I don’t know what day of social distancing we’ve reached, but what I do know is taking everything day by day has made it seem less overwhelming. Working from home isn’t a huge deal for me, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I miss being able to get up and go whenever and wherever I please. We’re not in a full on lockdown, thank goodness, but in an effort to help flatten the curve like everyone else, I’m doing my part and staying home unless I absolutely have to get out for something.
I don’t know when life will go back to normal (whatever that is because thing have changed for us all), but I wanted to just share a few things that I’ve been doing to help myself stay sane while social distancing, because I know how hard it is for everyone right now. Covid-19 has forced us to slow our lives down but tbh, I don’t think that’s 100% a bad thing.
Being productive when I feel it (and not feeling bad about it when I’m not).
When we first got the Safer At Home order, I was still super productive. My photography work, social media management and blog opportunities had picked up over the last few months, so I was going nonstop. I didn’t want to lose momentum so I kept it going… until one day it hit me and I just crashed. I binged on bad tv and movies all day long without so much as looking at my laptop and honestly, I didn’t feel bad about it. While I still had work to do, I didn’t want to keep feeling anxious, like I was in a rat race. I also didn’t want to be tethered to my phone all day every day like I’d been. I’d already adopted a quality vs quantity approach with my client work and with my blog, and I wanted to continue that way.
I’m still producing content, but I want to make sure it actually speaks to me and I’m truly sharing things I care about. I also didn’t want to start posting what everybody else is post either. While I’d love to post about all the changes I want to make to my apartment, or a new outfit I’m dying for, realistically, I’m on a budget. Some of my contracts are on pause so it wouldn’t even make sense for me to post about buying a lot of stuff, even if it is “cozy pieces” or stuff like that because I’m not about to go broke buying unnecessary lounge wear for the sake of creating content, you know? My goal has always been to create a space that inspires but is still real, and I have to be cognizant of the content I create so that I don’t appear tone deaf to what’s going on in the world. Basically, when I have something to share I will, and if I don’t, I won’t. I will continue to work on projects that I can’t immediately post about, but if I have a day where I just want to watch hulu and netflix, well, that’s what I’m gonna do (and you should do the same).
Disconnecting from social media often.
This is tied to the first part in a way, but honestly, disconnecting from social media has helped to keep me sane. There’s been a shift in “content” creation and sharing across the board, and not just with blogging. There’s almost an over abundance of information surrounding Covid-19 being produced and shared because everyone wants to show that they’re informed, and on the flip side, the desire to be seen and “connect” has increased like crazy. Don’t even get me started on the number of IG Lives that are happening daily, or the posts from people constantly saying that they are bored or panicking about what’s happening. Some of it is endearing, some of it is plain weird.
This isn’t meant to be judgmental because I know that everyone handles things differently, but if you’re a person that’s not freaking out, that’s being responsible, and that’s also not bored being at home, it becomes information overload. When I found myself constantly rolling my eyes and sighing because of my timelines, I knew it was time for me to disconnect. If you can’t fully disconnect because of the work you do, but find yourself becoming overwhelmed or even annoyed with what you’re seeing everyday, you gotta do what you got to do, and I had to put my phone down. I don’t want to absorb that energy nor can I control how people choose to fill their time during this isolation period, so muting people and logging off when needed has helped tremendously.
Spending time in my kitchen.
I knew I spent a lot of money on eating out but geez Louise, I’m glad I was forced to slow it down, lol. Going to the grocery store and actually cooking my daily meals has been a treat, and while sometimes I just want to say eff it and order takeout from somewhere, I’m forcing myself to stick with it. I love to turn on a playlist, pour a glass of wine, and just dance around while I prepare my meals. I have a few cookbooks at home and I follow a couple of people on IG that have been making some quick meals in their stories, so it’s been fun to follow along for new meal ideas. I will NOT be making banana bread though, lol. I have to draw a line somewhere.
Keeping a normal sleep schedule
I am naturally a night owl, so forcing myself to go to bed at a normal bedtime has always been hard. For the last 4 years I’ve been able to push back my bedtime and start my day a little later due to work and I’m thankful for that. With that being said, I can fall back into those habits really quickly (I mean I stayed up until 3:30 am Saturday night binge watching a show), but for the most part, I’m keeping the same schedule because I noticed that my day goes by way too fast when I sleep in too late. I treasure sleep and understand its importance for renewal so I try to get 7-9 hours daily, but even if the only place I’m going the next morning is my living room, I need to stay on a schedule. I just hate the way that I feel when it seems like the day has gotten away from me. If you need to sleep in, sleep in because without proper rest you can become anxious and not be able to function properly throughout your day, but do your best to maintain a normal schedule. Maintaining some type of structure throughout the day is crucial, especially when it comes to sleep.
Talking to my close friends and family daily (no zoom calls though because I actually hate FaceTiming people outside of maybe 3-4 people so that’s an absolute no no, lol), getting fresh air, and finding ways to make myself laugh have helped me tremendously as well. I don’t know how much longer we will have to be in isolation, but I want to make sure I’m in top form when it’s done.