My work in-box was a wreck. My personal email wasn’t much better. Not because I was crazy busy, but because I kept thinking I’d read or file all those emails later. Guess what? “Later” has arrived, and it doesn’t look anything like I thought it would!
The same thing could be said for the last few months. When lockdown started, many people thought of it as a snow day—we’d hit pause and pick up where we left off the day before. But it’s fair to say that the summer of 2020 is taking us all by surprise. We can’t hide away in quarantine forever, and it may even be time for something a little more drastic.
Let’s meet Rick, who staged a friendly wake-up call for his family.
I was happy when my friend Rick decided to get married again. He met his wife on a trip to his hometown a few states away. In the blink of an eye, he traded his downtown Seattle apartment for their charming bungalow. But rather than taking time to edit their possessions, they loaded up the garage with odds and ends. They thought, No problem—we’ll get to these later.
In January, his daughter finished grad school and asked if she could crash with them while she figured out the job market. Her boxes also went into the garage.
Suddenly, his stepson’s landlord decided to sell the house he had been renting. So, his stepson also moved in during the pandemic. More boxes!
With the weather getting nicer, Rick called a mandatory family work project last weekend. “This garage is getting to be a fire trap,” he cried. “Everything’s coming out, and only the essentials are going back in. “Later” is today!”
We’ve all had times when we delayed decisions thinking, I’ll get to that when life gets back to normal. But here’s the trouble: Kicking the can until the perfect “someday” arrives can put your life on permanent hold. An alternative is to turn to the soft skill of healthy self-confidence—give yourself a friendly shoulder tap to get moving! That’s the encouragement you would give a dear friend. In fact, you might even help them figure out what to tackle first.
Where do you need to stage a post-quarantine life wake-up call? Will you take on a go-big job like Rick, where you empty out an overflowing garage? Is it a micro-project where you can see immediate results, like I had to clean up my email inbox? Or is it something more tender, such as setting aside time to process feelings that have come up over the last few months?
Here are three ways for you to take the later is today challenge:
In the June series, No More Snow Days, we’ve looked at ways you can take charge of your life. World events may have turned your world upside down, but that doesn’t mean you have to live in limbo. Instead, act like the creative, wise CEO of your life—a Soul Boss—and put your personal power to work by calling an end to snow days. You can start moving forward by remembering four principles, all of which rely on soft skills like adaptability, creativity, and compassion:
Lockdown has been tough but think of the silver linings: You know yourself better. You’re probably ready to ditch whatever you’ve been holding together with duct tape. And you’ve faced down hard times, but you’re still standing.
Step out of the snow day mindset and back into real life. “Later” is happening today.