May 11-17, 2020
The days are getting longer and the weather warmer here in the Bay Area. It’s been two months since the shelter-in-place order started.
My week was very uneventful, spent mostly indoors due to deadlines at work. One call after the other and sometimes, I forget to take a break or have proper lunch. There are time zones to consider with colleagues working in other parts of the country. Videocon calls are becoming the new normal but in some respects more demanding on ones time and attention. To be honest, I do not think I’ll ever get used to it or will enjoy it.
I’m one of those people who love face-to-face interactions. I never warmed up to online classes. I am doing it now but I find it hard to get focused and motivated to move forward. Somehow, self-paced learning is not my thing. I’m an extrovert. I want real people around me. I hate learning without the real time and real life knowledge exchange to discuss a specific subject. I get bored easily, too. I don’t know about you but for me – whether in education, or at work or in anything I’m trying to learn – the repartee and the free flow of ideas and points of view is what motivates me.
For someone like me, CoVid19 is becoming a burden. So this week, in order not to succumb to cabin fever, I decided to vary my routine a little bit. I suggest you do the same.
What are some of the changes I’ve made to liven up my daily routine?
- Do daily walks. We have a park near our home and the park warden has opened up some trails for walking and hiking so now is that time to enjoy the outdoors while still sheltered-in-place.
- I have decided to cut off my online time up until 8 pm daily. There were a couple of days last week that I was so focused on looking at my screen, I had eye strain and headaches. We need to take care of ourselves, too, and this is my conscious effort to balance my screen time.
- Go to bed earlier to have time to enjoy a few minutes of reading a physical book. I have been caught up with various group chats and news alerts that I have forgotten to take a book in my hand and let my mind wander off to a different realm outside of CoVid19.
- Practice meditation twice a day. One in the morning and one before going to bed. It doesn’t hurt to start your day with a calm mind and end with a relaxed one. I’ve sept much better, too.
- Research on possible destinations to visit when CoVid19 becomes a thing of the past. Somehow, mentally getting myself off the negative side of this pandemic and focusing on the future, calms my mind. There is a future brighter than what now brings.
We need to be resilient. We need to adapt and learn to change.
Normal doesn’t quite exist and won’t be around until a vaccine is developed.
