Tips for thriving and surviving the pandemic
Because it’s been 8 months and I still haven’t gotten my shit together.
As I sit in my bed in the middle of the afternoon, nursing my 10th cup of green tea for the day (after my 10th cupcake of the day, of course), I ponder over just how far I’ve come over the past 8 months. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions imposed by a deadline that seems to keep moving just a little bit further as soon as we seem to get close. Funnily enough, this rollercoaster has been a bit of a learning experience, and while I may not have thrived, I certainly did survive!
- Have a routine
While, by definition, a glass of wine at 5 pm does constitute a routine, I must advise against it. I say this because forgetting everything after 8 pm can be slightly disastrous, especially if you’re sending emails at 9 pm.
Ah, the holy “work-life balance”. It’s the new hot term to use at work, that is, of course, right after “innovation”. While the balance is so vehemently preached during happy hour, it’s ridiculously hard to maintain when you are technically “at work” all the time. The worst is when someone on your team decides to wake up at an ungodly hour and your (regrettably-downloaded) Microsoft Teams mobile app is pinging like crazy at five in the morning. While I do not consider myself to be a workaholic by any stretch of the imagination, having the self-restraint to not respond for the next 3 hours is hard. Can you imagine standing in the shower and thinking about increasing the font on that slide that your boss asked you to fix? Not fun. Those people at work asking if it’s okay to schedule that 9 pm meeting while knowing fully well that you really can’t say no make this so much harder.
Having a routine that starts with exercise in the morning, specific work hours and scheduled breaks in between has been a saving grace for me. Saying no is totally fine and often respected. Weekends are for chilling and giving yourself a break. It can be easy to feel the pressure of a gazillion things that need to be done – but I always try to get those done during the week so I can relax and for once, not have to give a shit about anything.
- Plan, plan, plan.
I don’t think I’ve ever understood the concept of “hump day” as well as I have over these past 8 months. It’s easy for my work weeks to feel completely endless, especially since my weekends are quite boring. The best way to push myself to get through these is to have something fun to look forward to. Whether it’s something as obviously thrilling as finally getting to your laundry for some clean underwear or something as menial as a road trip with your friends. Much like dogs, we humans also need a reward system to get through a ruff day.
- Plan ahead, but not too ahead
I know, I know, I just said to do the exact opposite. It’s so easy to look at everything in terms of long term gains, but that isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to do things, especially when we are now so limited by how much we can actually do physically. The inclination to make pull out a piece of paper and sketch out yet another life plan is real and hard to ignore. While there are lots of “virtual” workarounds to getting stuff done, it’s important to sit back and feel good about those tiny items you could get crossed off a list.
- Step into your Zen garden
Peace of mind is a crucial part of getting through a strange situation that is inundated with a huge amount of uncertainty. None of us saw this coming. Well, none of us other than those freaky pandemic shows on Netflix that somehow predicted all of this, but that’s beside the point. Feeling on edge after being locked in one room, and even just hearing the words “vaccine”, “pandemic”, “COVID” and “Donald Trump” again and again is enough to drive anyone nuts. Keeping a healthy mind means cutting yourself off from Fox News and CNN and really just any form of communication with the outside world can be quite a chill pill. Hey, and while you’re at it, a few sun salutations and a salad probably won’t do too much harm.
- Remember to call your mom
I know, she’s going to nag you about the dishes and how messy your room is, but that’s what Zoom’s virtual backgrounds were made for. Having conversations with people who don’t require much effort and you can rant to about just about anything is important and quite the chicken soup for the soul.
