With many of us working and studying from home, this transition, along with all the anxiety we feel, can take its toll. Our primary focus should be staying healthy and protecting those most vulnerable. But while we do our social distancing as best we can, here are some tips to help us stay okay.
- Get dressed anyway. Avoid the temptation to live in PJs for the next few weeks. Get dressed, even if it just means comfy leggings instead of pajama pants. Brush your teeth and fix that bed-head!*
- Create a virtual co-working space. Get a bunch of coworkers or friends together on a video conference call and just sit and work or study together. You don’t need running conversation, just pretend you’re in the same room. It’s surprisingly calming.
- Follow your same meeting schedule via conference call. We need normalcy right now, and keeping team traditions will help us feel less isolated. There are also plenty of tools online for virtual whiteboards, etc. Conference calls through video have skyrocketed. On Sunday, March 22, Zoom saw its best day ever with 600,000 downloads. We are lucky that this happened in a time with so much tech to keep us connected!
- Text the “neutrals.” While you may still hear from the people who are always the most vocal in person, those who prefer to stay in the background may totally disappear. Text them to check in with them and see how they are doing, even if you aren’t personally very close.
- Send photos to friends and family, and schedule video chats. My family has a Whatsapp group that we all message in daily. We send photos of our kids, funny things we have seen, general family questions, etc. It keeps us together even when we are apart, and brings humor to our day. Seeing everyone’s faces, especially the cute little babies, gives the human connection we all crave. Video chatting with friends also helps you have social plans while social distancing!
- Give each other grace. Even the most collected of us are dealing with a lot of anxiety and stress right now. Check in with each other and be generous with mental health breaks. Remember that we all are making health and family our number one priority.
These are just a handful of the tips I have been seeing floating around. What have you been doing to make the most of being stuck at home? Share in the comments below.
Stay safe and healthy, all! It’s not often that our global community shares something so completely. While the situation is truly scary, we can come out of this stronger and with a better appreciation for humankind. Keep hope in your heart!
*The author may or may not have bed-head while writing this…
