There has been a lot of waiting during this pandemic.  Waiting for lockdown to end. Waiting for the next announcement from the Government. Waiting for announcements at work.

However, it is not just the pandemic that has caused us to wait.  Apparently, the average person in Britain spends almost seven years waiting around. We wait 17 months of our life for food being cooked and, this is my favourite, we wait 4 months of our life for the kettle to boil!

Waiting takes up a huge part of our lives.  We are often waiting for certain things to things to happen. 

I wonder how much time we spend waiting for something to happen in our careers.  Perhaps waiting for an ideal job opportunity or for things to change for the better at work. We often find ourselves waiting for things to improve.

I know there are a lot of people waiting in their careers right now.  Covid-19 has not been easy for anyone.  Many are waiting to come off furlough or for a forthcoming redundancy.  Many are waiting to pursue a career change or to tackle challenging issues in their current role.

How is all this waiting making you feel?

Since the beginning of lockdown, I have witnessed a gradual decrease in general morale, productivity, and confidence levels in individuals over the past few months.  The structure of people’s days has started to deteriorate, and many are struggling to stay motivated.  The challenges of ongoing restrictions and the constant wait for things to change is tough and is gradually taking its toll on many people.

Let’s help bring back some positivity into your life as we prepare for 2021. If you are struggling, it may be time to change your focus from waiting to doing. 

1. Make some small positive changes to your life.  If you are finding your days are starting to drift, set out a simple schedule for each day.  If you are spending a lot of time sat at your desk at home, ensure you leave the house for some short walks.  Each small positive change will make you feel better and help you look to the future.
2. Allow yourself the freedom to imagine what 2021 could look like for you. Imagine your ideal job and what this would be like.  The inability to imagine an ideal scenario can be a real block to working out the future.  Imagining the future can really help to inspire and encourage you to look at different opportunities.  Recently, a client of mine had a breakthrough when describing her ideal job.  She said the exercise had enabled her to admit for the first time that she did know what she really wanted to do but had been too afraid to admit it. What an amazing discovery!
3. Carry out both long and short-term planning.  This will enable you to prepare short-term goals to prepare for any current loss of income and long-term goals to meet your career aspirations.
4. Give yourself time to think.  Recently, a client referred to the impact of the pandemic as ‘mental overload’ and I think she is right.  There has been a lot to process over the last couple of months.  Spend time looking after yourself.

There are still lots of things you can change to make you feel better and able to focus on the next steps in your career. Remember, you can take some control back, this is possible.