This weekend where I live some of the restrictions have been lifted. I immediately made use of the chance to travel to see close friends living nearby and take my Dad shopping. But today I have lost my way.
The changes are overwhelmingly positive, but I still have the challenge of trying to pick up the threads of my life before this latest lockdown started a couple of months ago. I need to re-establish routines and make decisions about how to use my new freedoms.
All my habits that have kept me sane and suppressed the panic of not being able to leave my house are no longer relevant. I need to build some new norms, and I don’t know where to start. There are so many decisions I don’t know what elements to address first.
In the absence of knowing what to do, I don’t do anything at all and then get angry at myself for wasting the day. I aimlessly wander around the house, dithering about whether to go out and if so where to go. I’m out of the habit of driving the car or taking my bag when I go out so I take 4 attempts to get out of the gate because I have forgotten things.
This is my home life so there is no performance management process. Wasted time and opportunities are just my losses, not impacting others. But when this situation occurs at work it affects productivity and is not a good look career wise.
We all need help managing change, these skills are life skills so let’s invest in them. For those of us who have developed this vital leadership skill, let’s help our colleagues by transferring our insight, techniques, and skills.
Meanwhile, having written this article I’m off to practice my new freedom. I’m starting small with a quick trip to the beach to show my Dad the horizon. Over the next few days I’ll plan a few small steps, and slowly build a new routine that makes use of the little bit of freedom we have been granted.
If you are starting a new role, joining a new company, getting used to redundancy or starting to study again, I hope you find these simple steps for coping with change useful. If you want to learn more, join me for this free taster Monday night/lunchtime/morning depending on your timezone!
