Getting Back On Track After COVID-19
It has been over 100 days since Canada was struck down by COVID-19 and the world changed forever. Things are different now, the new normal, as it has been known means a lot of different things to a lot of people but the one consistent thing is that we have to adapt to survive and thrive.
Admit it, there were times over the last several months that were not very productive for you. Tiger King ate up a weekend here, TikTok an hour at a time there, and throughout it all, there was an impending sense of doom weighing on your chest.
As dramatic as this all sounds, it has been the reality for most people that I've talked to and coached through this time.
But the past doesn't have to dictate the present, nor the future, and if you are looking to accomplish your Dream Goals, you will more often than not have to face things in just this way.
So how do we return to performing our best and being productive again? Or if you recognize that you aren't the best as productivity, then how can you use the past several months are fuel for living a more meaningful life?
Reflect on what you've learned in the past several months
The first thing that we must do is set aside some time to reflect on what we've learned during the past several months. Make this tangible for yourself. I use an hour or so Sunday morning every week to reflect and review each week and then on a monthly and quarterly basis, I do an even deeper reflection that often lasts several hours. Right now I want to you schedule an hour for reflection into your calendar this Sunday morning - or another time if it works better for you but do it now. Don't leave it unscheduled and expect it to get done.
The power of reflection is not to be underestimated when it comes to holding yourself accountable, learning to overcome obstacles, and making progress.
We've all been through incredibly difficult times in the last hundred days. Businesses are hanging on by a thread and a prayer, our friends and loved ones have become sick and died, we've been disconnected from the social bonds that keep us sane, and our financial turmoil has stressed us.
This is not meant to be a doom and gloom message to you though. Yes, it has been hard, but what have you learned from this? If you're reading this, it means that you're still breathing and you've still got access to one of the most powerful technological advances humans have ever created with the internet.
During your reflection, you can write about what you've learned from the negative but also look at the positive things you have learned or experienced.
Who have you been able to connect or reconnect with?
What interests or actives have sparked creativity and passion in you?
What have you created or what did you hope to create during this time?
Instead of getting down on yourself, look at what you want to accomplish next in your life.
As I mentioned in the introduction, most people have not used the extra time on their hands to accomplish anything very meaningful during the COVid-19 quarantine. But don't get down on yourself about it. The stress and anxiety of the times were physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually draining and did not make it easy for anyone to have the desire to pump out ideas or create the next great tech platform.
Let's look at what you can do to move forward from here and accomplish next in your life.
Did something spark your interest and passion? Of course, one of the most common plans of all is that maybe you want to exercise more and get in better shape. It could be that you wanted to create a side hustle that you're more passionate about than the work you currently earn a living from, or you want to connect better with your loved ones and friends.
Whatever ideas came to mind that you've reflected upon are great and meaningful to what you want to work on accomplishing next in your life.
Now the trick is to create simple steps to build momentum.
Don't try to pile too much on your plate.
Maybe work is also picking back up now or deferred bills are coming due. You've got to look at your Whole Life to know how much more you can handle.
Building momentum from zero to one hundred takes time. If you overdo it you'll run the risk of burning yourself out and I think that's going to be a particularly prevalent concern in the coming months as we enter this New Normal.
Start with a modest amount of change in your schedule. If you're looking to include more exercise, build up and start slow. It's going to depend on your current fitness and capabilities but even starting with three 1-hour sessions per week is great. Then build up your capacity from there. The same thing goes with starting a business on the side. Focus on the steps that are going to get you to making money from it and validating the idea. Start lean and don't waste time on things like designing logos or upgrading to fancy software if you haven't validated the idea first.
You want quality output from the time you put into it. Believe it or not, something that we do as peak performers is generating more quality work in a single 90-minute block of time than most people can complete in a full workday. If you structure your time and intention in the work that you do for your side hustle in the same way, in no time, those last three months that felt like a waste will become a valuable time where you let your ideas percolate.
Respect the need for recovery.
Everything has to be rebuilt slowly as we are all still facing stress and uncertainty. So be patient with yourself and remember the journey.
If you didn't take care of your recovery as well before COVID-19, now is an excellent time to consider how you can do better with your self-care and recharging regularly. Grinding through every day and week is not the path to peak performance. Much like how REM sleep fluctuates on a 90-minute cycle through the night, our energy oscillates throughout the day in 90-minute segments as well. We can use willpower and discipline to push ourselves from 8 am to 10 pm every day but this drastically affects performance throughout the day and the stress that builds up from the schedule leads to burnout, much like how an athlete that tries to perform in the same fashion without recovery will overtrain.
Each individual requires different needs for recovery, but just like how you're going to add in modest amounts of the Dream Goal projects that you're working on into your schedule, add in your self-care and recovery routines.
Hopefully, you spent some of the quarantine time getting a restful holiday but if you didn't, it's important to note that quality recovery includes things that you enjoy, getting into nature, sleeping more or doing other restorative mindfulness practices like meditating but does not include watching the blue light screens of TVs, tablets, or other tech devices.
Often your most ideal recovery activities will be the opposite of the style of work you mostly do. If you're at a desk job most of the time, recovering with something physical can be very beneficial and if you've got an active job, de-stressing with more creative and calm activities might be best for you.
Most importantly, do the things you enjoy.
Schedule your work into 60-to-90-minute blocks of time throughout the day, include time for refuelling and re-energizing, and block off at least 2-3 blocks each week to do your deeper recovery activities. Also make sure that you're getting the right amount of sleep that you need, typically 7-8 hours every night. This is what maintaining a balanced and productive schedule as a peak performer looks like.
We all go through adversity on the journey of life, but if you're going to be the hero of your story you've got to reflect on what this last chapter taught you and what's coming in the next chapter of your life. Start the process slowly and build up momentum. And remember that we all need to prioritize recovery even more than ever to keep our immune systems healthy and balance the stressors in our lives.
To learn more about how you can perform your best in this next phase, check out the free webinar on peak performance and the new normal.