Mental Wellness During The Coronavirus Pandemic

These are stressful times and working from home to practice healthy social "physical" distancing doesn't make it any easier.

Here are some simple everyday rituals you can practice to help improve your mental wellbeing.

Set clearly defined work hours.

Working from home can blur the fine work-life balance that comes from working at your office. Many of us might end up working at odd hours or perhaps even longer hours. This can lead to burnouts & poor sleeping habits.

Use your mobile phone to set a clear start time to work & end time to work. To make this practice more effective, set a clear workspace in your house. This will allow you to physically enter & exist this workspace at said times.

Set clear times for socializing.

One of the greatest invisible benefits of workplaces is the numerous opportunities to socialize. Socializing releases oxytocin, a happiness hormone. When we work from home, we miss out on these opportunities. It's important to consciously put effort to socialize during these times.

Engage with your friends over a video call, play social games online & if you are staying with family/friends, set some time out to do some fun activities together.

If you are staying alone, have a buddy system in place. Check-in on your buddy and make sure they are doing well!

Limit your time with the news.

Whilst this might sound counter-intuitive, it's important to restrain from excessively binging on the news. Set aside a time of the day to catch up on the latest developments. Be selective about your source of news especially if it is from WhatsApp forwards!

Sleeping well

Being at the comfort of your home, it's almost too easy to binge-watch Netflix or mindlessly scroll through Instagram & Youtube to fight boredom or to distract your mind from other worrisome thoughts. This can lead to late sleeping hours and poor sleeping patterns. Sleep is the best way to rest your mind, heal your body & help boost immunity. When we don't sleep on time or get adequate sleep, our stress levels rise and our body's immunity reduces. Make sure you try to sleep by 11 pm and get a good solid 8 hours of Circadian Sleep.

Take well-timed breaks across the day

With the ability to work almost uninterrupted at home comes the need to consciously take healthy breaks from work. Try using the Pomodoro technique.

Try alternating between simple stretches, deep breathing techniques to simply turning on the music and dancing for a few minutes during these breaks. If you have a pet at home, even better! Simply indulge in some fun playtime with them.

Learn a skill

At some point, working from home will start feeling boring. Don't let boredom get to you. Instead, use this time to learn or practice a skill you've not got the time to do. Set aside a time every day for this activity.

Managing social dynamics at home

It's one thing to work from home for a day or two, and another to be perpetually working from home and staying with your family & friends. These stressful times can potentially impact your relationships. China saw a spike in divorce rates during the quarantine period. It's important to be cognizant of your family/partner/friends' emotional state during this period of time and be supportive of each other.

Healthy coping mechanisms for anxiety

During these highly anxious times, many of us may resort to binge eating, alcohol consumption, drugs & social media to relieve ourselves. It's important to acknowledge that this anxiety is very real. We could anxious about our loved ones. About our jobs. About how the future may pan out. Resorting to the above means only gives us temporary sensory relief.

During these times, it's really important to have strong social support. If you are a highly anxious person, have a friend or family member you trust to be your buddy on call. Make a list of all the things that are making you anxious with the help of your buddy. Next, evaluate which of these are within your control and which of these aren't. Finally, make a plan of action for those within your control and take tiny steps every day.

Most importantly understand your triggers for anxiety and come up with alternative healthier options for coping with anxiety. For e.g, if you have an anxiety attack, instead of binging on ice cream, can you turn on the music and dance like crazy? Or play with your pet? Or talk to someone you love?

If there are any more challenges you are facing that aren't covered in this article, feel free to DM, and I will update this article.

Wishing You Wellness

#StrongerTogether