Our over-scheduled busy life has suddenly paused with this coronavirus lockdown. Schools are closed. Parents are working from home. There is no help available around us with household chores and childcare. Things are going spirally down. The responsibilities seem never-ending. We all are in a dreadful situation. Schools have started taking online classes or sending work for children with messages. Kids are stuck indoors. Their restless energy is driving parents up the wall. If you are about to rip your hair and scream? You are not alone. Even if you are not a parent, you can surely feel the anxiety around it. Then how to stay sane during novel coronavirus lockdown?
Let’s take a deep breath first. You are not alone.
You might feel being hostage of unseen enemies. The fear of missing the life that you enjoyed with a morning walk, coffee with friends, and more can be real. Probably, this would be the right time to count your blessings.
How to stay sane during novel coronavirus lockdown?
You are enough
What’s your plan during this quarantine period? Yes, any plan for this coronavirus lockdown period? Are you joining the social media camps of fitness, cooking, early summer camps for kids? Or maybe deep cleaning entire home, going to be the DIY leader? Well, you can actually do that during this coronavirus lockdown period, just try not to burnout while doing this.
Parents, your kids are having the time of their life. It would be much better if you stay away from the fear of “left-behind” academically. They could help you around the home. There are multiple ways kids could join parents in the household chore, which would be a life skill learning.
For tweens and teens, there are ample learning material, museum tours, and activities available online. Let them explore their area of interest and pursue a course that supports them.
As an individual, you have to go easy on yourself. Even you have stuck up alone in the house, there can be ways to bring out your buried passion. Everything that pushes you for brighter side works, brooding should be unwelcomed. While parenting kids of all ages is tough, and staying indoors for weeks now is challenging. You should allow yourself to go easy.
So, pump up, you are enough even when there are no friends meeting for face to face talk, or kids demanding Nth snack in last one hour, or boss asking on a project update. You just need to declutter your worries.
Structure your day but be flexible
Your daily life was scheduled with waking up, fixing meals at home, road traffic and travel, dropping kids at school, going office- meetings, or doing household chores. Every minute was planned and now you are living in a lockdown. 24 hours indoors, no traffic, no outdoors, no grocery shopping, heck not even jogging in the park.
While you realize working from home is not a luxury, you might get easily distracted by email notifications, mindless social media scrolling, and whatnot. However, you can’t slog there would always be responsibilities. How can you structure your day to ripe maximum productivity?
Plan your day at least a night ahead. Set your priorities and list of tasks to accomplish.
Keep aside any materials required for next day activities for children, or notepad and pen at your workstation. It sounds cliché but works.
Define your workspace and work hours. Working at home with doors open would make curious kids ask for you or family members to seek you. Set your workspace away from unexpected interruptions. Close the door while you work.
Connect with your loved ones.
We are no longer meeting and greeting people staying next doors. The pandemic situation would often remind us of our dear ones staying away. Connect with them, they are a call away.
Children love their grandparents and school friends, help them to connect with video calls. Even the friends you lost touch in years but do miss dearly can be connected now. We are staying indoors; travel time is saved and can be used as connection time.
Some of the fun connecting ways during this coronavirus lock down can be:
- Having a group skype call or zoom call.
- If you love books and miss discussing with like-minded people, create a book club. In case you have no bibliophile friends join Oprah’s Book Club.
- Take your tea to balcony and have a chat with neighbour there.
- Have a virtual jam session, go live and share your music.
- Plan a scavenger hunt at home, play bingo. Making memories is important here.
Unplug
Imagine your quarantine lifestyle without technology, mobile phone apps, and the Internet. Eerie?! They are saviors for many, classes moved online, scrolling social media or binging web series. But did you notice any pain in your fingers, wrist, lower back, or burning eyes? That’s your body asking for a break.
Unplug from your marathon binging and scrolling championship. Take care of yourself, your emotional and mental wellbeing along with physical fitness.
- Exercise. Take inspiration from online. Make friendship with your yoga mat and strengthen your body. There are resources with a workout plan even without equipment. Rujuta Diwekar has a YouTube channel with exercise videos, especially for the lockdown period. Don’t be a couch potato.
- Make a dish. Cooking till now might have been challenging for many. There might be many who entered the kitchen for the first time in a lifetime, which is fantastic. You are learning a life skill. If you could cook basics, go for challenging dishes that you can these not order. Try making a meal for your family. There is always a first!
- Bring out your inner talent. A talent that went missing for years after school or graduation. Share your art in your WhatsApp groups, Facebook, people would love to see you back.
Stay informed with news, connect with your loved ones but don’t panic. That won’t help anyone.
Adopt a new mindful habit
This lockdown might bring out your inner artist, master chef, or physical fitness enthusiast. You should also try to adopt a mindful habit. Mindfulness is a word much talked especially since novel coronavirus lockdown. Before quarantine days most of us went through our days without pause or reflect on actions. This lockdown period can be a good time to start to find ways to be mindful. Stopping to pay attention to the moment can help us to have mental clarity, as well as improve our whole wellbeing.
Being mindful is being aware of your surroundings without dissecting the experience. Oh, this needs a lot of practice. Every time you try to sit calm, thoughts of email on draft, meal plan of the day, or even smelly sting of kid’s diaper. It would take a while before you can absorb the awareness and live in the moment. Being and existing can become difficult when we are so used to simulations and excitement. Rest your mind during this novel coronavirus lockdown and later.
There are few ways to be more connected with mindfulness
- Gratitude journal
Learning how to cultivate gratitude in life is a very powerful way of creating happier, healthier life. Studies reveal practicing gratitude severely uplift physical and mental health. Our brain gets constantly gets pulled towards negative feelings, taxing it too hard. So conscious effort to gather optimistic thoughts can help relax the brain. “Find the goodness” all day.
Though it is a personal choice, but writing a daily gratitude journal first thing in the morning gives a positive headspace to start a day.
- Practice 5-4-3-2-1
A simple yet effective exercise that focuses on your senses and can be done any time of your day. All you have to do is sit calmly in a place in comfortable position and take a look around you. Look around for 5 objects that you see. Drop your gaze or close your eye and notice 4 different sounds. Take a breath and notice 3 different sensations. Bring your attention to your sense of smell. Notice the taste in your mouth. Take a breath and focus on the things around.
- Mindful breathing for 5 minutes
We survive by breathing but have you ever noticed the way air moves from nostrils to your entire being? Stay still, gather your thoughts and focus on any object or point. Take a couple of deep breaths and take your awareness to your breathing. Be aware of breathing in and out. Give 5 minutes to feel your breath in and out without changing the breathing.
One can even practice mindful eating without any gadget and relishing the goodness in food. Or practise mindful tea drinking.
It’s easy to get caught up with worry and fear, but take a deep breath, look around and observe all that you have to be thankful for; then add a few suggestions stated here.
Which one is your most practiced way to thrive during this novel coronavirus lockdown?
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I love the idea of a gratitude journal! Many a times we feel much better when we pen down the thoughts inside our head.
A gratitude journal is my thing to hold on sanity. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Prisha.
Planning day before helps us to be prepared what is to be done in future. The lockdown is now becoming serious. I am spending more time to think and plan content.
You are doing well. Stay safe, Amrit.
Pragnya, these are quite helpful pointers to practise. Yes not being perfectionist is the key as it leaves us with less room of stress.
Agree. We need to stay well physically, mentally and emotionally now.
I would surely practice the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. While I am a regular on terrace nowadays to breathe fresh air. And even I connect with my loved ones via video chats.
Glad to hear that Judy. 🙂
Oh I couldn’t agree with you more! It’s important to connect with family and not worry about being left behind. Great post 🙂
Thank you, Rajshree.
This is such a nice post, planning ahead is really helpful as you don’t need to stress out everyday in morning what to do to what to cook. Spending some time with loved ones helps a lot
In this pandemic time, we need to stay calm and sane. Thanks for dropping by, Neha.
It’s not easy to stay motivated in this lockdown period. My favourite way to stay mentally calm is by connecting with loved ones
That’s an endearing way indeed. Connect and bond in a pandemic.
Being mentally relax is very necessary these days but for that we need to engage ourselves into some activities or need to experiment with our inner ability . very nicely written .
Thank you.
Loved this post, Pragnya! I’m so happy that not having my time structured and planning my kids’ time for maximum ‘efficiency’ is normal. We need to learn to not be at our best all the time. It’s ok to take a step back and just enjoy life.
Yes, the lockdown period turned out much different scenario while we all can just give ourselves a break.
Totally relatable and sane advice buddy and yeah I had written on the same topic in March and our recommendations are pretty similar too buddy
Is that so? I haven’t checked it yet, shall read it out. Glad our thoughts match.
Having a routine and setting your priorities always help. Learning new skill and connecting with your loved ones helps in maintaining your sanity for sure. I also regularly do meditation in the morning that helps me a lot to be calm.
Oh yes, meditation helps to bring calmness.
Unplug is the sanest advice. Seeing news and updates about this dreaded Pandemic has managed to depress me , which is why a few days ago I stopped watching. I will incorporate practising 5-4-3-2-1 as you suggested. Thanks for this very helpful post.
5-4-3-2-1 is a very relaxing technique. I hope it works for you.
I agree with the tips you have shared and it’s important to stay connected to loved ones and engage in something you love to do!!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ruchi.
It is good of you to have raised this topic of maintaining your sanity during lockdown because I noticed my young son losing temper , getting moody and throwing tantrums after staying indoors for last 40 days – so the problem is very real .
Mental wellness is equally important as physical. Hope he feels better soon.
Trying to fix myself during the lockdown mentally and physically things have changed so much and in coming days everything is going to change it is not going to be the same…
Yes, let’s hope things get better.
Really good tips and points you have stressed upon. We all need to accept that this is going to be the new normal from now on.
Guess the same. Thanks for reading, Anahita.
Here, we don’t have lockdown but everything else is similar. I am spending more time on recordings and trying to explore more opportunities to fulfill my recording desire.
Having a routine has always worked for me. This gives me enough time to do each activity with focus. Whether it be spending time with kids or working on my assignments or time spent in the kitchen, having a routine allows me to finish the work mor quicky and effectively.
Inspired by A2Z, I have started a series for the word “Parenting” and my latest posts talks about the same area. You might like them.
Looking forward to read your posts Alpana, you already got me hooked. Thanks for visiting.
All these are great pointers pragnya and I m incorporateing most of these in my everyday routine. Having a routine always help and keep anxiety under control. I m planning to learning a new skill during this lockdown day, hoping would able to do with multiple respsonbilities
You are doing great Surbhi. Upskilling yourself is an awesome step. Cheers!