Let preface this post by saying that I feel like I’m among the most fortunate during the pandemic. My husband and I both have jobs that we can do from home, our house is big enough that we have our own space, we’re not trying to home-school children, we have a backyard and plenty of spaces to walk the dog without encountering too many people, and we’re both healthy.

Let me do a big KNOCK ON WOOD here. *knock knock knock*

Knowing all this, we ARE, of course, affected by what’s happening to the world. I feel safe in my house, and I’m grateful that my husband has taken it upon himself to handle any errands because I had a panic attack the last time I was in a grocery store—on March 13. (The last time I went to a business.) I have a history of depression and generalized anxiety disorder, so my biggest struggle has been managing my mental health, combined with being an empath. Basically I worry about everyone and everything and have already envisioned every worse-case scenario possible.

Here’s how I’m coping:

Keep a consistent schedule

If you’ve read this blog for any amount of time, you know I’m a creature of habit. Because I’m still working, my week days haven’t really changed. I’ve continued writing in the morning, although that’s shifted from 7-8am to 7:30-8:29am. (I start my day job at 8:30.) Exercise after work. Dinner and watch a show with my husband, then read before bed.

The biggest change is we’re walking the dog over lunch, which is a wonderful way to break up the day and get some fresh air. I’m also reading more, which does wonders for my emotional well-being (see Avoidance, below). I’ve also moved laundry from Sunday to Monday, which has really freed up my weekends. Which can be good and bad. This past weekend it was good and I tackled several projects I’ve been putting off for months, but who knows what next weekend will look like.

Stop watching the news

It’s important to stay informed, but devouring every new article in your feed and watching every press conference the media chooses to air is not good for you. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, constantly filling your brain with the latest breaking news increases your anxiety and makes it hard to get through each day. And that’s what we need to focus on right now.

Avoidance

This goes along with stop watching the news. The best way to avoid something you don’t want to think about is to occupy your brain with something else. I’m really really good at this, and have avoided processing big emotional things for YEARS thanks to never letting my brain rest. Yes, I realize this isn’t good for you, but I’m still here, so I’m counting it as a win.

Here’s how I’ve been avoiding the pandemic and the uncertainty that comes with it:

• Reading
• Rewatching favorite shows (shout-out to Schitt’s Creek)
• Video chatting with friends, some of whom I’d never spoken to on the phone
• Brushing my dog
• Lots of walks with my husband and dog
• Hiking with my husband
• Playing hours of video games (Bejeweled Blitz, Words with Friends, Word Crossy)
• Exercising
• Coloring (see header image)

Set super small goals

If you’ve seen my bullet journal, you know I live by goals and to-do lists. You can also recognize the struggle when every day looks like the day before. We’ve all seen the memes floating around telling stories of the people who accomplished major feats during times of struggle—the one about Newton or Einstein during the 1918 Spanish Flu stands out—and challenging people to learn a new skill! or write a novel! or Marie Kondo your home! And we’ve hopefully all seen the response memes, reminding us that we are in a time of crisis and that it’s okay to use this “extra time” (that most of us don’t actually have) to just make it from one day to the next, to keep your family or yourself alive, and to not lose your mind in the process.

If you’re like me and flounder without a sense of purpose to your day, keep up your to-do list, but include the things you normally wouldn’t. I write “work from home” for each weekday and you can bet your tookus I check that off at 5pm. Other options: eating, cleaning, watching a favorite show, talking to friends…

If you’re really like me and get frustrated at how many projects you’re not doing even though you never leave the house, give yourself a couple small tasks for each day. In normal times I like the rule of “if there’s something you keep walking by that can be done in 2 minutes, DO IT.” So maybe start there. We had a lot of stuff accumulated on the dining room table, so each day I put away ONE thing. Not ten. One. Now it’s clear. Break those larger tasks into tiny pieces and start there.

Choose the things you CAN control

I think one of the most frustrating things with all this is how little control we have. Yes, we can stay home and sew masks and donate food and support our essential workers and look out for those more vulnerable than ourselves, but we can’t stop this virus.

I’ve always been active and eaten healthy and generally tried to take good care of myself, but I’ve always had a few extra pounds I wanted to get rid of. That, my friends, has become My Thing I Can Control. I can control what I eat and drink, and I can control how much exercise I get. (There are a TON of places with free workout videos online. I’ve been using Pop Sugar Active.) I lost a couple pounds for Dancing With the Local Stars in February (which feels like 14 years ago) and I’ve not only kept that off, I’ve lost a couple more. Knowing that I’m keeping myself as healthy as I can while this virus rages outside has helped.

And it’s distracting me from how GRAY my roots are…

I’d love to hear from you. How are you coping? What weird things have you started doing now that you’re ALWAYS AT HOME? Anything you want to get off your chest?