It’s now been about six weeks since we’ve been asked to follow shelter-in-place orders in the Bay Area. Freeways with even the worst rush hour have been barren while local sidewalks and trails have been filled with people on walks and enjoying the fresh air.
Life has looked different the past few weeks in a lot of ways for all of us. I have to say, the shift to being at home hasn’t been a huge shock to my system the way I know it has been for others who are now managing having their kids at home and making sure they’re doing their school assignments or even looking for work after being laid off. I’ve been able to continue working my corporate job from home with pretty minimal changes. Sure, some days might feel full of overlapping meetings and might end up looking like 10-12 hour days, but for the most part it’s been business as usual for my team.
Even though my commute has been removed from my daily routine (thank god!), I’ve still needed to prioritize what occupies my mental space and how I find joy and positivity during this time. For some of us, the idea of getting to stay home for weeks and weeks was an absolute dream, prior to the pandemic of course. So, in the moments where I have energy and am not feeling stressed or anxious, I get myself to get up and do the things I always wished I had time for.
Here’s how I’ve been spending my time and what I’ve been leaning on the past six weeks to keep myself grounded and quite frankly, able to function at a higher level. Check out “The ‘Stay Home’ List” here:
Create a “Fun” List
This is one of the first things I did when I learned we’d need to shelter-in-place and we should only go outside for essential needs. In a Google Sheet, I set up a serious spreadsheet to track the books I want to read, movies and TV shows I want to watch, recipes I want to try, etc. I listed everything I wanted to do in my spreadsheet. My fun list was great to reference when I would have a tough day of work and needed something to look forward to without using my remaining brain power to figure out what to do. Best of all, it’s been really satisfying to cross things off the list. Talk about dopamine or endorphins or whatever makes your brain feel happy.
Exercise Every Day
Yeah, yeah. Everyone and their mother has been talking about how important exercise and movement is right now. And they’re right. I’m wear an Apple Watch and the data shows the truth–even with exercise classes, I’m not meeting the calorie goal I’m typically used to meeting. Without the walking our daily routines provide, the workouts we give ourselves so much credit for might have less of an effect than we think. These days, I have to go out of my way to make sure I get a decent amount of movement, which means I need to schedule time to exercise.
I typically take barre classes and my local studio has a challenge this year to take 15 classes a month for 12 months. And you bet I’m part of that challenge and that not being able to get to the studio for class isn’t going to stop me. My studio hosts classes on livestream so I schedule some time each day to take class.
There are tons of resources right now for discounted or even free exercise classes/apps (like Orangetheory on YouTube, PopSugar or honestly Instagram.). I’ve got the Peloton app which provides a free 90-day trial and though I haven’t used it much, I’ve enjoyed the yoga class and the dance cardio class I’ve taken so far.
On the days I’m not taking barre classes, I love taking a long bike ride through the neighborhood.
If you’re feeling strong in the exercise arena and have things under control during this time, good work! I strive to get to your level some day. The next thing to try is tracking your food and seeing what healthy options you can make.
Read
There’s been no better time for me to work on my Goodreads challenge for 2020. Last year, I had a goal to read 24 books and didn’t make it. So I set my goal to 24 this year with the intention of exceeded my goal. To be completely honest, I was concerned with how I was going to meet my goal of 24 books. Well, looks like I’m on track right now, being 7 books ahead of schedule!
I’ve been using library apps like Libby and Hoopla to check out ebooks, audiobooks and magazines, which has been helpful in keeping me excited about reading since I only have a handful of books with me right now. I must say, it’s pretty fun to spend a Saturday morning listening to Jonathan Van Ness read his book “Over The Top” out loud via audiobook. And I highly recommend Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
Gardening Indoors/Outdoors
It’s spring! This is the time to start your garden!! Except…it’s not easy to find a variety of vegetable plants right now. I’ve been spending time working our garden box and getting our plants to grow. We’re growing strawberries, tomatoes, orange chard, broccoli, sweet peas, rosemary, parsley and more, all of which I planted back in February before staying home.
But I’ve been bringing gardening inside as well. In addition to my seed starters which I’m using to grow cucumber plants since they’re my favorite in the summer, I got the idea from a friend to try growing vegetables from food scraps. Right now, I’ve got green onions in a mason jar and romaine lettuce sitting in a shallow plate with water, and I’ve been watching them grow for the past week or so. The green onions will keep growing a new supply as far as I know, but the romaine lettuce it’s pretty slow-going and won’t ever really yield a full head of lettuce. But it’s fun to watch! Celery, onions and garlic are also supposed to be able to grow from food scraps.
If you want to start a garden and are fine with ordering things online, you can definitely order seeds, potting soil, and planters to get started.
Hang Out With Friends, Online
I have to admit, I thought I was really clever when the shelter-in-place order came through, because within 15 minutes of learning about it, I set up an online happy hour with my friends from work. Then I felt like a trendsetter. Everyone wanted to do a virtual happy hours. Then I felt like I was doing 3/week, which was more socializing than I was doing before. It felt like an exercise in figuring out if I’m more introverted than I thought or something.
But I’ve been spending time hanging out with friends every week, especially friends I don’t get to see all the time because they live far away! Nothing like hanging out on a Saturday night with friends who live many, many miles away, since it’s literally impossible to do every Saturday unless you’ve got a big travel budget or your own private jet.
There have been a lot of online options for playing games with friends, which is great! I’ve heard of people playing Cards Against Humanity online. Or if you like role-playing games, I know there’s an option for an online version of Dungeons & Dragons if that’s your jam. My friends and I have been playing a lot of the Jackbox Party Pack games through Zoom every Saturday, which usually results in us belly-laughing and having a fun time together. Another time I went on the Houseparty app with friends and played some of the games on there. I have to say, it’s really entertaining to see what goofy drawings we come up with when we’re under time pressure!
Game nights and happy hours are cool, but so are movie nights with friends, Sunday brunches via webcam, and cooking contests/bakeoffs. Use the app Netflix Party or Watch2Gether to synchronize your screens.
Order Takeout
That’s right, some days you just need to order the damn takeout. Anyone else feel like they’re cooking constantly and it’s still not enough? Like how the recipe that makes 4 servings actually makes 2 big servings and there isn’t enough time in the day to cook, work and overall function? How do people do it?! And also plan healthy food options and eat healthy all the time while at home? I don’t have that type of discipline or that type of brain power to use on cooking every day. At least not right now. And sometimes, I just need some downtime and need to unwind. For some people, cooking helps them do just that. But not me, especially when I’m hungry.
Once a week, we order some takeout from local restaurants we haven’t yet tried and some of our usual favorites. It helps us to support local businesses that really need our money right now and helps me keep my sanity! Not to mention, the food makes my taste buds sing, which is nice.
Set Working Hours/Boundaries/Routines
Many of us are struggling with this right now, especially if you have a corporate job and are working from home. Whether you’re more junior in your career or have almost thirty years of experience under your belt, you’re probably working more hours and working at times you aren’t used to. Setting working hours is super important. I like keeping a schedule somewhere between 8-4 or 9-5 and then sign off after, unless there are meetings that require me to sign on before/after those hours. Then I adjust my hours further or give myself a longer lunch if that works out better.
It’s hard to fully shut out work if you’re eating dinner at the same dining table where you just had a stressful Zoom meeting. Work and home are blending together for most of us right now. Most of us don’t have the luxury of separating our work area and regular living area, so the best we can do is shut down at a certain time and pick it back up the next day, refreshed.
Even with friends and family, there might be a need to set boundaries and expectations. Just because we’re all at home doesn’t mean we suddenly have hours of time to devote to group texts, funny videos and more. Some of us still have work to do ;)
Try Something New
I’m not a big video games person. I enjoy them from time to time but I don’t typically have the time or energy to dive into a fun game and invest time in playing. During the past few weeks though, I’ve been trying to find games I really like to play on the Nintendo Switch and on my phone where I have Apple Arcade.
While I have NOT been playing Animal Crossing (I probably will buy it in the future), we bought the game Unraveled and started playing. On my phone I play games like Dots and Cards of Darkness which are cute and not a big time suck.
I also haven’t really dabbled in art in the past few years, so I took some time to work on my art/craft skills. One thing I did was crochet myself a beanie! When more yarn comes in, which honestly at this point feels like never, I plan to make some beanies for my friends.
At the beginning of all of us needing to stay home, Brit + Co was offering free creative classes! So I ended up taking a class on how to draw flowers which was awesome. I didn’t finish it yet but I learned a lot since I’m not really an illustrator or creative artist. Once more of my supplies come in, I’d be happy to purchase and finish taking the class. Other places to check out for online creative classes–Skillshare (paid membership) and CreativeLive (classes stream for free everyday, options to purchase classes).
Make Self-Care A Priority
What does self-care look like for you? Is it taking time in doing a 12-step skin routine? Drinking a warm, steamy cup of tea while wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket? Meditation? Looking at dog and puppy memes and sending them to your friends? Now is the time to be introspective. Look into what makes you feel refreshed that you can do at home. Personally, I find it refreshing when I focus on something completely for an hour or two. I find myself more centered. And I find long naps to be just as refreshing too.
Finding the Right Messages to Listen To
This one is very important and difficult for just about everyone to do. During this time, it’s really important to listen to the right messages and filter out the ones that are B.S.! It’s also really important to stay positive and share positive messages with family and friends. For me personally, I feel like a few negative thoughts can send me into a spiral of stress and anger these days.
I’d read Rachel Hollis’s books but about eight months ago or so, I started following her on social media and started watching her morning show, where for a half hour every weekday morning she and her husband Dave talk to the audience on Instagram Live about things big and small and talk a lot about self-care, setting goals, etc. It helps me start my day with the right tone and I look forward to it every morning. They’re hosting the Next 90 Challenge where you can take free classes on subjects like habits and leadership that’ll set you up for success and give you food for thought. Highly recommend if you’re looking for positive, helpful content right now.
In addition to following and consuming positive content that promotes self-growth, I’m tuning out most of the sensational news stories I’m seeing. I read the news when I’m ready to see what’s happening in the world but otherwise, I’m focusing my attention elsewhere. That’s a lot easier said than done, and I 1000% understand I’m in a place where I’m able to do that and not everyone has the same luxury. If anything, choose when you consume the news, even if you check it every day. We don’t realize how much power we give to the phone notifications.
That’s all I’ve got! Anything you’d add to the list? If you liked this list please share with your friends and family!
Stay sane and stay safe!
-S
