At the beginning, it was: scary, dramatic, unsettling, disrupting, shocking… something new.
Now it is: tiresome, boring, tedious, wearing, relentless… interminable.
That is how I feel anyway.
I have observed in myself that some days I feel overwhelmed and it gets me down.
The world’s mental health worries me.
I wonder how everyone will cope with this very long-lasting bout of extra stress.
And many people are facing much more stress than me, e.g. massive financial, work, relationship, cabin-fever or health issues.
When it feels like a slog, we can only control the controllable.
One area that can help is our self-care.
We can all improve it by 5%.
4 quick ways to improve our self-care by 5%
- Spend time with your best friends – by phone/video/in-person (if allowed). Not just text messages. Try not to keep things in and share your troubles.
- Cut down on news by 5%. It’s good to read the news, but can you check once less a day? I’ve now cut to just reading the print edition of The Economist, which arrives once a week. Anything really urgent, my wife will tell me!
- Nurture gratitude. In the evening, Christine and I have recently started listing 20 (small) good things from the day to each other. Contrary to what you might think, it only takes 10 minutes. Afterwards, my mood is completely uplifted and I sleep better.
- Sleep and exercise more. Making sure that you do these two things massively affected how you feel on the daily. I was able to manage my stress levels better when I took the time to physically take good care of myself.(5% more)
What about you? What have you found helpful in this long, challenging season?
#selfcare #resilience #Covid-19
Would you like to read more tips for dealing with getting through this pandemic?