How To Stay Possitive When You Feel Like Everything Is Falling Apart Around You: Self Care in Quarantine

The world is in a weird place right now, and I think everyone is struggling at least a little bit with adjusting to the "new normal." You might be doing work or school at home full time for the first time ever. Or you might be a senior who is rightfully upset that they can't complete the year with their classmates. You might just be someone struggling with job loss or with the illness itself. Here are some tips that have helped me lately to get back on track and feel a little less down.

1. Get into a routine: I feel way less productive if all I do is roll out of bed and spend the day in my PJs until it's time to go to bed again and change into new PJs. Making a routine will allow you to feel some sense of normalcy each day even if all you are doing is watching Netflix. I just finished my class and have 3 weeks before my next one starts. I do not currently have a job because we just moved in February and I was planning on looking during this time that has turned into quarantine. I know that without a routine I am going to go stir crazy, so I am being extremely mindful of this. I always make sure to get up, make the bed, have my coffee, take my medications, get dressed, eat breakfast and start my day off right.
2. Journal: This might seem lame or unhelpful, but journaling can help free up space in your mind and allow you to get out your emotions in a healthy way. I am someone that has a hard time sleeping being my brain goes into overdrive. I cannot get the racing thoughts to stop sometimes without getting them out on paper and telling myself to let go. This will also be something to look back on to share with your children or grandchildren when they ask you about the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 for their history class. If you have kids, get them into it too. You could even go a step further and make a time capsule. Add drawings, photos of the price of gas, journal entries, a letter to your future self.
3. Make your bed: This is such a simple task, but doing it first thing in the morning really gives you a sense of accomplishment and can inspire you to do more. I always feel better when the space around me is clean. And I love being able to crawl into a made bed at night rather than a mess of sheets, blankets, and pillows.
4. Don't forget to shower!: Something as simple as a shower can make you feel refreshed and ready to take on the world. If this is something you've been struggling with, remember to take it slow. You don't need to do a full routine, just wash your hair, body, and get out. Save shaving for another day. Or if you feel like doing a full routine, maybe use a deep conditioner or a DIY  body scrub. Whether you do a quick wash or a full on spa day routine, just make the effort and you will feel better for it.
5. Drink more water: Again, something that seems so simple. I am the kind of person that loves my coffee, tea, and soda and doesn't really like the taste of plain old boring water. I have been challenging myself to drink 32oz of water per day lately in addition to my other preferred beverages. I add lemon to it or other fruit that we can find easily at the grocery store, and this makes it way easier to drink the water because it actually tastes like something.
6. Exercise!: Now, if you are like me, this is the last thing you want to do right now. So start slow and do something you like! Walk your dog, walk around your neighborhood, do a stretching routine, follow a youtube video... the possibilities are endless. For the month of May, I am following the7 day challenges that blogilates is releasing every week. This first week has been abs, but honestly it is really much more of a total body workout. I am so sore! But it feels so good to check off that box every day! Doing something like this that I can follow along with and check off really makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something every day rather than UGH I need to workout. I have also been sleeping way better and my anxiety has been helped so much by this. And these are things I know happen when I exercise, it's just finding that initial motivation to do it!
7. Read: I enjoy reading but it can be difficult for me to allow myself to take a moment to slow down and pick up a book. I feel like I don't deserve the time to relax when there are so many other things I should be doing. But this is a bad mindset to have and I am trying to get past that during this time. But, I have found audiobooks really helpful because I can do other things at the same time. I use scribd and Libby for my audiobooks and this also prevents me from spending money on books if they are available to me on these apps. 

I hope you find some of these tips helpful... hopefully it's not just a repeat of what everyone is saying. These are genuinely things that have helped me feel better during this time.