How are you passing the time?

If you’re at home with no “work” to do, you might be feeling kind of lost. You don’t want to sit and watch Netflix all day. You’ll go nuts if you spend any more time on Facebook. There seems to be nothing productive you can do, and yet, maybe there is.

We all wish for more time at home, but under these circumstances, enjoying a forced staycation is not so easy.

It would be easy if we didn’t have to close our businesses, worry about ours and our employees’ lost incomes, or become our children’s teachers.

All this chaos amidst the extreme isolation makes us feel insecure.

I recently coached several dentists who are understandably struggling with their office closures. It was fascinating to see how different each person’s experience was. Some dentists have had to close their offices, furlough employees, and the stress and fear of the unknown is overwhelming them. Others work in clinics that are only allowed to do extractions. They spend their days worrying about saving their PPE and hoping they don’t get or give the virus. They’re also stressed about having to disappoint patients who want solutions for their problems. Some associates have to work, forced to do elective procedures, while they strongly believe this is wrong– but since they need their jobs, they feel stuck. Others have already filed for unemployment.

There is so much insecurity here, no matter who you are. We all fear the unknown.

Additionally, this lock-down has massively disrupted our routines.

Without your normal routine, everything can fall apart. It’s easier to drop the daily rituals that we do for our own good. We’re suddenly avoiding our healthy habits that we easily incorporated before. That seems backwards, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t we have more time now to exercise, eat healthy, read, and more?

Our lack of structure is making us feel worse, making it hard to feel productive.

As dentists, we grow accustomed to showing up to work to a full schedule that tells us what to do. The work makes us feel purposeful, and we often take it for granted. When we lose our routine, as we have now, we lose our sense of purpose.

Despite the challenges, we can make this time easier on ourselves.

We want to feel productive and purposeful, right? Part of feeling purposeful is feeling a sense of accomplishment.

What gives you a sense of accomplishment?

We all define accomplishment by our values and experiences. Some of us feel accomplished by helping people, others by making money. Maybe it’s completing tasks or contributing to the community. It’s different for all of us.

If your sense of purpose is mainly defined by going to work, being busy, and getting paid for that, managing this crisis might be more difficult for you. Since all of that has been taken away for the moment, what will you do to feel accomplished now?

It’s time for a re-frame.

What are the things that are most important for you?

When I quit dentistry and started working from home, I felt lost. I didn’t know how to manage my time. It seemed like I had so much of it, but without any structure I felt paralyzed.

Since I had spent my whole working-life following the schedule that was provided for me, I didn’t know how to function without it. I felt purposeless. That may be what you are experiencing now.

In recent weeks, my structure has broken down too. I have adapted by categorizing my priorities into my health, my work, my relationships, and having fun. Another option is to create mind, body, spirit categories. What is important to you? You get to pick!

If we re-frame the importance of investing in ourselves, we can feel productive and purposeful again.

Once you know your priorities, you can get into action and feel productive.

When I lost structure, making a daily list helped get me into action and create accountability. It helped me to re-frame feeling productive and accomplished.

Right now a list could help you too.

Try putting everything you want to do in a day on that list. Write down the things you’ll do anyway, like eating breakfast, doing laundry, or teaching math to your 5th grader. When you check them off, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. The more accomplished you feel, the more productive you will become in all areas. It will become easier to tackle the bigger tasks because you’ll have momentum.

Now is the time to celebrate our small wins instead of berating ourselves for not doing enough. Give yourself a break.

I’ve given myself permission to do one thing each day to support each of my 4 priorities. This way, I get to do what is really important to me without the unrealistic pressures that will only make me feel guilty.

How can you create even one opportunity for yourself in this time?

I’m not trying to convince you how great this time should be or all the reasons you should feel positive and grateful. You should feel whatever it is you feel. But I am hoping to help you see that despite the discomfort, this can be a chance to more fully take care of yourself, more fully get to know yourself, and keep going. We don’t need to shut down and sit in front of the TV eating bon bons.

How can you tackle the one thing that you’ve been avoiding?

Maybe it’s a project at work that always gets put on the back burner. Or maybe you’ve wanted to create an employee manual for your office or learn about block scheduling, but with your busy schedule you never have the chance. There might be a self-help book you’ve been wanting to read, but you haven’t had the energy. Maybe you want to cook healthy meals, go for daily walks, or clean out your closet!

Now is the time to shift with all the changes that have been forced upon us.

Whether it’s a big accomplishment or even if it’s making the bed that day, put it on your list. You’ll feel great when you check it off.