How to cope up mentally in a year-long ongoing pandemic.

Well it has been more than a year since the pandemic hit us and apparently the situation is still not looking good. Many countries have been putting lockdowns recently and most of them never removed these restrictions since February 2020. Even if somehow things were opened for a short while, places were pre-booked or reserved two to three weeks in advance leaving many from getting a chance to go out or socialize again. And last winter made it worse.

For some, winters can be depressing but to overcome that situation activities like skiing, tubing, ice-skating comes into play. Many people (like me!) prefer to sit in a cafe, enjoy a caramel macchiato and bagel with friends on a weekend afternoon or to go to a pub for a pint of beer and listening to live music. But all these events never happened and we had to stay in home hoping that things might get better for spring.

But it looks like that we still have to spend a little bit more time in our homes. So the question comes next, how am I gonna keep my mind stable staying like this? Well there is no particular answer to this as while writing this, I am also thinking how to get past this time. But I would be happy to discuss some of my experiences which didn’t make me loose my mind last year and is still helping me out.

Here are some of the activities that you can try in order to stay mentally as well as physically healthy.

1. Distance physically, but not socially

I know that it’s easier said that done but right now doing this is the only option, if we want to talk to someone else (excluding pets). Plan your game-night or weekends to connect with your friends online. There are many creative ideas to enjoy together. You can all play online games which support server sharing with your friends and there you can kick their asses. Many games support a feature where you can talk while doing your tasks and plan your evil strategy together.

And if its supposed to be a Friday night gathering, use your favourite online platform such as WhatsApp, Facetime, Messenger or if its a large party, create a meeting on Zoom or Google, send invites and grab your favourite drink and snacks. This can also be a themed party, such as funny hat day, or a high end cocktail party, anything you want.

It is a great time to have easily accessible internet to connect, share and more.

2. Restricted working from home.

This particular topic is dedicated to those people who at the beginning of the pandemic enjoyed working from home but now are completely bored of it or are letting themselves go by working way out of control.

As it was proved last year that an employee’s efficiency and performance in many companies increased while working remotely which eventually profited them. Resist the temptation to keep working beyond your established work-hours in order to prove more businesslike.

Know, respect and share your limits with those around you to avoid burnout.

We are creatures of habit. Routine helps us physically and mentally prepare for our day. Shower. Get dressed. Eat breakfast. Keep the same routine as when heading into the office.

If possible, have a dedicated workspace that minimizes distractions and helps reduce the blurring of lines between your work and home life. You don’t want to keep working in your bed and then get an office-like feeling from it when going to sleep there. Try to allocate a small area, whether in your living room, dinning room or bedroom, as your office space and only enter there during your working hours to get that vibe.

One adverse effect here could be getting distant from your coworkers. Now we only talk to them in scheduled online meetings or to review something but can’t connect informally anymore. Try to organize virtual coffee breaks or “Meet by the water cooler” online conversation place to hear friendly voices and having social connection, and have that little gossip! You may come to a surprise after knowing that your coworker is feeling same as you, and wanted to do these activities too.

3. Exercising enough..?

I think one of the biggest side effect of this lockdown is getting out of shape. While few, very obedient people were able to pull an uno-reverse in this situation, not only lost their weight but got their desired physique. Since most of the population, including me, blamed everything on not being able to go to gym, or not having enough space or equipment at home, really let things go out of our hands.

Now it’s time to move that body a little. Try to get in your goal-weight or previous weight range or at least stay in the current shape as this situation is gonna last a bit longer.

Exercising comes in different forms for all, as jogging, cycling, walking, following a YouTube fitness channel routine or playing your favourite sport. It can be anything as long as it is affecting out body in some way.

Working out not only gives us a way to become beautiful outside but from the inside too. It allows our body to work more efficiently and all the other things but most importantly, you can sleep like a baby at night after tiring your body out.

4. It’s self-care time

There are many drawbacks of staying at home but at least one advantage, self caring. Now that can start with sufficiently sleeping, to eating healthy or designing your skin care routine.

It’s all yours now, this is the time to experiment that diet which you wanted to try but couldn’t because of a busy schedule, or to fix that sleeping pattern. You can add that commute time to your sleep to feel more fresh. Try to do some small stretching every now and then to keep those muscles from getting stiff and get the blood flow going on.

And it is also a great time to care for your skin. The best deal is you can put on your favourite facemask sheet (hydrating, brightening, cleansing etc) while working. The same goes for any hair treatment that you wanted to try.

Possibilities are endless.

5. Hobbies

Hobbies are something that one perform in order to keep themselves busy, or getting creative or just improving some of their skills. But now for some people whom major activities used to take place outdoors, have pretty much nothing to do in free time. I think these are the ones who are suffering the most.

So now it comes down to what to do in free time. Well the first suggestion would be to invest your time into something new. You don’t need to be a proficient reader when it comes to reading comics or magazines, or an artist to create a project using paint-by-number (most recommended for anyone who wants to try out painting and want to create a masterpiece in their first attempt), or a chef to try out some 5-minutes recipes.

Second suggestion would be to improve your existing skills, whether you want to become a pro-gamer, put unique content on your YouTube channel or becoming a piano master.

Watching movies or TV shows in your free time is a good idea but it is suggested that it should be for a limited time in a day and binge watching is heavily unadvised.

6. Keep calm and stay alive

As the situation is getting worse in many parts of the world, following above mentioned things are important but keeping yourself and your loved ones safe is at the top. As you can notice that Bee Gees’ Staying Alive is getting more popular now that it was ever before.People are looking for more hope in every area, through TV, social media, FM, whatever helps them.

Remember guys we all are in this together and this time will pass for sure. That vacation on a sunny beach can wait. In fact you can use that money for a more luxurious or longer vacation later. If we won’t stay healthy, physically and mentally, then there is no point of planning a due trip.

Blast of your music system every once in a while with feel-good songs and dance a little, as you know, no one’s watching. So take out all that stress and frustration and convert it into something useful or beneficial for your own-self.

You never know, once its all over, you are gonna realise that it was the best time to work on your new project or even yourself.