Six Weeks In ...

Well, in New York and much of the US anyway, we are now in week six of our shelter-in-place, lockdown, stay-at-home, or whatever you want to call these days. For me, I was naive enough to think it would be a week or two at most and here we are six weeks in. Six weeks in our homes.

I will admit that there’s a part of this that is totally doable. I love being at home. I love eating dinner at my dining room table with my husband every night. I love hanging out and relaxing at home watching what’s turning out to be some pretty amazing scripted television. There are some great parts to all of this.

The problem is that none of this is all that relaxing. It’s stressful as hell. Last week was particularly rough, particularly towards the end of the week. And I’m not the only one who was beginning to feel like I couldn’t cope. For some reason, lots of folks hit a wall last week. I hit a wall hard.

It’s not the being at home part. It’s not the workload. It’s not the string of video conference calls.

It’s the uncertainty. It’s getting really hard to handle the uncertainty, even with glimmers of hope starting to pop up in our newsfeeds.

Me? I’m a planner. If you’ve read any of my books, personal or professional, then you know I’m a planner. I like to plan things out. I like to have contingency plans. I like options. It’s not that I need to be in control, I just want to plan for any possibility so that I am prepared. I like to be prepared.

There’s no planning any more. None. In fact planning feels like a waste of time and merely adds to the stress levels. Planning feels so out of date right now. Like February 2020 out of date.

The uncertainty is making this all very very hard. It’s making every day feel like the first of what we know and the last of what we know. Because every day is unknown. Tomorrow is unknown, let alone next week or this summer or next fall. Even the thought of coming out of lockdown is starting to feel scary. Because so much will be unknown.

It’s really hard to deal with. It’s ok to say that out loud.

So what’s a planner like me to do? Stop planning so much. Start taking it day by day, just like we have every week for the last six weeks. Start enjoying the moments we do cherish these days. Laugh a little and make others laugh.

And help and support others who need it more, just a little bit more however we can. What ever form support takes.

I’m learning to let go just a little bit and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Well that’s letting go a lot for me.

I started yesterday. Day one of our six weeks in. I cracked myself up several times in video meetings. I sat outside for a couple of conference calls. I relished in a new business win. I did a couple small things that I knew would help others who need it. I had an amazing dinner with my husband.. And I sat with my jaw dropped as I watched the season finale of The Morning Show. Wow.

I can do this. We can do this. One day at a time. We’ve done it for six weeks now so we can surely do it a bit more. Whatever a “bit” is. Six weeks in and yes we can still do this.

What’s your experience? JIM