In recent weeks, most of us have had some pretty significant changes to our daily lives due to COVID-19 – kids home from school, telecommuting to work, cancelling recreational outings, etc. Many of you have had significant impacts to your livelihood as well, which only serves to compound anxiety and stress.
These changes came almost overnight it feels like, and unfortunately, an instruction manual on how to handle all of this wasn’t passed out during our Zoom meetings. I can’t tell you when things are going to go back to normal, and I can’t tell you what life is going to look like on the other side of this. What I can do is share some tried and true tips on how to cope with this change that I hope may be helpful.
Routines and schedules
Unless you were already working from home with everyone in your home there with you all day, chances are your routine has changed a bit. Even workers who are considered essential employees have felt the shift. Keeping a routine that works for you is essential. Making time each day to attend to your physical, mental, relational, and spiritual health can help bring calm during these uncertain times.
Make it a point to set a schedule (either weekly or daily) on paper or on your phone/tablet. Fill it in first with top priority items (work, appointments, sleep, food, etc), and then fill in with other items.
Keep or start getting physical activity in your day – anything from walking, stretching, dancing, and more traditional forms of exercise fit the bill. Physical activity can decrease cortisol levels in your body, which helps you feel less stressed and less anxious.
Attend to your creativity! Make time for music, art, learning a new language, reading a book, etc.
Give electronics a break. Schedule an electronic free time for yourself to focus on other needs.
If you’ve never tried meditation, now isn’t a terrible time to do so. There are some great apps out there (HeadSpace, Oak, Calm, and even free videos on YouTube) to help you get started. Meditation has been touted as helping decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve sleep, concentration and focus, and add to an overall sense of well-being.
Social connections - when you’re not taking a break from electronics, schedule a FaceTime or Zoom call with your loved ones to stay connected. Steer the conversation towards non-COVID-19 related topics if you find that talking about it doesn’t feel good to you. There are also lots of apps and games that let you interact with your social circles while still practicing safe social distancing.
Working from home
If you are telecommuting to work, give yourself a dedicated space in your home that is used only for work. Once you are done with your work day, leave that room or put away your work items and do not return to the items or the room until your next scheduled work day/work shift.
Get dressed! Yep, ya heard me. Try to dress similarly to how you would if you were going into your work place. But, please, by all means, trade the chinos and heels for yoga pants and fuzzy socks if you feel called to do so.
Schedule start and end times to your work day, and schedule in breaks, especially lunch!
Leave work at work. So, this is one is hard to do when you’re working from home, but you can take a moment before you shift from “Work Self” to “Home Self” to meditate, make a task list for the next day, or simply say to yourself, “I am done with work for the day. I am now going to leave work here and go enjoy my family/pets/home/downtime.”
Give yourself some grace
I’ve seen so much on social media about how now is the perfect time to pick up a new hobby, paint the guest room or learn a new language (I’m lookin’ at you, Gwyneth Paltrow), with the implication that if you don’t do these things you’re lazy. If you’re seeing things like this on social media, please feel free to delete or unfollow, ‘cuz that’s not the kind of negativity you need in your life right now.
We are experiencing a shared trauma from an event that is impacting the entire globe and that none of us were ready for. Oh, AND you still have to take of yourself, your kids, your spouse/significant other, your house, your parents, and so on.
If you need to sit in your pajamas and feel sad one day… do it. If you don’t have the energy or motivation to do every single craft you’ve ever saved on Pinterest… don’t do it. It is okay and so so so normal to feel worried, afraid, frustrated, and irritated right now.. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions and accept them is one of the most powerful and amazing things you can do for yourself right now.