What a weird time it is to be alive, to have a 9-5….and now our 9-5 has turned into “What day is it?” This is probably one of the most significant, unpredictable and bizarre times that most of us will experience in our lifetimes. It’s not a downturn like 2008, but an economic panic caused by a virus that no one can exactly say where it came from.
Anyhow, we are all going crazy being cooped up in our homes for weeks, so I thought I would share a few things that I’ve been doing to try to make my days “as normal as possible”.
1. To-do lists have been my life saver. I am such a task driven person, that I have a personal planner, a work planner, as well as enter things on my iPhone calendar. Nope, I don’t want to miss ANYTHING. Now, I really only need one planner since I’m in one place all day, but I’ve made sure to make a to-do list every night before I go to bed of all the things I need to accomplish the next day. I try to order them of importance, but as things come up I just add them to the bottom. When I cross things out, I feel REALLY accomplished.
2. Writing out a daily schedule. This comes hand in hand with my to-do list, but if I organize my day by the hour it leaves less room for distraction. Since working from home I’m finding I have more free time, and if I don’t stay on task I will be organizing my closet at 2:00 PM in the middle of my work day. I write down everything in detail starting with wake up, make coffee, check email, jump on 8:30 AM conference call, etc. I schedule in my workout times and what I’m eating for lunch and snacks too so that I’m not raiding the pantry for junk food at 3 PM because I haven’t eaten all day.
3. Stretch or do some movement every hour on the hour. I know this sounds bizarre, but it is a LIFE SAVER. We are sitting more than we would at the office, because we are much comfier at our home desk or couch than we are in our office/cubicle desk at work. I’ve found that my hip flexors are much tighter since we’ve been home-bound. Set an alarm every hour that reminds you to either walk around, do 20 squats or some full body movement.
4. You think you’ve been drinking enough water? Probably not. I have always been so good about drinking 100+ oz of water a day. Guess how much I’m averaging since I’ve been at home? Around 50 oz. Terrible, I know. I’ve had to write post it notes to put on my screen to remind me to drink water as often as possible. Sadly, this has affected my workouts as well. My muscles are much more sore if I haven’t had enough water.
5. Think of something that you are grateful for every day and write it down. It’s easy right now to dwell on the negative, especially with the media, but verbally saying the things you are grateful for or writing them down will lighten your mood. If you’re having a bad day, you can look at the list of all good things that you are thankful for to put a smile on your face.