An unfinished list

Well, we’re over halfway through 2020, and now in July. It’s funny to think a year that’s been this busy, with enough news to fill a couple years, and has sometimes felt like we’ve been through a few years at that, has also gone this quickly. Earlier this year, I wrote a column about having plans to accomplish a lot more of my goals this year, which included holding myself accountable through social media and this column. But like many things this year, this has been impacted by a virus pandemic few people saw coming when we first entered 2020. While I’ve been able to get through a few things on the list, there are several others that will likely have to be deferred until at least 2021. Now, for those of you who are feeling like you haven’t been as productive, or have accomplished as much as you would have liked to, it’s ok. One thing this pandemic is proving is sometimes there is a need for more patience. Life can sometimes throw extra obstacles in the way, like a pandemic, for example. We just need to wait and let the health professionals clear this obstacle. Right now, it is a time of uncertainty. You can be excused for not knowing if you will be able to complete some longer-term goals because we don’t know how long this virus will impact our daily lives for, or how long it will take for a vaccine for COVID-19 to be created. Not to mention stress has an impact on productivity. The pandemic has created a fear for your own health, and the isolation from the quarantine period has also impacted people’s stress levels due to not being able to see other people. It’s ok if stress has caused you to be a little less productive. These are exceptional circumstances we are in right now. Now, I know things can change rather quickly, noting how fluid the COVID-19 situation has been. But my advice for everyone regarding planning for 2021, is to keep your goals list short and the goals you set modest. This is simply because we don’t know yet when it will be safe for our lives to return to a mostly normal state.