Times are weird right now. In the past week, most of our worlds have been turned upside down with the rapid spread of the Coronavirus. At this point, the most effective impact any of us can have on the current situation is to practice social distancing and stay home.
That being said, the uncertainty of the current events we are facing right now can be very stress/anxiety provoking. That along with not being able to go in public can really take a toll on our mental health.
Below I’ve listed out a few tips for safeguarding your mind and keeping your anxiety at bay while in self-quarantine. Scroll all the way down for some of my favorite uplifting quotes to get yourself into a more positive mindset!
- Create a routine — Change out of your pajamas, take a shower, sip your coffee slowly and make a to-do of a couple of things you want to achieve each day. This will help to create a sense of normality for you (and your kids)! Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t end up checking those things off though. Give yourself grace during this time of uncertainty! Try again tomorrow.
- Practice gratitude — Starting the day channeling the things that you are grateful for can give you an entirely different perspective as you go throughout the day. Once you make it a routine, you find yourself looking for the things you’re grateful for all day long! It really helps you recognize the good in your life, even during a scary time like this.
- Break up your day — Find tasks to break up your day and change up your environment for different activities. I’ve been trying to switch up our location in the house multiple times a day, just to give us all different surroundings. We might do a craft in the kitchen, then a show in the living room, then go outside, then come in and play in the basement. Breaking up the day can really help pass the time!
- Take care of your body — Eat healthy, take your vitamins, get enough sleep and exercise daily. That could mean indoor workout classes on YouTube, stretching, running, meditating… whatever works best to clear your mind and get some endorphins flowing. You will never regret getting your body moving, no matter how much you dreaded it beforehand!
- Get outside — Just because we are practicing social distancing doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the outdoors and get fresh air! It just means to keep your distance from others. Get creative with spending time outdoors… it’s amazing what it can do for your mood. Go for a bike ride, make an outdoor scavenger hunt with your kids, hike at a nearby metro park, start training for that 5k or half marathon! It’s a really good time to stop making excuses for the active things you’ve always wanted to do.
- Help others — Do good, feel good! Take some time to find ways to support those in need in your local community without having to come in contact with anyone. Drop off food donations, donate monetary funds if you’re in the place to do so, support a local restaurant by ordering takeout and have it delivered to your back porch, send a healthcare worker a coffee gift card, etc.
- Stay connected — Make the most of our very technology-savvy world and stay in touch with coworkers, friends and family. Make phone calls, send texts, reach out to a friend you’ve made on social media or schedule Facetime dates/happy hours. It’s so important that we don’t isolate ourselves during this time. I’ve been trying to reach out to two people each day (that I don’t talk to on a regular basis) to check on them, catch up, laugh. I called my grandparents the other day and they made me laugh so hard. It was such a bright spot in my day!
- Limit media intake — It’s definitely super important to stay informed about this situation (via reliable sources), but limit your news and social media intake to avoid feeling overwhelmed! When you start to feel those anxious feelings arise, you know it’s time to get control of it. Put your phone in a completely different room and turn off the TV for a while so you can clear your mind with a distraction of some sort.
- Fight boredom — Make the most of catching up TV series, reading a new book, or tackling projects you have been putting off to beat boredom and stay mentally active! I’ve channeled a lot of my extra time into some spring cleaning/organization, and have also started thinking about new/fun ways to liven up our basement playroom. I’m so excited about it and can’t wait to get started!
- Avoid burnout — Be disciplined about setting boundaries for your work hours if you’re working from home. Working from home makes it really easy to feel like you need to be working from the second you wake up to the second your head hits the pillow. This can add to the feeling of being mentally overwhelmed. Make sure you’re intentional about making time to let your brain unwind.
- Focus on the positives — Amplify good news stories, and seek them out on your own! I have loved seeing all the “silver lining” posts going around and it has given me some peace and hope. Spread the positivity and honor caregivers working tirelessly to resolve the situation. While we may be having a hard time mentally staying home, imagine the weight on their shoulders showing up to work every day/exposing themselves to this for the well-being of others.
- Take one day at a time — Try not to think too far into the future. I know this is so hard because a lot of us are planners– we need to know what’s going to happen to our future plans, our finances, our jobs, our kids’ schooling, etc. Just try not to sweat it, because at this point it’s just completely out of our control. Remember that this is temporary, and you are not alone.
- Don’t stress over what you can’t control — MAN is this one hard for me. I’ve had so many mental breakdowns over the past week, feeling so helpless because I couldn’t control various aspects of this pandemic. SO many unknowns, and so many ignorant people making reckless choices. I started to realize how much I was letting these factors weigh on my own shoulders and made the decision one day to just let. it. go. I realized that the only way I can truly impact or control this situation is to STAY HOME to stop the spread, and keep a sense of normalcy in our household for my kids. I’m trying to focus on those things that I CAN control, versus the factors that I can’t.
- Pray or read a devotional — This one might not be for everyone, but it’s something that can really help you reflect and find clarity, especially during difficult times when it’s hard to make sense of what’s going on in the world. I have this devotional and reading it when I’m not in a good place mentally always gives me some reassurance and peace of mind.
- Pump the breaks on the wine — Lastly, and I’m talking to myself here too, make sure you don’t overdo it on alcohol consumption to numb your anxiety. I know we’ve all joked a lot about how grateful we are for wine/alcohol in a time like this, but drinking a bottle every night is not going to do anything for our mental health. The feeling the next morning is not worth it. While I FULLY welcome lots of wine consumption while cooped up in the house for weeks, I just think it’s important make sure we don’t overdo it.
I hope you all find peace in each day of this, knowing that we are all in this together. If you’re having a shitty day, remind yourself that a LOT of our country (and our world!) is in a similar place. This will be over soon in the grand scheme of things, and I can’t wait to see what the world will be like once we get through this.
HUGS AND POSITIVITY TO YOU ALL! XO
