Quarantine Fatigue - Creating Your own Sturcture will Help

All of us are starting to feel quarantine fatigue.  During this mandate to Shelter in Place many of us are anxious about what is going to happen next.  We find ourselves frustrated and stressed with this change and worrying about the changes to come - we miss our routines, our daily tasks and our co-workers and friends.  But one of the things I know is that when we are faced with change we can deal with it by creating some structure in our lives.  Sitting at home and taking each day as it comes without any real structure is hard for anyone, even those of us who are open ended creative types.  So I have some suggestions for minimizing the fatigue you may feel by creating some structure in your life.  Like the young woman in the picture here we need to make a calendar of the activities we want to be doing each day of the week.

In my own case I have worked from home both writing and seeing clients virtually for some time now, but even someone who normally works from a home office will feel restricted and a bit stir crazy when they are told they have to stay home every day, and social distance when they do go out.    

So what I have done is named each day a theme which I use to focus my day when I am not writing or seeing clients virtually.  What this does is it puts structure in the time I formally used to do outside the home activities.

• Monday - My Own Work - I use Mondays to do research and the development of my own business, including networking and marketing
• Tuesday - Training Day - I use Tuesdays to do training on various things I want to feel more proficient in using
• Wednesday - Writing Day - I write my blog and work on my latest book
• Thursday - Technology Day - I use Thursdays to work on technology issues that have come up for me
• Friday - Finish up and Fix up things I need to get done that I  have not yet finished
• Saturday - Shopping Day - I use it to order and get groceries delivered and do other online shopping
• Sunday - Spirituality Day - I use it to get in touch with spiritual issues and to listen to and read spiritual books and programs

Of course you will need to come up with your own themes.  Plus,  I do other things, but what I find is that knowing that I have a theme for my days relieves my anxiety and I get a lot more done and I feel less fatigued.  Now if you are working from home doing the job you did prior to the Shelter in Place mandate you will have tasks to do that you must do to keep your job, so of course you will be doing those things but working from home will still have lots of unstructured time, and if you don't structure it yourself, you may go a little stir crazy.

Another suggestion is to use a calendar like the young woman in the picture here.  Make a weekly calendar with the times and activities/themes listed.  I recommend a physical calendar that you can see in your home office, wherever that might be, when you go in and start your work day.  After working with people for years I find that if you have to look something up on your computer this is less influential than a visual/physical "picture" you see without thinking about it first or looking for it on your computer.  BTW, if you have children in the home, having a visual picture of your day and their day, for that matter, will go a along way in keeping them structured as well.  

In terms of the evenings I suggest watching movies and televisions shows and reading books that are either inspirational or humorous.  Watching dark and depressing movies and shows will more than likely increase your stress and bring negative thoughts into your conscious and subconscious mind.  Let those go until this pandemic is over and we are back to a more normal way of living.

As far as the news is concerned I recommend limiting this to no more than an hour and a half each day.  I watch the PBS News Hour at 6pm here in Denver and I review the online news for maybe half a hour in the morning.  It's important to keep up with what's happening but more than an hour and a half a day is potentially depressing.

And of course, don't forget to include your family and friends on your calendar.  You can Facetime them or use Skype or Zoom which will make it feel more real than just an email or phone call.

One last thing, be careful of alcohol and pot.  I saw a Dr. Phil show yesterday where he was taking  questions from viewers using Zoom or Skype and one woman said she was doing a daily Happy Hour with her friends but then she began to think about how much alcohol she was drinking and wondered if this was a problem.  Of course he said this could be a problem.  Plus, prior to this time, she was not going to happy hour with her friends every day so why do this now.  And, alcohol is a depressant and pot may relax you but it can also zone you out and cause a lack of motivation. In addition, I suggest you limit your scheduled Zoom or Skype times especially if they have no purpose other than socializing.  Instead come up with a creative purpose so that you are not tempted to just get out the wine and start imbibing.  By the way, being creative is a stress reliever as well.  It's almost impossible to be creative and stressed at the same time.  The minute you let your mind go over into the creative side of things, stress is automatically released.  So put some structure into you day and see if this does not relieve your quarantine fatigue.  I bet it will.

Blessings, Lorraine

New Visions - Wellness Within 

A Learning and Growing Resource

You Have to See it to Believe it and Take Action to Make it Real 

720-258-5963

lorrainebanfield@msn.com - www.lorrainebanfield.co