Re-evaluate your activities now!
I was supposed to ski Mount. St. Helens this spring with a good friend. I have been wanting to do this for years and things have consistently gotten in the way. From having a kid, to a low snow year, to travel plans, to the world shutting down for a pandemic. But this year I did not have an obstacle; I committed. We bought the permits and had a game plan. My family was on board and ready for me to take a couple days away for the adventure. Everything was falling into place.
Yet each time we went to the mountains to go uphill on my skis for conditioning and training, I would dread it. I would push myself to the top of the ski hill, hating every step. Once at the top, I always appreciated the beauty and opportunity to be in nature then have a blast going downhill, but the idea of going back up the equivalent of 4+ times filled me with dread. It felt like drudgery and agony. I was shocked that I was wanting to participate in professional activities over hiking and skiing down a volcano.
Clearly climbing Mount St. Helens was not the right activity for me to be pursuing this spring. As I dug into why I was struggling with the motivation to climb the mountain I have been pining for, I realized I am tired. Blame it on the pandemic, or my 4-year-old child, or the winter, but the truth is I am exhausted. I need to take what little energy I have and focus it on the right activities. I need to re-evaluate where I am spending my time to ensure it provides me additional energy and keeps me motivated to keep moving forward.
Fourteen months of a pandemic that has included significant activity in the fight for social justice has taken its toll on all of us. With stress and grief and uncertainty in what the future holds, we must be honest with ourselves that we have limited energy. We need to focus on the right activities for right now – those that move us closer to goals, give us energy and/or joy, or will not zap us of more strength.
The right activities do not live on a static list. There might be certain activities that are right regardless of circumstances like close the books or pay the rent, but other things that were right fourteen months ago may not be right for you to focus on now.
As we move towards re-opening offices and returning to in-person business activities, now is a perfect time to re-evaluate your activities. We have experienced incredible changes over the past year and adapted our work lives and activities to the remote world. Most of us are not going to return to conducting business in the same manner as prior to March 2020. Things to consider as you review your activities include:
What have you changed that you should continue?
What do you want to do differently?
What do you want to return from pre-pandemic days?
What do you want to add to your list that will have an impact?
If we have learned anything from this pandemic experience, it is that “this is how we’ve always done it” can be thrown out the window overnight. Now is not the time to go back to how we have always done it. Now is the time to re-evaluate our activity list and make sure you are doing the right things to accomplish the right goals.
As I talk to clients and organizations, I can see how the activities on my list will shift as we return to in-person activities. It is exciting to think about what can be accomplished when I can leave the confines of my home office. Perhaps next spring, training to ski Mount St. Helens will energize me. And if it happens to erupt again in the next twelve months, then I will re-evaluate my activities again.
View of Mount St. Helens as you approach the visitor center