In what seemed like one day, our lives changed dramatically. We’ve adjusted to new norms very quickly: Commuting to work takes seconds, and looking someone ‘in the eye’ now refers to staring into a camera. However, focusing on the steps to ensure our professional lives are unaffected by coronavirus appears to have caused a neglect for our mental health. Change of this magnitude is bound to cause a lot of stress and anxiety. Prioritising your emotional well-being is imperative towards maintaining a productive social distancing period, both professionally and personally.
Take charge of your day
Schedules, plans and to-do lists are essential towards productivity. What we often forget to add to them, however, are tasks unrelated to work. Committing to taking walks, mindfully checking social media, exercise, and meditation is so much easier when you have already allotted time for it throughout your day. This not only helps increase the list of great things you’re accomplishing, but also increases your overall productivity and decreases the likelihood of mindless scrolling to fill time.
Check in with yourself
Listen to your body. Are your shoulders tense? Are you feeling sluggish? Are you feeling irritable? These could all be signs of burnout or anxiety. Taking stock of these feelings early gives us more time to adjust our habits. Perhaps keeping a journal or excel file of daily habits, moods, reactions, and events. A visual representation of your body’s reactions to certain events can help you pinpoint triggers for these negative emotions such as foods, media intake, exercise levels, and more.
Take care of your mind & body
Continue to prioritize habits and activities that brought you joy. Things are different. However, if you can adapt to remote work in a week, then you are more than capable of adapting your self-care methods. Does going to the gym improve your mood? Do a home workout! Miss your yoga studio? Order yourself some crystals, a new mat and subscribe to an online class. Does going out with your friends re-energize you? Have a zoom happy-hour! Bonus, follow along a makeup tutorial you’ve been intimidated by. You’ll be the belle of the group call, and learn a new look!
Do not compare yourself to others
The influx of time and flexibility that working from home has provided us has a lot– maybe too much– time to focus on ourselves. Self-reflection is extremely beneficial towards self-improvement. Considering how harsh we are on ourselves, however, you can be overwhelming yourself with criticism, the pressure to use this time to learn a new language, skill, or other discipline. We’re in a pandemic. If all you’re doing is keeping yourself mentally stable, then that’s okay.
