Time and planning has been a reoccurring theme this past month particularly during my geographical relocation. Therefore, what I want to share are a few key things that have been on the top of my mind in this regard.

Time can have many meanings and connotations, and for me it has been in a personal, social and business sense. Personally, this month, time has meant meeting deadlines (the international move was a deadline, submitting administrative paperwork was a deadline). Socially, time has meant finding time to see good friends before leaving and re-learning what time means for people in Switzerland compared to Nova Scotia, Canada. From a business point of view, time has meant planning meetings across multiple time zones, and being organized in setting up the cross-country scuba dive expedition called CANADIVE, that my husband and I founded, in minute detail.

The CANADIVE expedition emerged from our decision to relocate geographically, after completing outplacement coaching, and after realizing that we can also do something good -in a sense give back- whilst doing something we love along the way. Our intention is to mobilize local communities across Canada to help us collect underwater trash and debris at 99 dive sites over a four month period. This is the adventure we have set for ourselves as we make our way to our new home on Vancouver Island.

Because of the multiplicities of everything going on, where timing is crucial and therefore so is planning, my four key top tips for this month are:

1)     Prioritize: Knowing there are many things going on at once, taking the time to prioritize has been crucial. Prioritizing has involved planning for the day, the week, and even the month ahead, and making choices of what will be priority 1, 2 and 3. Not everything can be priority 1; especially when there are hard deadlines such as the moving company is coming and the flights are booked.

2)     Be intentional: Being intentional means sticking to the priorities set and being flexible (see 3). It does not necessarily mean that everything will go according to plan, but at least any action you take is an intentional (actively chosen) one as opposed to a non-intentional one.

3)     Remain flexible: As with any plan things happen that you cannot foresee. My small example was when I booked a taxi to take my husband and I to the airport along with 8 large and 2 small suitcases. I asked for a very large vehicle, and they showed up with a Toyota Prius (definitely not big enough!). Luckily, we booked with plenty of time to spare, so they managed to send another vehicle and we still made our flight, but this was a minor hiccup compared to our overall plan.

4)     Have fun: It is easy for some (myself included) to be so focused on following a plan, that it means every hiccup or change of plans creates a sense of stress (like the Prius experience). I keep reminding myself that this is all part of the adventure of my transition, and so to take all the experiences (planned or not) as an opportunity to learn and to enjoy the moment.

Now, it’s time to go diving for some underwater debris! If you would like to know more, sponsor us, or meet us along route follow us on our blog: www.canadive.org and on www.facebook.com/canadive