Mental Health & Self Care – Special Daily Routines (Covid Edition) PART TWO

Since early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought everyone’s routine to a screeching halt, so let me ask you, does this means your life should be PAUSED for a while?

To be honest, it is not easy to say “No, let’s continue on!”, cause the outside world is a scarier place now, that I have to admit!

But hey, if I’m willing to take a huge step, for the sake of my mental health, don’t you think you can come along this journey as well?

The days of our lives are going to continue to be quite different from what we know, at least for a little while (finger-crossed)! Hence, personally, I think it is time for us to take charge of how our new norm (Covid Edition) is going to be.

You are the one living your life!

It is time for us to determine the rules, rationally speaking, within good reasoning, that is, and following social distancing!

In these unprecedented times, we have to learn to adapt to the current situation and perhaps to be more flexible, as that is the best way to take hold of the situation. Though changing the structures of our lifestyles would be quite challenging, but life is all about trials and errors, isn’t it? Once we get a hang of it, these routines can go a long way in helping us maintain our health, our productivity, and our social and emotional well-being.

So, let me share a little overview of what kind of special routines I have come out with during my Covid lockdown experience.

1. Start Your Day with a SMILE!

The day you had yesterday may be a bad one, the worst you had, BUT that doesn’t mean TOMORROW is going to be as bad as yesterday! You are the one that decides how your day turns out. We may not be able to control the situation, but we have the power to control how we act towards the situation! Hence, I always like to start my day on a good note.

Our days usually start when the alarm clock rocks the room (either that or you usually wake up on your own at a specific time, let’s say 7 am, “WHY, LUCKY YOU”).

Now, follow me!

Open your eyes (slowly, if you will) and take a few moments to FEEL your surroundings.

Take a few deep breaths, and look towards your windows.

See that sunlight shining its rays over to your room? Beautiful, isn’t it?

Now, get up from that comfy cloud you called bed and look at yourself in the mirror.

Don’t worry, if you look horrible with all of those eyebags and bed hair.

You got to channel BEYONCE, cause honey, YOU WOKE UP LIKE THIS!

Lastly, SMILE as you welcome the day! Or Smize (Smile with your eyes)

Either way, you got this!

2. Prepare a TENTATIVE schedule

It is hard, isn’t it? Since working from home or studying virtually at home, we had to juggle both lives at home.

Here’s a trick! We can try scheduling our week beforehand, let’s say Sunday night?

First, ask yourself this, what tasks do you have currently that you need to get done by next week? Set your tasks according to their priority levels and deadlines.

Secondly, remember! Do not overload yourself! If you scheduled too many tasks, you may risk tiring yourself later next week. We wouldn’t want that to happen!

It is TENTATIVE for a reason. It is supposed to set your days ahead, but also giving you some leeway if so happens that there is some emergency you have to attend to.

Thirdly, create different sections for your schedule, such as a few hours are assigned as “WORK”, whereas the rest can be either “STUDY” or “HOUSECHORES”.

By doing this, you will be able to envision how your next week is going to be, and not having the risk of you going into the week blindly!

3. SELF-LOVE hour is a MUST!

Having one or two hours of SELF-LOVE in your day is as important as your other tasks! This is where you are free to do whatever you like. The hour where you destress, I would say, where you take a break away from the usual hustle-bustle!

Catch up on your favorite TV series?

Read up a book?

Play the piano?

Anything that makes you happy!

You can’t neglect how important it is for us to enforce self-love hour in our days! This hour is the hour is where we recharge our battery and motivate ourselves to move forward!

Try to pen at least one hour daily, or perhaps at least 30 minutes during working or school days! 30 minutes is better than nothing!

Trust me, it definitely helps!

4. Hey, Are You OKAY?

We are all social butterflies! We are humans after all. With the social distancing and us not being able to travel and visit our friends, there are many ways for us to stay connected! Physically connections may not be possible for now, but hey, thank god we are living in the digital age.

Use your favorite social platforms to check up with your friends and loved ones!

Use Zoom or Whatsapp or even the good old fashion phone call to say hi to your friends!

Schedule a virtual lunch or dinner or even a movie night!

Let’s try to check-up with one another at least once a day, shall we?

So, there you have it!

Those are the special yet simple routines I have come up with to keep myself in check as I am living through the Covid-19 Pandemic.

We got to do what we can do to keep our NEW life feeling structured and fulfilling while waiting for our OLD normal, am I right?

My question to you now is:

What special routines have you come out with during YOUR Covid lockdown experience?