It might rain

Rain is pouring down outside as I’m writing this. The forecast gave only a 20 percent chance of rain in mid-afternoon, but the clouds decided to defy the odds.

Rain can be frustrating if you’ve got outdoor plans, but it’s also not exactly a shocking event. Rain happens. So if you are planning to do something rain could affect, it’s always good to ask “what if it rains?” and figure out a back-up plan.?

This is true with life in general. Being optimistic is awesome, but time management masters need to ask what could go wrong. Lots of things that could go wrong are reasonably predictable, and by planning for those possibilities, you increase the chances that you can do what you’d like to do, just with some modifications.

This reality got drilled in to me soon after becoming a parent. We enrolled our firstborn in a fabulous daycare right by our apartment. All was great…until he spent approximately six weeks sick that first winter and couldn’t go to daycare any of those days. Now what? Anyone who travels frequently for work knows that flights can be canceled or delayed. If you really need to be somewhere, how else can you get there? People build their annual bonuses into their structural expenses and then learn that, nope, that variable pay really is variable. Even for well-to-do people that can wind up being a big problem.

When you ask what could go wrong, though, you figure out ways to mitigate risk. These days I always ponder back-up childcare arrangements. I now have a routine for when my last-flight-of-the-night from O’Hare is canceled (book my favorite hotel, book an early morning flight the next day, sometimes on a different airline…). I’ve advised people in fields where bonuses are a big part of compensation to save most of it for the first two years. After that they can start building it in (if they want) knowing they have that cash cushion to figure something out during any unexpectedly lean times.?

Rain is inevitable, but rain doesn’t need to bring deep disappointment. If you’ve already scoped out an indoor play place, you can suggest the switch if a scheduled playground meet-up corresponds with a deluge. A big event might have a “rain date” — a back-up option if the first can’t happen. Maybe you won’t need it, but better to have it if you truly want something to happen.