Aside from the financial ramifications of staying home, many people are also starting to experience emotional consequences of being away from friends, family, and society in general.
Taking care of your mental health is always important, however it is imperative in this period of quarantine. Fortunately, there are great ways to stay mentally healthy during these unprecedented times.
Keep in a Daily Routine
One of the biggest contributors to negative feelings in quarantine is loss of autonomy. We often take for granted the ability to go where we want, when we want. When we lose that freedom, we quickly start to feel frustration and angst. We may not even realize it. We know it is for a necessary reason, but the feelings still come.
Keep a daily routine within the confines of your quarantine location. A routine helps alleviate negative feelings. If you work from home, keep a normal workday with scheduled lunches and breaks. Block off 40-minute work chunks with 20-minute breaks in between. Use the breaks to check the news, scroll social media, do laundry, or distract yourself with something unrelated to work.
If your kids stay home, implement the same 40-minute chunks with 20-minute breaks. Older kids may have virtual learning and homework. Younger kids may need activities and screen time you provide.
If you are unemployed, dedicate your 40-minute work times to household tasks, job searching, or hobbies. Schedule your lunch and your “clock out” time, too.
The main point is simple: find a schedule that works for you and stick to it. Keep weekends open so you build both a daily and weekly routine. We don’t know how long this will last, so set yourself up for success.
Exercise
If exercise isn’t a part of your normal lifestyle, it isn’t going to be something you really want to do when you are feeling stressed, frustrated, and stuck from being in doors. However, exercise has been proven to be a huge mood booster, even when the world is “normal”. All you need is access to the internet to find workout solutions and routines to add into your daily schedule.
Street Parking is a fantastic website that has a low monthly subscription fee and gives daily workouts that use minimal equipment and even body weight only exercises. Best part is they range from 10min-20min most times. They also have a very supportive online community for you to interact with and ask questions.
Getting your body moving in a meaningful way for 10min a day, 4 days a week, can make a huge difference in your mental health and also help to establish a good habit you may keep with you when we are all allowed to resume our lives.
Forgive Yourself
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, forgive yourself when things don’t go as planned. We are all getting a lot more screen time than we usually do (who else has turned off those judgy screen time notifications?), our kids are being extra needy, and our pets are wondering what the heck is going on. Now is not the time to be hard on yourself if you find that staying on the couch and eating your favorite snack is your #1 priority.
That being said, make sure that you forgive and forget. Bounce back from the couch and get back to that daily routine as soon as you realize you are ready. Put down the remote when you can and do your 10min workout. Take it moment by moment and you will find that quarantine is a lot more bearable.
Take care of yourself and the ones you love and remember we are all in this together.
