Unfamiliar Waiting

I’ve never been great at waiting.

It always felt like a waste of time–I can remember even when I was in elementary school, I would have a book with me for something to “do” when I was waiting.

Waiting to be seated when the family went out for dinner.

Waiting for the grown-ups to finish talking so we could go home.

Waiting for activities to start.

Waiting to be picked up after pottery class or piano lessons.

Over time I got better at the “little waits”–waiting in line, waiting for a concert to start, waiting to board a plane.

These became moments where I could let my mind be still, or to catch up on a podcast or instructional video.

Longer waiting in corporate was a skill I forced myself to develop.

It was mostly a by-product of me learning not to react to everything immediately:

Giving my team time to solve a problem on their own (and getting involved if enough time had passed and they hadn’t solved it).

Paying full attention to the meeting I was in, rather than “working my inbox” like everyone else.

Waiting to make a decision after I had enough input, not just making it because someone wanted (but didn’t need) the decision RIGHT THAT SECOND.

A lot of that was done with the help of “indistractable” by Nir Eyal (highly recommended book for anyone who doesn’t want to be ruled by their inbox and phone notifications anymore).

What I find myself struggling with now are my “new waits”.

Waiting for my Irish residency approval before I can entertain a return to corporate.

Waiting for my Estonian e-residency and business setup so I can resolve some administrative challenges with my current Canadian company.

Waiting for my apostatized birth certificate and marriage certificate so I can apply for Cypriot residency and remain in the EU with my husband without having to apply for residency wherever we may roam.

Waiting for my business clients’ availability to move forward with projects.

Waiting for my coaching clients to hear back on their career moves so we can celebrate and plan their next steps.

By no means are these complaints, but it’s a new kind of waiting for me.

In corporate, if I had down time because I was waiting for decisions or actions to be completed by others, I knew what to do with my time.

It was time for me to review old to-do items to see if they were still needed.

Or catching up on industry or project management reading or education.

Or catching up with people in my network.

I can still do these things, but it feels different.

Networking takes time to setup, so it’s not an immediate “thing” to do.

I’m always staying up-to-date on industry knowledge, and I don’t want to get distracted by all the business things I could be doing (but don’t fit my strategy).

Similarly, client development, refining my skills and other things that used to be peripheral to my corporate work is now core to what I do, so I’m left with a bit of a “black hole” of how to fill my down times.

I suppose the good thing about working for yourself is the freedom to enjoy these down times.

I’m just hoping, like in corporate, I can find a good rhythm for the “waiting time” when I’m new to a country and waiting on things in my business.