Hello, fellow homebodies!
How are you doing today? Do you know what day it even is?
It's been almost a week since I've been in complete lockdown where I live, and I must say its been alternatively great and frustrating, depending on my current mood.
It's also a good way to practice gratitude for my own privileged situation. Certainly not everyone can stay at home all day, warm and well-fed, for as long as we can, and have. I don't have to worry about my business failing, or my food running out, or even (dare I say it) my children driving me crazy because I don't have any. I don't even have a WFH mandate because my job cannot be done at home. So really, I'm on a forced staycation.
Poor me.
I don't know about you, but personally, I do not have the ability to do nothing and watch TV all day without feeling a profound sense of anxiety. That's probably a manifestation of my own insecurity, but that's my reality for now. I need to be doing something, or I feel like I lose my sense of self-worth. Psychoanalyze that while I tell you what my current schedule looks like:
Morning: Eat breakfast. This is actually a relatively new thing for me. Normally if I eat in the morning at all, it's after I arrive at work and its something quick or randomly picked up in the office. Being at home allows me to make a nice hot bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with fixings.
After breakfast: Go through an online course. I just completed a class from Harvard University on Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster. You can take tons of free classes on edX.org. Now I'm going through an exercise and stress management course as Continuing Education for my personal training certification.
Mid-morning Workout: I am super lucky to have a well-stocked home gym so I have not had to compromise any of my normal workouts. However, there is something to be said about switching up your normal routine - sometimes you can get out of a rut by simply doing something different for a couple of weeks. You're likely to see improvements this way.
Cook: After my workout, I prepare lunch and/or dinner. Again, it's pretty nice to have time to prepare a meal and actually use up all the produce for once.
Read: Luckily before the lockdown, I received two books in the mail and have slowly been working my way through them. Reading is one of my favorite things to do and it's been a joy to have the time to do so every day.
Afternoon Workout: I have gotten a little too excited about the fact that I can work out all the time right now. I am trying to be cognizant that I am likely putting myself at more risk of overuse injury, so I don't go hard on every workout. Therefore, I've been incorporating a lot more yoga and low-impact cardio like rowing if I do a second workout.
Chores: Again, because I'm spoiled as heck, we were paying a housekeeper to clean our house twice a week. Since we can't have anyone come over during the lockdown, we've had to...get this...clean ourselves. There is something very satisfying about this, however. No need to be slobs just because no one can see the state of our home.
Dinner: More cooking, more cleaning. Where did all these dishes come from?
Chill-out: After dinner is my most relaxed time. We watch movies and TV series and (gasp) drink wine and eat snacks like popcorn and Girl Scout cookies. It's glorious.
Something else I've been trying is to improve my pull-ups, using a method called "greasing the groove." If you have a specific strength skill that you want to improve - pull-ups, push-ups, pistol squats, etc. - this is a great method to do so. Basically, you do one set of your skill, then let yourself rest fully before attempting another. Intersperse these sets throughout the day, and notice the gains! Frequency builds neurological connection and inter-muscular coordination.
In plain terms, doing it more often makes you better at it.
For a good explanation of this method, check out this article: Greasing the Groove: How to Make It Work for You
I've also been playing fetch with the dog and chatting with friends and family members online. My social media usage (i.e. staring at my phone time) has really gone up, however I'm okay with that during this time because it allows me to feel connected even though I haven't physically hung out with anyone other than my husband for days.
The above is just MY way of not going stir crazy. I'd love to hear your methods for staying strong during this surreal moment in time.
Stay healthy, everyone.