This year has been one for the books. Due to COVID, our lives have completely changed and I’m going to be honest, I hate it. It’s disrupted our routines and the new norm of social distancing & wearing masks is still months later very weird to me – I just can’t seem to get used to it! With that being said I’ve been feeling the COVID blues for some time now and I know after speaking with a lot of other people, I’m not alone. Many of us have been facing stress, impact on our finances, feeling alone and sadly, depression.
While the need to maintain social distance creates some obstacles, here are some specific steps you can take (and that I’m trying to follow) to make the best out of this worst situation to protect your mental health during this time.
FIND HOPE
It almost sounds impossible since it’s been about 9 months of this but it’s important to see that there is a reason to be hopeful. A vaccine is now being administered and although it will take some time, this is all a sign that life will (eventually) return back to normal. It gives me hope believing 2021 will be a much better year for everyone and hopefully we can have a slight sense of normalcy soon!
KEEP A SCHEDULE
A lot of us have lost our usual routines and that unstructured time can make us spiral out of control. Schedule your day, down to the hour. At the end of the day, check things off and make a to-do list for the next day, so you can look forward to things! Create a set of goals for the week and for the month, then make some longer-term goals.
BE PRODUCTIVE WITH FREE TIME
Instead of thinking isolation is lonely and horrible, try to look at it as having more “free time” than you used to. Try to find moments of happiness in this freedom. Make a list of activities you can engage in. You can still take a walk outside with your dogs, or go online to find an exercise or yoga class. Read the books and watch the movies you’ve been meaning to. Get around to the chores you’ve put off, like cleaning your closets. Get creative about cooking. Maybe you’ve been ordering takeout for a while and forgot you have a kitchen. I’ve been super into taking new courses and improving my current craft. I’m trying to push myself to learn more during this time and there are lots of platforms online which offer this.
And most importantly something I need to learn to do more of myself – focus on the present rather than worrying about the future. I’m grateful for my health and to have a roof over my head and should take every day just as it is – day by day. Life has a way of working itself out and testing you, this is just a small bump in the road.
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