Staying home is the best way to keep yourself safe against the virus, but being in quarantine has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. At first, the idea of homeschooling, working from home, and basically doing everything else within your private space seemed such a great idea, but having to do it for more than a year now, got us hoping for things to get back to normal. If you’re feeling under the weather these days, being so is understandable, but if you’re tired of the recurring feelings of stress and anxiety, you might like to try out the suggestions below.
Social Media Detox
It’s easy to be absorbed into your social media accounts, especially when you have nothing to do at home. Most of us use social media to talk and stay in touch with our friends, but it’s also a way to keep tabs on current events. With the world in a disorderly state, the main topic making up our news feeds largely center around the pandemic. Being a constant audience to negative news can bring unfavorable effects and leave us even more stressed than ever.
To break free and have a little breathing space, it is advisable to take a social media detox from time to time. Most detoxes last for up to seven days; others stay away from the online world for a month, and some for even a year. Reducing your screen time or staying away from your online accounts will not only lessen your intake of negative news, but it can also give you a positive outlook in life.
Treat Yourself
You might feel like you’re more fortunate than others, and that might be true, but it isn’t enough reason for you to keep straining yourself more than you can handle. Working from home can be less tiring than having to wake up early to go to the office, but because of the relaxed and comfortable working environment, you feel like you should do more than what you’re expected of. There’s nothing wrong with choosing to be productive, but you are also entitled to take your leaves whenever need be. It’s perfectly fine for you to take a day off from your corporate responsibilities if it means taking a breather for your health.
Everyone needs some alone time to relax and refocus. So if you’re quarantining with your loved ones, enlisting a respite care service, taking a small break by simply going for a drive-through at your favorite fast-food chain, or stopping by the park for some peace and quiet can give you the space you need to unwind. By indulging yourself a little, you can keep your mental health in check and be more motivated to provide the best care for you and your family.
Learn a New Skill
Though it may seem like a distraction, learning a new skill can be a helpful addition to your growing self-care practices. Yes, we should stay focused on the pandemic and other pressing issues the world faces today, but concentrating too much on things we can’t control would only spawn adverse effects. The feeling of being powerless is one of the things that has most surfaced during this time, and as a way to regain a bit of control, learning new skills can help. It can also be a fun way to pass monotonous days, as well as a great supplement to your skill set.
Learning a new skill does not need to be something grand; you can simply turn to common hobbies such as drawing, playing musical instruments, or cooking. Any skill or hobby, big or small, will suffice as long as it can make your days look different from one another and become something you’ll look forward to.
Rediscover Old Hobbies
If you feel like you don’t have the energy to learn something new, you can just always go back to the things you already know. Taking up old hobbies will let you walk down memory lane and relive the delightful memories you had when learning about it the first time. By doing this, you save time by not having to figure out the ropes since you only really need to brush up your rusty skills.
This also allows individuals to enhance their work by looking at it from a new perspective. Going back to your old hobbies let you settle in quickly and more comfortably, thus allowing you to have a more relaxed time amidst the pandemic.
Adopting some sort of normalcy reminiscent of your life pre-Covid is still impossible, and that fact alone can be enough to make anyone spiral into a stressful state. Before taking the time to look after someone else, spoiling yourself a little by way of self-care practices will help ease away stress and make staying home actually enjoyable.
