These days off, days on standby, or days working from home, they let us wear our old ratty sweatpants and that really gross shirt. Great, right? Surprisingly, it really isn’t - these routines and plans that we have during regular days help us keep our stress-levels, health, and our sanity in check. But before we keep going, a gentle reminder: I am NOT a doctor, everything below are suggestions.
If you have any other tips and tricks that you’ve found useful for you and your families, drop them below. We’re all in this together!
Let’s talk about stress and routines. When we set a routine, it eliminates our need to plan. We budget set times for activities, we can do it on autopilot - it’s easy. It makes it easy for our brains to “do” instead of “plan”. That act of doing gives us a sense of control and helps us find time to relax instead of trying to plan out your days. These automatic actions with our routine will set you up for success when working from home. Keeping our habits help us avoid unnecessary stress during these stressful times. You’ll find that your day runs smoother, more efficiently, and you’ll find your mental muscle will crush all actions you need to do for work or play.
(photo courtesy of Cedars Sinai)
We’re in quarantine, we’re supposed to social distance. We are spending WAY more time than we thought we would with our families (at least for me). While I know we all love our families being this close for however long might test the limits of our patience. It’s key that we make some space for ourselves and for our cohabitants. Plan “together time” meals, family games, and watching movies. On that same coin - intentionally plan “separate time” for working, reading, learning, or playing. Interaction is great, but maybe not ALL the time. Give yourself time to breathe - alone.
Take a few minutes to make intentional choices. It’s tempting to stay in pajamas throughout the day and to sleep in a few more minutes...or hour, if you don’t have plans for the day. It’s important to pick a few tasks to accomplish daily to keep yourself from drifting through the week. If you take the time to plan, things will feel more structured and get you up and moving!
The bottom line - PLAN and FOLLOW THROUGH. Structure in the day is one of the most important blocks in our total well-being. Make times for certain activities. Make tasks for yourself, make them weekly. Make them Bi-weekly. But whatever you do...PLAN and FOLLOW THROUGH.
