought to your car. That takes advance planning and–you guessed–time.
If you are one of the many affected by job loss or illness, this is even more true for you! Paperwork and administrative burdens for insurance claims, unemployment compensation, and government assistance programs are not only heavy, but they take a chunk of time to wrestle even on a good day!
How many times have you had to learn something new, use a new app, or connect on Zoom or some other web platform in the last few weeks? It’s not just you. We’re all retooling our lives right now, and learning new things takes time.
While so many things are going to feel different in the weeks and months ahead, time will always be the most valued commodity.
Perhaps one of the best things you can do for yourself right now is to start to build extra time into your routines to allow for the strangeness and the adjustments that COVID-19 living is going to require of us.
Perhaps one of the kindest things that we can do for each other is to be generous with our time and flexible with timelines, deadlines, and appointments.
It’s not just you. Everyone is having to make these same adjustments.
Sending you light and love today and always. You’ve got this.
