Creating a New Normal When Things Are Not Normal
To say the last several weeks have not been normal may be the understatement of the century. Things have changed, and they have changed rapidly. Each week seems to present new obstacles or information flow. One of the best ways to combat the items outside of our control is to regain focus on what we can control. Building new habits and routines, or reinforcing the ones we already have that are still applicable, is a great way to define a new sense of normal for yourself.
Just because the world is changing at a rapid pace, doesn’t mean you have to start from scratch on your own activities. Sure, many of us are now working from home instead of an office, store, or traveling frequently. But we still start and end each day. Those small chunks of time can be the foundation for managing through all of the dynamic activities in between. And, where necessary, shift to new habits that make sense for you and create that new normal.
Assess your current habits
What is still working well for you? That is the best place to start. In a previous article, I discussed how not having your commute to your workplace may change some of your previous habits. What will need to change because of that? And can you work that into the time you have available now? What helps you feel good each morning? This could be as simple as getting up at the same time as you always have. Or ensuring you dress the same as you would for your work job. I know there are hundreds of videos and articles talking about how people haven’t shaved for days or work in their pajamas. It doesn’t have to be that way for you. Once you determine what is still working for you build that into a new routine with any new steps you add.
Define what needs to change
Things are different. I think we have all figured that out now, and it seems unlikely to change back in the immediate future. Once you have assessed what is still working for you, take the time to determine what will need to change. If you were in a store location - how are you spending your time throughout the day? Can you dedicate specific times of the day to developing yourself? Many retail or restaurant managers now have extra time on their hands. Building a new routine for each day where you dedicate time for your personal development can be very useful. If you were a multi-unit leader, how are you changing the routines you had for time in the car, or on an airplane? Those are time periods that definitely do not fit into the current environment. What new habits can be built into those time blocks? They may still be useful to communicate to peers, managers, or supervisors. If you used your ‘windshield time’ to make calls, then block windows of time throughout the day to do the same thing.
Define the end of the day
One of the biggest changes we are facing when working from home is having a clearly defined ‘end of day.’ It is easy to blend work time and home time together because there is no longer a physical barrier to it. What were the habits or routines you had before at the end of the day? Redefine those for yourself to create that space. It could be to take a walk and actually create that sense of movement from place to place.
The very end of the day, the time before you go to sleep, is another important time to review and possible redefine your routines. Once again, it can be easy to justify one more episode of the current binge watching choice because you don’t have to be anywhere the next day. I would recommend that you try to keep as close to your former evening routine as possible. It doesn’t mean you cannot tweak it slightly, and certainly how you use the time may need to change. But if you used to go to bed at 10:30pm, try to avoid making it 11:45pm now. That will create a lot of other potential shifts that could be hard to adjust to. Getting extra sleep, probably sleep you are still catching up on, can be a great long term benefit of this adjustment period.
What I have done
I thought I would share a little of my own journey with this process. I tend to be a fairly routine driven person. I have managed to maintain probably 75% of my former routine which has helped me make the adjustment to working from home every day. I still get up at about the same time as I used to each morning. My morning exercise time has stayed more or less the same. I dedicate slightly more time now and I feel less pressure to be complete at a specific time.
I continue to get ready for work in the same manner. I dress for work hours - while it may not be exactly what I would have worn to the office, I would always be able to flip the Zoom camera on and not be concerned. I use what would have been commute time and breakfast time listening to podcasts (as I would have) and doing research on the latest retail news from multiple sites. My end of day routine from work is the most challenging. I do struggle to define the work/home space. Dinner is usually the barrier that forces me to know that work time is over. I am still trying to solve for that.
My pre-bed routine remains largely the same and I have maintained essentially the same bed time as before. All of this has helped me remain focused on what I need to do each day and feel comfortable with the situation we are dealing as much as possible.
With everything we have seen in the previous few weeks, we can count on ongoing changes to continue. It is impossible to predict what things will look like in three months, six months, or longer. What we can control is the here and now for ourselves. Take the steps above and continually apply them to your environment to make the necessary adjustments. The reality is, none of us can really state what ‘normal’ is, even when there isn’t a pandemic going on. We create our own ‘normal’, and we ensure it works for us. We can do that now and give ourselves a sense of comfort knowing we are doing what feels right in the immediate timeframe.
How are you creating your new normal?
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Photo by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash