Happy Monday, my friends! This is the day that I dread all weekend long. For some reason I never want to go back to work after the weekend. It’s not terrible now that I’m working from home but it’s still hard.

As an introvert, this stay at home order should be a dream come true. I love working from home and not leaving the house. However, it is hard because I do enjoy grocery shopping and browsing the aisles at Target. I also live close to my parents and am used to seeing them every week. I have a lot of anxiety about not being able to leave the house and it’s caused me to have quite a few panic attacks.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ways to keep me calm and sane during this period of social distancing. From what I’ve been seeing on social media I’m not the only one who has been feeling this way so I thought it might be beneficial to share the ways I’m keeping myself sane during this time.

1. Creating a routine. I felt really lost when I first started working from home. I was used to working 7:30 am to 4:15 pm but once I started working from home I would end up working 7:30 am to 5:30 pm with no breaks. I felt like I had to prove that I was working and available at all times which was exhausting. Since then I’ve started working around 7:45 am and logging off right at 5 pm. I also try to take a break for lunch everyday but I know I need to be better at that.
2. Eating meals together. When Brett and I first moved in together we didn’t have a dining room table so we ate on the couch while watching tv. This became our habit and we rarely even ate dinner together at all. Since I’m home all the time now I make dinner and wait for Brett to get home from work so we can eat together. We eat at our dining room table and talk about our day. It seems simple but it’s something I look forward to all day.
3. Embracing my skincare routine. Skincare is something that I have been passionate about since I was a teenager. I’ve always had bad acne so having a skincare routine has been super important for me. Now I have all the time in the world to spend on my skincare routine and it feels amazing. I’m testing out new products and loving my tried and true Murad products.
4. Having coffee dates with co-workers. As you know, I’m an introvert so it’s kind of surprising to me how much I miss my co-workers. We are used to working remotely so we have great technology for virtual meetings. We have scheduled times to just sit and drink our morning coffees together which has been really nice. I don’t drink coffee but I love to sit and chat for a few minutes. I would recommend this for co-workers or friends and family as a nice way to catch up with each other while remaining apart.
5. Checking in with friends. This has been big for me because I’m pretty bad at texting and calling. I’m typically just texting my mom, sister, and Brett but I’ve tried to make myself reach out to friends and family. My work made this a goal for us to check in with a few people every week who we don’t normally talk to and I’ve tried to continue this in my personal life.

There’s no easy way to get through this time but we will make it. I hope to look back at this period of time and cherish the memories Brett and I made together. Before this quarantine we didn’t see each other a lot. Our work schedules are different and he has a very active social life with his friends. I’ve loved spending time with him and I hope we can continue when this is over.

What are you doing to stay sane?

Photo by Ava Sol on Unsplash