I tend to spend a lot of time in the future: Making plans, envisioning how things will be.

I relish the sense of anticipation I feel thinking about an upcoming trip. I work with my team to come up with long-term plans for business development. I prepare students for high school, three years away.

It takes practice to visualize events and conditions that haven’t happened yet. You play with variables and adjust the model, then change your assumptions and do it again and again. What if this? What if that? I usually enjoy this activity very much, and I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

In our online meetings with students and parents of The Little Middle School, one question keeps coming up: “How long do you think we’re going to be doing this?”

We’re all craving certainty right now, and though the correct answer is, “Nobody knows,” I offer a different one: “We’re preparing to do online school for the rest of the term.”

The reason is simple: If things suddenly went back to normal, we would be relieved to leap into our former routines and even the commutes we once complained about. We know how to execute that plan.

I am a regular reader of an advice column I don’t like very much.

Why? Well, I like advice columns in general. I like how they wake up the problem-solving part of my brain and the empathic part at the same time.

The problem is that I’m not a big fan of the advice given by the writer.

When packing for an international trip, I am committed to traveling as light as possible.

This takes a lot of work. I have to choose my most versatile clothing, select the tiniest toiletries, and forgo some conveniences. The key question is not, “Is there a chance I’ll need it?” but “Can I live without it?”

Then, the clothes get packed in a compression bag and slide into a small messenger bag along with everything else. I have lived happily this way for three weeks and could probably make it much longer. Traveling with so little does require doing a bit of awkward laundry, but it is worth it to be able to hop off of a plane or train and do whatever you want without having to worry about your bags.