With the uncertainty involved with the Coronavirus pandemic, anxiety and fear abound for many. Many who are used to different daily routines, find themselves at home, possibly with a spouse or children present at the same time. Some are trying to work from home, while some find themselves without work, and others find themselves suddenly being their children’s teachers. Each of these new situations can present complications and impact our mental health.
Here are a few ideas to help maintain a sense of normalcy amid so much change.
- Maintain your regular wake-up and bedtime schedule. While the initial inclination might be to throw off the regular schedule and slide into vacation mode, keeping a regular pattern for your day can help maintain a sense of normalcy.
- Take your regular days off. If you are used to working Monday through Friday, with weekends off, keep up that schedule when possible. Many jobs are being done remotely right now. This can make time boundaries difficult. Set your work hours and do your best to stick to them. It can be tempting to work all the time, or not at all, creating frustration or anxiety either way. Allow yourself to have time off, so you can enjoy your family, your hobbies, and your rest.
- Choose 2-3 emotionally grounding activities to do each day. This might look like cooking a meal you love, listening to a favorite song, taking the dog on a walk, taking the time to get dressed as you would for work and fix one’s hair or shave (as opposed to sporting yoga pants or a 5 o’clock shadow for days), exercise, reading a book you enjoy, reaching out and having a conversation with a friend.
- Embrace the rest and quiet. Our society has become quite good at shaming those who take time to slow down and rest, to let things be quiet, still and even BORING. It’s okay to slow down. Let yourself dream, self-evaluate, and re-prioritize during this time.
- Take a deep breath. This is new territory for most everyone. Change, especially sudden or unexpected change, requires a little flexibility and grace on everyone’s part. Remember to extend patience to others, as you never know when you might need them to extend it back to you.
If this unique season of social distance and change is getting ahold of your emotions or anxiety, please reach out to us here at New Horizon’s Center for Healing in McKinney, Texas. We have licensed professional counselors with the ability to provide online counseling services to our clients. We are here to help.
