Are you alone at home and trying to remain afloat during the lockdown? Staying sane is starting to look a lot harder than it did a couple of weeks ago, right? Here are some ideas to maintain your mental and physical well-being, during this time:
Fine-tune a new skill: Since you are now fending for yourself, you might as well become moderately competent at it. If you are working, pick up a life skill to get better at — cooking, cleaning, ironing, and so on. If you are not working and have some free time, pick up a new hobby or focus on getting better at an existing one.
Schedule time for family and friends every day: You could even do activities while being together virtually — for instance, cooking or cleaning over a video call. Make sure you stay connected with people in the outside world. The aim is to maintain social distance, not social isolation.
Consume the news wisely: It is almost impossible to avoid news about the coronavirus — we are constantly watching, listening to or reading about it. While it is important to stay informed, notice how much information is “too much” for you and ration out your news consumption accordingly. You could also mix things up by subscribing to daily alerts that focus on the positive aspects of the news during the pandemic. It is also perfectly okay to exit overwhelming WhatsApp groups that promote fear-mongering or spread misinformation. You can always re-join them in the future.
Don’t lose track of time: Create a routine for yourself and stick to it. This way, when the lockdown ends and it is time for you to enter the real world, making the adjustment will become a tad easier. It would be tempting to spend whatever free time you get to stream TV shows and movies and let your sleep cycle go for a toss. Do not fall into that trap — stick to healthy eating and sleeping schedules and plan for activities to do on a daily basis that don’t involve screen-time.
Get some physical activity in: There are enough exercise routines that you can do while staying indoors, and the plethora of free tutorials online are testament to this. If your movements have been restricted, chances are your physical activity has been too (unless you’re in a job that provides essential services). So, get off the couch a few times a week to work up a sweat. You don’t need to emerge from the lockdown with a six-pack, but it doesn’t hurt to stay healthy.
Experiment with relaxation techniques: There may be techniques you have come across to manage stress or anxiety, which you may not have had a chance to try before, either because of lack of time or apprehensiveness over how effective they would be. Why not use this time to experiment and see if one of those techniques might actually help you? Using guided meditation apps, colouring or painting and bullet journalling are activities which people have found helpful in managing anxiety.
You may need to deal with your household chores by yourself, but when it comes to your well-being, remember that you are not alone. It is perfectly normal to have feelings of anxiety and stress during times like this, and this is not a sign of weakness. If you reach a point where you are unable to cope by yourself and think you need help, reach out to online mental health service providers to seek professional assistance.
The writer is a psychologist and management consultant. krithvis@gmail.com
