One of the things that COVID-19 has blessed some us with is the abundance of time. Yes, I said blessed. Unless you are an essential worker (and we wholeheartedly say thank you if you are), you probably have found yourself with more time on your hands than you are used to. As entrepreneurs, we always talk about how we wish for more time. Well, here it is.
I want to talk about four life variables today: monetary wealth, time, happiness and health. Right now, monetary wealth and time are somewhat uncontrollable for some of us; they are entirely dependant on how COVID-19 has impacted you and your business. With monetary wealth, the stock markets have plummeted. in my case, retail stores we own have closed. So there’s been a reduction of gross income, which means a reduction in my profit. But with this reduction in monetary wealth, I have become richer in time, as you probably have too.
So the question is: how are you using it? Start writing down some of the things that you’ve been putting on the back burner for a while and re-craft your abundance of time into useful time. Doing that will give you a good feeling about yourself and increase your happiness levels. This relationship between time and happiness can either be a bad thing or a very good thing. If you use it strategically, you could end up increasing your happiness during this time.
Let’s take a look at the other two variables: happiness and health. Other than using your abundance of time productively, the people you surround yourself with during this time will also have an impact on your health. It’s crucial, at times like this, to surround yourself with people that are positive, not negative. Be careful on social media and avoid interacting with negative Nellies. Focus on the people that make you feel good, like your friends and family.
When it comes to health, unless you’ve been struck down with COVID-19, now is the time to refocus on how to get and stay healthy. Take time to plan meals and eat healthily. As entrepreneurs, we say a lot of times that we don’t have time to work out or plan healthy meals. Now you do have the time. You have the time to research healthy eating and plan balanced meals that you and your family will love. You have the time to find a workout routine that works for you and establish it as a habit. Hopefully, you can take this abundance of time that has been gifted to you and use it to create an abundance of health.
This pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon. Getting used to living with more time over the next months is going to be difficult for many entrepreneurs. How are you going to use it? Take a walk, hop on your bike, do morning workouts at home. Spend your time being healthy. Reframe how you think about wealth during this time. Think about your relationships and spend more time with your loved ones, more time with the people you trust and cherish…. It just has to be digitally! We probably will never get this gift of time again.
COVID-19 has gifted us with time. How are you going to use it?
