Time Management can be Tricky for Expat Visits — Too Foreign For Home

Going home for the first time in years for an expat can be a bit tricky. There’s a lot of moving parts in play, particularly in the time of Covid. And then there’s a multitude of issues that can arise after you arrive home. Besides dealing with the possibility of reverse culture shock, one of the most overlooked potential problems is time management.

Everyone is excited to see you after all this time and they want to hear all about your adventures. The hard part, though, is there are only so many hours in the day and they go by quickly. Like I’m sure many other expats have felt before, I end up feeling like I’m being pulled in many directions at once. Time management will be super important to keep your sanity.

Schedule your time and stick to it

You’ll be tempted to take things easy and “go with the flow” when you’re visiting, but this is a recipe for mild disaster. There’s an old idiom that says “Nature abhors a vacuum.” While this is about physics, I’ve always taken it to apply to time, as well. A vacuum, or void, in your time can lead to chaos filling that emptiness for you.

Spontaneity is great in small doses, but it can quickly get out of hand with so many people trying to get time with you. Time management will be key to control the craziness and maintain some sense of order. A little wiggle room is good to have, but having at least an outline of your schedule can head off headaches well before they become an issue.

Now, I’m not saying that you have to fill up your entire schedule with activities. One person can only handle so much “fun” after flying halfway around the world. Set aside some time to have for yourself, particularly at the beginning of your visit. Jet lag is real and it will throw you off for quite a while if you haven’t dealt with it before. Scheduling recovery time can mean the difference between having fun and feeling burdened.

Prioritize who has your time

Being an expat, the large majority of your time will be spent away from your home country and away from family and friends. So when you come back, a lot of people will be clamoring to spend time with you and catch up. People will be messaging you left and right saying you need to hang out. Fun fact: you don’t “need” to do anything.

Like I mentioned before, you can very easily feel burdened by people jockeying to see you. It can be overwhelming and you might feel like you have to carve out portions of your schedule to accommodate the requests. You don’t. Many times, those messages are never meant to be more than a simple “it would be great to see you”. A bit of lip service to say the attempt was made.

Figure out who is important for you to see and don’t be afraid to prioritize some people over others. Time management in this way can seem a bit cold, but you just flew around the world. You have every right to decide how you spend your time and who it’s with. Besides, if anyone gets upset, they’ll have another couple of years to get over it until you come back.

Originally published at https://tooforeignforhome.com on June 21, 2021.