How is everyone holding up?! I’m not gonna lie, last week was a little rough for me. Although my schedule didn’t change too much I had a lot of anxiety over the fear of the unknown and feeling out of control of my own life. I gave myself the majority of last week to take it easy as I tried to process and understand all of the emotions I was feeling. When Friday rolled around, I woke up with a new prospective on how to view the circumstances. Instead of viewing this time as a disruption to my daily life, I’m viewing it as an opportunity to re-establish healthy routines and habits that will make me stronger mentally and physically so I can come out of this extra time at home as a better version of myself.
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
It’s no secret that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I became a huge breakfast person in college and haven’t looked back. Trust me when I say I know how difficult it is to make breakfast before going to the office. When I was commuting to an office,ย I never woke up on time but still always found a way to get my breakfast in. For those of you who are working from home right now, take this time to get in the habit of eating breakfast. Once you’re in the habit of having breakfast, you’ll be more committed to making sure you fit it into your morning routine once you start going back to the office. I would suggest sticking to something easy like hard boiled eggs and fruit, oatmeal with berries or a banana and peanut butter on a whole wheat english muffin. If you have a blender, you can also meal prep smoothies and drink it on your commute! Use this time to get your easy breakfast game down! Also, I used to bring breakfast ingredients into the office so I could make it when I got there if I didn’t have time to make something at home.
Meditate
I’ve wanted to get better about meditating for such a long time. I know it can work such wonders for anxiety, stress and overall mental health but it’s tough to get into it because it takes some practice. If you start with just five minutes a day now while you’re at home and build up a little bit each day it will get easier! It’s also something that will help any of the fears and anxieties you might be dealing with amid the Covid-19 crisis. I love the headspace app for guided meditation!
Read
I’m sure many of you have already started filling your time with reading. To continue this habit once life goes back to normal, make a point to read at a time of day that works with your normal schedule too. Maybe it’s before bed, on Sunday mornings or during your typical commute. That way you can keep up the habit of reading you’re back to your normal routine. Right now I’m reading Lilac Girls!
Cook Nutritious Meals
Coming up with and cooking healthy, nutritious meals can seem pretty exhausting after a long day at the office. It can also take a bit of thought and planning. Use this time while you’re at home to try out new healthy recipes and get in the habit of planning your meals out for the week. Once you have a few good recipes under your belt, it will be so much easier to get in the habit of cooking healthy meals on a daily basis. My go to for healthy recipes is Skinny Taste! and you can read more about how I plan dinners for the week in this blog post!
Get Moving
Many fitness companies are offering free e-work out classes and extended free trials on their apps right now. It’s a great time to try out new workouts and see what time of day you like working out best. Be sure to create a workout routine that you’ll be able to sustain once normal life picks up again. I do almost all my workouts through the Peloton app and they are currently offering a 90 free trial! They have everything from yoga and strength classes to bike and treadmill classes! They even have guided outdoor running classes!
Get More Sleep
I’m always trying to work on getting to bed earlier so this is one healthy habit I’m focusing on during quarantine. Since my evenings aren’t as busy right now, I’ve been aiming to get into bed by 9:30pm so I can be asleep by 10 pm. I know that once I get myself in the habit of doing this it will become more routine for me in the future.
Give Back
If you’re trying to avoid doing things like scrolling through IG or online shopping all night, take time to research organizations that you can give back to instead. There are so many organizations in need right now. If you’re not able to contribute monetarily, look into organizations that you’d like to get involved in once the quarantine is over!
Practice Gratitude
I’ve been wanting to start a gratitude journal for so long and it’s one of those things that I’ve continued to push off. I know once I get started and get in the habit of doing it everyday, I’ll be more consistent with it but starting is my problem! There’s no better time than right now to start recognizing all the things we do have in our lives to be grateful for so I’m planning to start my gratitude journal this week.
Declutter & Get Organized
Everyone has at least one closet or space that they can just never get around to cleaning out. This is a great time to get yourself organized and tidy up as Marie Kondo would say! I wrote a big post about how I clean out my closet before every new season here that might be helpful.
Drink More Water
I’ve found that I’ve been so much better about drinking water while I’ve been home. When I’m running errands all day I forget to drink water. Now that I’m home I have my water with me at all times. I’ve noticed myself starting to drinking water out of habitย instead of having to force myself to do it. You can read my tips for drinking more water here!
Learn Something New
One of my life mottos is to never stop learning so this extra time to be at home is a gift. I always feel so fulfilled when I learn something new whether it’s from watching an interesting documentary or learning how to make earrings. There are so many free classes you can find on YouTube and plenty of more in-depth courses that you can pay for. If there’s anything you’ve been thinking about learning how to do – do it now! Don’t look back on this time and wish you had taken the extra time you have to try something new! If you’re a creative looking for a class my Aunt who is a painter suggested New Masters Academy.
