Plan Who You’ll Be After This
How to audit your priorities and adjust your daily routines
Like so many people, I’ve been killing time lately by daydreaming about all the things I want to do once this is over: Eat tacos on the patio at my favorite restaurant downtown. Take a trip up north to the lake with my husband and kids. Jet off somewhere fun by myself for a break from said husband and kids.
There’s more to it than pure escapism. In uncertain times, making future plans can feel particularly soothing, lending a much-needed sense of control, explains Marianna Strongin, a clinical psychologist in New York and the founder of Strong in Therapy. “Anxiety is a question about the unknown, and planning answers it with ‘I’m going to do this,’” she says.
Creating a blueprint for tomorrow (or next year) can also help with that hopeless, glued-to-your-couch feeling you may be experiencing. “Momentum and a future focus are the opposite of depression,” Strongin says. “We all need future momentum to keep going — points we are working toward, goals, and things we are looking forward to.”
At least, that’s all true in ordinary times. But these aren’t ordinary times, and the unknowns that drive you to plan for the future are the same ones that complicate that planning. Who knows if the taco place will survive the pandemic…
