Times are stressful now so don’t forget to make time for yourself. A little #metime now can help relieve the stress you’re facing. While many of you have grand professional goals now—such as launching a new company and participating in webinars—some of you will also be taking this “down time” to work on personal goals as well.
Use the time ahead to take little time off, and decompress—you sure need some of that after the last few weeks.
Here are a few ideas of what advisors have planned for their personal goals—a.k.a. #metime.
“Staying connected with clients, friends, family,” says Donna Adinolfi, founder/wellness travel expert and consultant at Mindful Adventures. While some of you have kids at home who are currently going through virtual learning, such as Carolyn Orf, Tempo Travel Group, LLC ASTA Rocky Mountain Chapter event coordinator, says, “I am also tasked with online schooling for my 7th grader and working through AP classes with my 10th grader even though this is technically an extended Spring Break for her.” Others are thinking of creative ways to enjoy the kids at home. As Brenda Washington-O’Neale, romance travel specialist, With This Ring Destination Wedding and Honeymoon Travel Agency, says she’ll be “Spending time with my family. I have a 9-year-old that I am helping with school work…yesterday we did sand art and painted rocks.”
Don’t forget to try to carve out family moments that aren’t focused around virtual learning, too. Orf suggests, “Keeping a routine is important and my hope is that they will find joy in old toys, board games, and books while working through curriculum.”
Others plan to tap into their creative flow. “Writing. Going back to projects that I didn’t have time for…creative thinking (trying, anyway),” adds Adinolfi. Gina Koch says she’ll be spending her time enjoying ”nature, reading, actually talking on the phone to family and friends, cooking, baking, gardening…of course, bike riding, too.”
Suzanne Smith, owner Champagne Vacations, says she will “maybe paint the guest bathroom.” While, Barbara Crawford, president, European Travel Advisors, also plans to spend a little time painting. “I am a painter and prefer working on my art.”
And, while completing his recertification, Michael R. Cerrito will be “baking for neighbors and friends and catching up on downtime, but still keeping a presence in the public view.”
O’Neale adds that she’ll also be “checking on the elderly (wait I am one),” and “continuing my plant-based diet. Down 14 pounds so far.”
Kim Milnes, owner and chief memory officer at Family Travel Boutique, plans to spend some time helping her husband with his business. “My husband also owns his own business, which has a big online component as well; he would do shows on weekends. So since the shows are gone, I am trying to help him with ideas and work to keep some form of income coming in.” However, she will also take the time to organize her own space saying, “It is also a good time to go through my office to clean up and organize. My OCD is taking over, out of a need of some control.”
Jennifer Shanks, travel advisor with Family Adventures Await, plans to take a little time off after these crazy weeks, saying that, “I will likely take a few days away from work to enjoy time with my family and de-stress. Maybe put a fancy umbrella in my cocktail and pretend I am on vacation for a few days.” I think many of us might agree with Shanks, and need an umbrella drink right now—with or without the sandy beach views.
Orf adds that she is also feeling the pressure of the last few weeks when she says, “To be perfectly honest, over the last few days I have wanted to curl up in a ball and wait till this is all over, but, my more rational side is saying that this too shall pass and I must remember my family, my faith, and the hard work I have put into cultivating my business and clients over the last 12 years.
“During this time when the phone isn’t ringing off the hook and the e-mails aren’t pouring in, the first thing I have tried to do every day is quiet my mind. Take a deep breath, find a quiet space, practice yoga, which I am terrible at,” adds Orf, “and try to find a sense of peace. These are things I never found time for and I am taking this as a blessing to now have time to do. My hope is that when this has passed, these are things that I continue to do because they are good for my physical and mental health no matter what is going on in the world and with my business.”
Don’t miss “11 Tips from Travel Advisors During this ‘Down Time.'” For more information on this fluid situation, visit Recommend’s Coronavirus Updates Center at recommend.com/coronavirus.
