Coming out of Hibernation- Hit the Ground Running!

What is our new normal?

We have all had our lives turned upside down in one way or another. Some people were stressed about their finances and wondering how they were going to pay the bills while others might wonder what will happen if they get sick. Anyone with serious health or respiratory considerations must be thinking every day “what happens to me if I catch this thing?”. Others are missing time with their family and friends.

Fast forward eight or nine weeks and governments around the world are ready to open back up the economy. As much as we are all ready to get back to work and life as usual I think there is a small part of us that has enjoyed fewer work responsibilities, more family time or more time for family. Time to read that book or leisurely exercise or learn a new language, housework, spring cleaning, renovating or catching up on Netflix.

Regardless of what you have been doing, change is coming. Any change is stressful. Soon we will all be back at work and that change is stressful too. Will our job be waiting for us and if it is will it be in the same capacity as before? Will there be a job to go back to work to?

Employers will be hoping all of their employees will be coming back. For the past 20 plus years I have been working 14-16 hours a day on my small companies. If I had the energy I could work 20 hours a day and never catch up. For the past eight weeks I have been leisurely working eight-hour days. In that way the past eight weeks has been great! Now I will be wondering how I will feel going back to my 14-16 hour days. I didn’t know the difference before and just worked but with all of this time off how am I going to feel about working all of those hours again? Where will the energy come from. Will my staff come back? Is it time I scaled back on my work life? Lately eight hour work days have been tiring enough! 😊

It may be a different stress, but transitioning back to work will be stressful in its own way.

Before we get to that spot I think it is important to reflect on what the stressors will be and what we can proactively do so we can hit the ground running.

For me I am going to start going to bed early and will be setting my alarm for 4:45 a.m. again. I’ll work until 8p.m. out of principle so I have the resilience I am going to need when I go back to work full-time. I am going to schedule my exercise time for the same time every day so when my schedule is full I won’t miss out on my much needed exercise. I am going to schedule in two grocery visits per week as appointments so I don’t end up eating poorly. And I will schedule time in to cook my healthy meals.

This approach doesn’t have anything to do with squats or bicep curls, nutrition or getting enough rest. Setting up a proactive schedule so you can hit the ground running in our fast paced society will help with reducing your stress so you can enjoy a more seamless transition back to work. What are you going to do so you are ready for your transition back into “real life”?

Good luck and keep “Fit ‘N’ Well”.