Like many people, I am now confined to working from home due to the Coronavirus outbreak.  These are very scary times for lots of people, and we need to look out for each other.

Normally, I spend much of my working time with people – coaching them, running workshops and supporting organisations with their personal development.  Understandably, this isn’t at the top of people’s priorities at the moment, which leaves me with some unexpected time on my hands.

Now, I am a planner.  I love a list, I like to know what I am doing, when and for how long. On the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Judging is one of my leading preferences and I struggle with spontaneity (planned spontaneity is, of course, fine).   And all this uncertainty (how long will we be in “lockdown”? what happens if/when I get ill?) does not help my innate need to plan.  I need structure in my days and a list of things to accomplish.

So, on the whiteboard in my office I now have a list of “Daily Activities” that give me some structure and appeal to my Judging preference.  On the list are things that I often complain I don’t have the time to do – read the many books on leadership, coaching, mindfulness etc that are on my bookshelf, watch TED talks, listen to podcasts and create blogs (I can tick one off the list!).  Just creating the list help to alleviate some of the anxiety I was feeling and has given me a much needed structure to my days.

This has also helped me to focus on the other ways in which I can support my clients – coaching sessions via video or telephone, creating resources that clients can use as a distance learn programme and generally supporting them during these difficult times.

Being self-employed at the moment is tough, and there’s no getting away from that.  However, I have found that focusing my mind on how I can be productive and add value to my business (rather than lounging around in my pj’s watching Grey’s Anatomy boxsets) has improved my state of mind already.

I can highly recommend taking some time to add structure to your days to help those of you who are feeling anxious at the moment.  We need to support each other, now more than ever, so if anyone would like a coaching session, or just to chat, please feel free to get in touch.

I will update you on how my daily activities go but, in the meantime, look after yourselves and each other.  See you on the other side!