There is not much time remaining in 2018 to get to remaining aging in place projects, but the new year will be a busy time for us
Just three weeks are all that remain in 2018. Then it’s on to a new year and new opportunities. There is still time to help people with some improvements that they need, but time is short – especially when factoring in the holidays that they want to celebrate and we do as well. The entire world seems to take a breather during this last part of the year.
Where did this year go? It seems to have gone by quite fast, and the older we get the quicker the days, weeks, and months seem to go also. Hopefully, we didn’t slip up too often and write or type 2017 during the year, but we’ll soon have to unlearn 2108 except as a historical reference. It’ll be 2019 shortly.
Remember as youngsters how waiting for Christmas or the new year to get here – or for that next birthday or some other important occasion – and it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive?
When we had a certain milestone age to look forward to attaining, especially 16 for a driver’s license or 18 to be able to vote, those took a long time to come. Now, those key birthdays and anniversaries don’t seem to take near as long before they arrive.
Our sense of time, at least the passage of it, does tend to change as we get older. When we were in grade school, that next game or that assignment that wasn’t due for a few days seemed significantly far off that we weren’t overly concerned about it at the time. That could have been the beginning of procrastination for some of us because we developed the sense that there was plenty of time remaining before the assignment or task was due. Actually, based on our perception of time, there was. Therefore, we didn’t need to start working on it right away.
Somewhere along the way from adolescence to adulthood, our perception of time sped up by about twenty percent we are told so that it really does seem that time is going faster – or conversely, that time used to go by a lot slower when we were kids. Now, as adults, something that has a deadline in a couple of days seems like it is only hours away. This can lead to stress. We have come a long way from feeling like we had a lot of time to complete a task to feeling like the deadline is imminent when it may be about the same amount of time in both cases.
Because procrastination, that many of us may have been introduced to at an early age due to our perception of time moving slowly, has a way of making deadlines appear much quicker than we were expecting, this time of year can be especially difficult to get work done. Our clients may not want their homes disrupted before the holidays. We want to spend time with our families also. There is year-end paperwork to do, and need to focus on planning for the new year also. We may just want a little rest.
So, we may not be able to get to many projects in the next couple of weeks due to many factors. There is still an opportunity to complete something relatively simple that will help our clients entertain their guests better and enjoy the holidays, but that window of time is rapidly closing.
If we aren’t able to undertake much new work the remainder of the year – the new year begins three weeks from today – we can put this time to good use to be ready for 2019. First, we can look at our own homes for ideas on what can be done to increase safety, comfort, convenience, and accessibility. Maybe we can complete a small project in one of these areas. We certainly can gain an insight into what can be done so that we are that much better prepared to work with our clients after the new year and to help them get their year started well. We certainly don’t want people to get to this time next year and realize that they needed to have work done to accommodate themselves or their guests that was never scheduled.
We also can use the next couple of weeks for research. As we are shopping and overhearing conversations, or as we are visiting with friends, regardless of where that might be, we can listen to people express what they want to have done in their homes or some of the safety or accessibility issues they are facing that we can help address and alleviate for them or other people in similar situations.
We also can rest up a little for a very busy year that is ahead of us. Aging in place is getting more popular, and our services are going to be more in demand.