15 Steps to be ready for the ‘new normal’

Hello Friends,

I hope that you are are safe and happy. Here in Vermont we are beginning to transition into a ‘new normal’. Slowly, non-essential businesses are beginning to open up, our farmer’s markets have been allowed to open, and people are beginning to go back to work. It’s slow and it’s very different from ‘what was’.

Everyone is wearing masks and keeping social distancing, there are single entrances and exits at the stores as they limit how many people are inside at one time. Stores still have limited supplies of needed items like paper products, cold medicine, and sanitizer s. And this isn’t going away overnight, it’s going to be a slow process.

So, how do you prepare for this ‘new normal’? How do you ready yourself to work and function in a world so different from what it was just a few short months ago?

The quick answer is that you need to take control of what you can control, and try not to worry too much about what you can’t. Here are some tips and tricks to help make life easier as we transition back to work and to day-to-day life in a different way.

Planning

1. Review your planner for the next 3 months.

Right now that’s May, June, July. That gets us to August where we will start planning back-to-school and the holidays. It isn’t that far off when you look at it like that!

2. Fill in your ‘day’ plan with any preplanned activities like appointments, scheduled events, paydays, and deadlines. Include due dates for bills so that they are easier to match up with paydays.

3. Note any appointments that you need to make, like physicals, dental visits, and the salon. Include phone numbers. As these businesses open back up, they will be inundated with clients. It’s best to have a plan.

4. Add a ‘bucket list’ page for all those things that you want to do! This pandemic has underscored to me how many things that I want to do that I’ve put off. Put those things on the list! Make yourself a priority!

5. Write out a potential meal plan for the next two weeks based on what you have available and what you think that you may be able to purchase. Make double meals if you can and freeze one, this will make getting dinner on the table easier if you suddenly get busy.

6. Make your grocery list for the next two weeks based on your meal plan.

Great Job! Now on to the next section.

Organizing

7. Start organizing with your phone. I don’t know about you, but my phone works like a digital assistant. So, delete apps that you don’t use, remove old contacts that you no longer need, and reorder the apps that you have so that the ones that you use the most are easily accessible. Next, make sure that your ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts are up-to-date. If your phone has a medical section, make sure that is current too.

Phew, that one took me longer than I thought it would!

8. Update your playlists. Toss out the ones that you don’t use anymore.

That was a fun one!

9. Now, clear out your email inbox. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you don’t read and from mailing lists that just clutter up your email. Then set your spam and junk folders to a better setting to keep your inbox clean in the future.

I’m not ever going to admit how long my much neglected inbox took to clean.

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About The House

10. As we as a society start moving toward a new normal. Things will be different. Take a look around your house and make a To-Do list of all the things that you’d like to get done. Integrate that into your planner. Some things that I included in mine are:

• Clean out organize the junk drawer and tool box.
• Go through the dishes in the cabinets and box up any that aren’t used to be donated later.
• Clean the bathroom, sort the medicine cabinet and linen closet.
• Change the be lines on all the beds.
• Analyze how you now use your living space and maybe rearrange your furniture to suit how you now use the space.

Freshening up my house is something that I do every Spring as part of my annual routine. This year I included purchasing some new kitchen towels and a new area rug for the bedroom. It’s amazing what a few changes can make in how a space functions and feels!

11. Wash, clean out, and refresh the car. Wash the exterior, vacuum the interior and wipe down the dashboard etc. Make it look good! This is your RIDE!

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Personal Care and Growth

12. Rethink your beauty and make-up regiment to better fit your lifestyle. An example of this is that I have found that with my hair longer, using a little leave-in condition with gel keeps my hair easy to manage. More so than the shorter version that I had before.

13. Have a ‘go everywhere’ bag that includes gloves, a facemask, sanitizing wipes and a small bottle of hand sanitizer. I also include a daily dose of any medications that we take, including allergy medication and Advil. This is for everyday use and just in case unforeseen circumstances should arise.

14. Think about your fitness routine and plan out the changes for the next 3 months. I am not ashamed to admit that I have gained a couple of pounds, between being home so much and my love of baking! But I am looking forward to getting back to the gym!

15. Take a moment to think about all that you’ve learned during this trying time and how you’re going to use that knowledge in the months to come. Be kind and proud in this assessment. This is you, and you are on your personal journey to being the best possible version of yourself.

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We still have a long way to go before we will be able to safely say that we have put the worst behind us. On this journey we will go through many different phases of ‘new normal’ before we settle on one. Just remember that we are all in this together, every step of the way.

Stay Healthy and Safe,

Dottie Lake