Setting Up a Schedule That Works For You

Setting Up a Schedule That Works For You

Those of us who prior to the Corona Virus pandemic, who either worked remotely as part of or for all of our work week, or those of us who have businesses of our own, learned a lesson that is becoming more common place to a lot greater number of people as work from home orders and “lockdown in place” orders become more prevalent. That lesson is that when homebound, and not under the structure of a “traditional” workday, you have the accountability for setting your own schedule. Even those of us who were used to that reality before the requirements that the pandemic placed on us, found to the need to reinforce that fact in our lives.

Let me use myself as an example. My schedule, while my own, included things such as weekly or bi-weekly job search support group networking events at libraries or churches. Those meetings became impacted by the lock-down orders. Each day as part of my daily routine, I would look to step out of my house to have lunch at a local establishment. Those choices also became less available, or basically became picking up take out and bringing it back home to eat. My business had been such that many of my clients I met in person. In fact, the only ones that I did not definitely see in person were ones where the driving distance to meet with them was not in a reasonable range.

As these options disappeared for now and the foreseeable future, other options opened up. I found myself receiving continual invites to various webinars and virtual networking events. Each one put out a message “emphasizing,” don’t become disconnected from others during the pandemic. Join our event and look to not only keep your network of professional contacts alive, but grow your network. I was soon finding after the first couple of weeks of “being at home lockdown,” I was exhausted at the end of the day by looking to be part of every event offered to me.

Then I began to come to a realization. I was often seeing the same people on all the same events. I was not being selective as to what I chose to join and what I decided on which to pass. In taking some time to reflect on what was happening to myself, I began to realize “I was not setting a schedule that worked for me.”“

I then said to myself, what things “MUST” I do that should be on my calendar. Certainly, client calls and meetings, (which moved from an in-person variety to virtual software on the computer), were a must. So, was my commitment to my weekly business networking meeting to which I made a pledge to be there as a business referral partner for the other members of the group, (and which also moved to being virtual). But, most everything else was indeed a choice.

Some of the meetings for which I was signing up could be attended live, but also could be attended after they had been recorded. In some instances I found I liked the recorded version better, (not having to put up with the constant “Chat Box” and “Comments” that participants were putting on the screen during the live meeting). I realized I wanted some variety in my meetings and networking content. So, perhaps I would sign up for an event for a group that only met monthly, and would connect me with other members of my network, but bypass the one that was weekly and had me connecting over and over again with the same people. I’d view carefully the content of the training webinars for which I signed up. And, I also realized this was an opportunity for self-development training that I had often put off but now had the time to LEARN and APPLY, now that my schedule had me located in one place all of the time.

It appears that in some way or another, what has been brought on many of our lives in the spring of 2020 through the pandemic and its consequences of “social distancing,” may be with us for a long time to come. In some instances it may become more permanent than we ever imagined. The companies where we work have realized the high cost of the real estate which they may own or rent (trends that were already in place before the pandemic). There is less of a willingness to pay those expenses going forward. Others are finding that work is still getting done well in a virtual environment. Will this mean we’ll never meet others in person again? That is likely not going to happen. However, it is entirely likely that more of us, (not just entrepreneurs, free-lancers or the population already working remotely) will be working remotely as we move forward. As such, we will need to learn the importance of finding out and developing a schedule that will work best for us, selecting the activities to be a part of it, and incorporating it in the way we do our day to day life of work.