Balancing Life During the Pandemic

If you have found yourself struggling to get a grip on your new way of life, you should know that you are not alone. All around the world, life has been disrupted. Routines and schedules are suddenly changed – some drastically – and you may find yourself overwhelmed and off-kilter. 

Stop for a moment and take a deep breath. This COVID-19 pandemic may be bringing us some drastic changes and emotionally-disturbing times, but it is not impossible to handle. You can find some balance amidst all the chaos. 

Does any of this sound familiar? 

  • Your office was shut down due to the shelter-in-place orders and you are now working from home. The schools have closed and your kids are now participating in online schooling from home. Your spouse, well, he/she is also supposed to be working from home, but with reduced hours. 
  • As you try to sign in to your office to get some work done, your spouse is blaring music while trying to work out, your kids are interrupting you for help with math that they don’t understand, and your dog wants to go on another walk. 
  • Before you know it, it is lunchtime and everyone is hungry. You stop working, make lunch, get back to work and it starts all over. Ding! Now, it’s dinner time. 
  • You go to bed feeling unproductive and overwhelmed. And, it starts all over again tomorrow. 

If this sounds anything like your life right now, girl – you need to find some balance. Here are some of our tips:

Don’t sleep in. Without a commute, you will find it enticing to sleep in a bit longer. After all, you don’t really even have to shower, brush your teeth, or dress for work, right? Technically, you don’t have to keep your morning routine, but it is highly recommended that you do. 

In times of change and uprooted routines, you need to hold on to the ones you have control over – and that is your morning routine. 

Get up at the time you always would for work and follow your routine. Maintaining this little bit of normalcy will bring a great sense of balance. 

Designate a workspace. All aspects of your life can get skewed when you bring work home, school work home, and so on. Create a space for your work and designate it your work zone. When you are in that space, you are working. Then, once you leave, you are (figuratively speaking) no longer at work. Doing this will not only train your mind to switch between roles, but it also communicates to others (especially kids) that when you are working, interruptions should be kept to a minimum. 

Remember, you aren’t the only one feeling displaced. Set up a space for your kids to do their school work. This will be your designated classroom so they should behave and focus as they would if they were physically at school. 

Make sense? It’s a simple mind trick that works amazing for maintaining balance. 

Open the lines of communication. When we get cooped up with others for too long, no matter who they are, you are bound to get a little irritated with quirks and such. This is especially true when it comes to spouses or significant others. Shutting down and playing the silent game can make the pandemic shut-in seem never-ending. Besides, in turn, this will mess with your mojo.

Talk. Share. And, be available for your loved ones. Discuss emotions and feelings – and get everything out in the open. This will definitely keep the atmosphere in your home copasetic and light, allowing greater balance to flow freely. 

Finally, breathe. It is okay to worry. It is okay to cry. It is okay to scream into your pillow every other hour. But, it is not okay to stop moving forward with life. When you find yourself struggling, simply stop – right where you are – and breathe. This will help bring everything back into focus. 

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The more areas of your daily life that you can maintain, the less you will feel disrupted by this pandemic. 

Balance is crucial for harmony within ourselves – and with our family. What tips do you have to find balance in our current situation? 

 


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