There are several fun idioms we use to express the passing of time. When it’s passing quickly, we say that time flies. When we’re due to take action, we say that it’s high time. When we’re rushing we try to beat the clock. When we get something done just before the deadline, we say that it was at the eleventh hour. We work around the clock, we spend too little time doing things we love, and then we try to make up for lost time. And in the good old days when you’d get together with friends, it was Miller time. Today I’d like to add a new expression to our list. COVID time.
When you realize it’s dark outside, and you’re still wearing the same clothes you were wearing when you rolled out of bed, it’s COVID time. When you’re thinking about how to plan your week but then someone shocks you by telling you it’s already Thursday, you know it’s COVID time. When you’re thinking about what to do with the kids over quarantine this summer but then suddenly realize it’s almost time for back to school shopping, it’s definitely COVID time.
COVID time doesn’t have anything to do with the actual time, of course, rather it relates to our perception of time. This is a field that has actually fascinated psychologists for years. Using a functional MRI, two neuroscientists at Duke University figured out that a large network of neural areas controls our perception of time. In fact, scientists tell us that our emotions impact how we feel about the passing of minutes and seconds. You may have heard of the expression famously coined by a professor at Claremont Graduate University called being in a state of “flow” which describes being so happily immersed in an activity that we feel time has passed faster than usual. It’s not enough to be happy about an activity though, we need to feel excited about it to make time seem to fly. And on the flip side, I’m sure you remember how it seemed like an eternity before the holidays arrived each year. There was also a study at my alma mater in Ottawa, Carleton University, that concluded time seems to pass more slowly in nature and more quickly in urban spaces. But more than any other emotion, fear seems to control our perception of time. If you’re not a big fan of roller coasters, then that big drop will seem to take much longer than it did. I can tell you that when I had my car accident the entire event seemed to happen in slow motion. When adrenaline kicks in it seem to slow our perception of time.
So if feeling calm yet excited by our activities, and spending time in a bustling urban center would all make our brains interpret that time is passing more quickly, why does time appear to be flying during COVID? According to time expert and author Claudia Hammond, as we spend our time in quarantine, we have shrunk our worlds to a bare minimum. We’re home for most of the day, only occasionally venturing out for food or to walk the dog. We’re not doing anything particularly memorable any more, to the point where it has become almost embarrassing to ask someone about their weekend. We may have given up wearing a watch and have only a basic recognition of the actual time unless we know we need to be on a Zoom call soon. Since we’re basically doing the same thing every day, there really isn’t that much to distinguish a Wednesday from a Saturday. Since when we look back we won’t be able to recall anything particularly significant that happened, it literally all seems to be one continuous blob of time. We’re just not making those memories like we used to.
For those of us who glue ourselves to our computers from morning to night, we seem to be busier than ever. But we’re doing it all from one location, so with indistinguishable differences, one zoom call seems to blend into the next.
One of the best ways we can snap ourselves out of COVID time, despite still being in quarantine, is to set goals. Goals give us something to plan and to look forward to. They drop an anchor in our timeline. They can be simple goals, like looking forward to a virtual happy hour or watching a movie together online with out of town friends.
It’s also a great time to set business goals. If your business is busier than usual, then great! You may not have actually slipped into COVID time. But if you do find yourself with a little more time on your hands, grab the opportunity to tighten up your business processes. Start by looking at your new client onboarding process with a critical eye. That is often one of the biggest challenges in many organizations. The handoff from sales to delivery can be a tough one. Next, keep a visible list of all of the tactical and strategic things you’d like to accomplish. Make it a point each day to delegate 5 things. Even those little tasks that you think will only take you a few minutes should be candidates for delegation. There’s a good chance they’ll come up again someday and if you have already trained someone how to do them then they won’t ever need to land on your list.
Another time busting trick is to somehow make weekends feel different from weekdays. Perhaps Friday night is pizza night, Saturdays you and your family enjoy some sun and on Sunday you watch a movie together.
As entrepreneurs, we have a choice right now. We can either let time manage us, or we can manage it. Personally I have never been one to sit back and watch when I have the ability to make things happen, so I encourage you to take control. Control will allow you to take back your time. What can you and your business influence right now? Where can you make the greatest impact?
If you already have a circle of trust for your business, then now is the time to use it. If you don’t have one, then create one. A circle of trust is a small group of fellow business people whose opinions you value, and who bring different perspectives to the table. It could be your networking sphere. Maybe it’s a group of fellow entrepreneur friends. Find a way to meet up on zoom and just be open about the challenges your business is facing right now. Owning your business problems and not procrastinating about solutions will help you to regain control.
If you have partners you work within your business, find a way to stay connected. Let them know that you care and talk about the roles you can plan in one another’s business during the pandemic and as we emerge. Don’t avoid those difficult conversations. This is another area to take control.
Finally, stop procrastinating and assess your business weaknesses. If you have gaps in cybersecurity then fix them now. If some of your services are dogs, then stop chasing them. If your online presence is ugly then for heaven’s sake fix it. If some of the types of clients you serve are more trouble than they’re worth, then make sure you don’t sell to others like them, and prune the tree when you can.
All of these steps will help you to regain control of your business. And while we may not yet have a cure for COVID, we do know that control cures COVID time!
For something different, today I’d like to leave you with a tweet from Bette Middler. “It’s Saturday. I think. Like you, I find my days a blur, one day very similar to the next…news, housework, bad news, emails, worry, phone calls, cooking, eating. It’s surreal, only real. Am I in an episode of a reality show? Where’s the writer’s room? I’m gonna kick some ass!”
It wasn’t that long ago we were all complaining about not having enough time. If only we could find a way to gain more time in our day, we’d be able to accomplish great things. So now my friends, in theory, we have all the time in the world. My question to you is, how are you gonna kick some ass during COVID?
We’re all about the Art & Science of marketing. We have an amazing team of creative people who do design across websites, ads, and social media and write compelling copy. But we also have the science to back it up with SEO, analytics on Google Adwords, and social media ads, and we wrap it all up with deep insights into your strategy. I’m excited to announce two new members of my team, one an SEO consultant who has worked from Fortune 500 companies to small business, and the other, a talented digital artist who in addition to traditional graphic design to line drawings. They’re the perfect yin and yang to our Zen and I’m excited to be able to further enhance the marketing services we provide our clients.