Staying Confident, Calm & Connected Through Covid-19
Since we are all practicing physical distancing in our fight against the Corona virus, it isn’t easy. Even though my wife and I have worked from home for years, it still sometimes makes us feel trapped since we have to really think and plan for the times we have to go out for groceries. That’s the only reason we are leaving home - getting groceries. We buy as much as we can afford and do our best to limit the outings to every 2.5/3 weeks. The longer, the better!
We hope that you are staying safe and healthy! Following these keys to success will help you cope though this crisis and even afterwards!
Since so many businesses are closed right now, there are two types of staying home situations for healthy individuals:
- People who can work remotely from their home.
- People who cannot work remotely so are not working at all.
Without the routine of a job, it’s easy to eat more, exercise less and feel depressed. It’s an extremely stressful time, whether you’re working or not - the tricky part is finding ways to cope that are healthy for your mind and body.
We don’t know how long this is going to go on for with the physical distancing and businesses being closed down so it’s important to do what you can to stay mentally and physically healthy, starting now.
Key #1 - Create and Follow a Routine
Everyday, get up, shower and get dressed.
With the exception of when I’m really sick, especially living with Chronic Fatigue syndrome for nearly 40 years, I have a shower daily. Even when I don’t have the energy to shower, I put on clean clothes and start my day.
Key #2 - Follow a Regular Eating Pattern
It’s super easy to just eat because we’re bored, depressed, stressed out, etc. Do your best to follow a similar eating pattern (as long as it was a healthy pattern) before the pandemic began.
Eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Do what you can to have healthy snacks on hand. If you’re watching a lot of tv and movies, you may find yourself snacking out of habit. Lots of us like to have evening snacks while watching tv after work so when that routine is altered, it makes sense that our brain tells our body we want snacks even though you just had lunch!
Key #3 - Stay connected to community, family and friends
Your routine needs to include regularly connecting with friends and family over the phone and virtually. There are many video chat options now if you don’t have FaceTime with Apple products. Here’s a great article about some options:
The best alternatives to Zoom for videoconferencing
Key #4 - Exercising at Home
Yesterday I was chatting with a friend of mine who is confined to working from home right now. She commented that she’s struggling because she’s used to moving around at the office - typically she gets about 7,000 steps a day from all the activity even though she has a job working on a computer all day.
Because of this, it’s important to do what you can at home to add exercise into your routine. The weather is getting nicer out so some people are going outside for exercise. As long as you can maintain a safe physical distance, that’s great.
But if the physical distancing isn’t feasible because you live in a highly populated area or the outdoor spaces are restricted then using alternatives is necessary. For example, there are hundreds of youtube exercise videos and apps that offer different exercise levels from beginner to advanced.
The trick is to do something to stay active. It likely will be more challenging mentally to get moving, especially if you’re used to working out at a gym or in a fitness class but it’s still doable, even without much (or none) equipment. An exercise mat and some canned food works too.
If you’ve got exercise equipment at home, pull the blankets and clothes off and take advantage of your mini gym!
Remember to stay as healthy physically and mentally as you can. I’m not a medical or psychological professional, seek help if you need it. If you are struggling, call your doctor for a phone appointment. If you’re in distress mentally, please reach out to hotlines and mental health support.
Stay safe!
--Michelle