On Planning
On Jan. 16, my editor informed me that my next column deadline was March 16. The suggested subject was planning. It seemed simple enough. After all, I’ve always been a planner.
I’ve used planners, complete with color-coded markers, since I was in the fourth grade. The past several years on New Year’s Eve, my husband and I have opted out of the parties and stayed home to set goals and plan for the year to come. While some people like to see what the weekend brings, I like to plan what the weekend will bring.
So on Jan. 16, fresh off my 2020s-Best-Decade-Ever planning session and ready to take on the world, I felt thoroughly equipped to write a piece about planning—I would head over to my favorite neighborhood lunch spot like I always do, write while the kids were at school and have it to the editor long before the deadline. As far as I was concerned, the article was going to write itself.
But…
As I type just this fourth paragraph, it is already March 30. It is officially two weeks after I was supposed to hand in my article on planning, and I’m just now getting started.
Am I writing this piece from my favorite neighborhood lunch spot? No, because it’s closed. Instead I am writing it from my New York City apartment bedroom. Am I writing this article while my kids are at school? No, because school is closed. Am I even a writer anymore? Probably not. I spend most of my time trying to teach writing, to my second- and third-grader, because now I am a homeschool teacher.
You felt it too, I know. March came in like a lion and devoured the lamb. Any plans you thought you had were canceled or postponed indefinitely. I remember stressing out because we had tickets to see Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on Broadway but had three babysitters in a row cancel because their colleges sent them home early. How would we see the show?! Oh, nevermind, Broadway was canceled too.
And while every day, especially in New York City, is different… here are three things the pandemic taught me about planning.
Read the Full Article 3 Things the Pandemic Taught Me About Planning at Success.com
