An Easy Guide on How to Use What You Can Control To Adjust To Life During The COVID-19 Pandemic
With all of the changes happening not only locally but also globally it is the perfect time to talk about self care! If you haven’t been paying attention to the news recently, you haven’t missed much, the news is being completely occupied by updates on the pandemic. Adjusting to a constantly changing environment can be stressful, finding the new normal is important. With many states enforcing quarantines and others opting to quarantine themselves this is the perfect time to make sure you are taking care of your self! This is even more important if you are deemed an essential worker and still trying to work and balance a family life in this difficult environment.
How You Can Find Your New Normal
Unsure where you can start? Start with what you can control!
Keep in contact with your friends and family. Let your kids face-time with their friends. Let them be goofy and have fun playing games over the phone. Read a book in an online book club, and send a message to that friend you haven’t talked to in a couple weeks.
Keeping a constant bed time and waking time can help with making sure you stay on schedule and don’t get your days and nights flipped (unless you are working night shift). This can help to make sure you are getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep nightly.
Schedule in your exercise and meal times. Your schedule can also be controlled by you! Also work on meal prepping so you aren’t grabbing for junk food. Witting down what you plan to eat for the day or even laying out your snacks for the day in the morning can help. I have seen many parents have found this is also a good trick to use for their kids to help them learn how to ration their snacks for the day. Once the snacks out of the box are gone, they can not have anything more except meals for the day. You can check out some of our favorite meal prep recipes here.
Use your exercise time to your advantage. Find an exercise routine that helps you relax and decreases your stress level. I recently took up Yoga, it isn’t pretty, and I have never done straight yoga before. I found it is relaxing and beneficial, especially now. It is easy to find lots of exercise classes to do at home. I found my yoga class through the Amazon Video App. You can also use youtube to search for exercise classes. Use your resources, you do not have to go to the gym to exercise, do not let this be your excuse!
Along with sleeping 7-9 hours nightly, eating well, and exercising make sure to drink plenty of fluids to make sure you are staying well hydrated. All of these things will help you feel your best and be in your healthiest condition if you do happen to come in contact with the virus.
Accomplish Tasks While Finding Your New Normal
Sometimes being home all the time you feel like you should be accomplishing a lot! Believe me, even through I am still working currently when I had my son I was home for 3 months almost 4 weeks of which was prior to his birth. You feel as though there is so much to accomplish and like a failure if you don’t get it all done. Finding your new normal is also about finding how to accomplish your weekly tasks and feeling accomplished while doing them!
The best way I found to accomplish my tasks and feel good about them was to make a list at the beginning of the week of everything that needed done. Whether you are working from home or not, write down the things that need to be done for the week and sort them out by day. This is one reason I love to still have an old fashioned planner. I like to cross things off the list! You an also use a list app on your phone or a scratch piece of paper. The important thing is to make this list something you can accomplish, do not put 8 loads of laundry in one day!
Find a way to accept you may not be able to accomplish everything, and that plans may change. Finding a new normal means having a little bit of flexibility and adjusting your task list depending on what you are able to accomplish daily depending on what else you have going on. With parents doing e-learning, working from home or continuing to go to work give yourself grace!
In summary do what you can to control what you can! Finding our new normal can be stressful! Call and message your friends to check on them. Let your kids face-time their friends. Read a book. Try to get your best sleep, exercise for relaxation, eat well and drink plenty of fluids to make sure your health is staying on track. Write down your tasks you want to accomplish and divide them up throughout the week. Most importantly listen to your body, rest when you need to and do something to spread a smile!
