A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO THE PANDEMIC #2 – MY QUARANTINE ROUTINE!
We all could be a lot more famous by motivating ourselves to create a routine. Up to just last week, a full 35 days of the 43 days I have been self-quarantined, my day looked like this:
- Make the bed (this is important), have coffee and a chat with my husband.
- Work in my office while catching The View at 11:00 for 30 mins. until Cuomo comes on with his daily report.
- Prep, have lunch with my husband and do the dishes (It seems like all I am doing is prepping, cooking and doing dishes these days!)
- Work in my office with TV on for noise. Thank goodness for Law & Order SUV and Criminal Minds reruns! I cannot take the 24/7 Covid reports!
- Watch General Hospital until the NJ Governor interrupts the show with his daily report…really? Can’t we just do this during the rest of the 15 hours of news all day? *&%$.
*Note: If you have realized that I am unavailable from 3:00-4:00…now you know why!
- Work in my office.
- Prep, cook, eat dinner and do the dishes…sigh (eye rolling!)
- Binge watch Netflix.
*Note” If you have realized that I do not answer my phone (even though you know that I’m home) it’s because my husband and I have always turned off our phones after dinner for some “us” time. We’re keeping to our routine.
AND SCENE!
Yep, that’s been my life and routine for the first 35 days of self-quarantine! BORING! Except for a few Zoom sessions thrown in here or there and a telephone call now and again, it wasn’t until last week that I finally made myself...
Please read my first issue of A Survivor's Guide to the Pandemic - Activate to Motivate. I made a major TO DO list with everything I wanted to get done during this “down time” (it was massive.) I then re-organized my daily routine adding in or including some of the following each day:
Choosing 1-5 things depending on the priority and/or complexity of the project from the To Do List to commit to getting done with no pressure but with a sense of self-accountability to intend to do these things.
Doing one daily Zoom or FaceTime catch up with a friend or family member. You’d be surprised what a lift this is! To see someone in front of you is amazing. This has also prompted me to:
Take a real shower every day, doing my hair and light make up rather than to continue to live in my yoga pants with funky hair for 2 days at a time. Again, the more you feel like yourself, the better you will function. The more “camera ready” you are, the more likely you will feel like FaceTiming or going on Zoom.
Also, I’m here with my husband who really doesn’t care if I do my hair or make up but when I asked myself, “Who do I want to look my best for?”... it’s him. Why not take the time just for him? Ultimately though, it is really for me…to feel like me again. The more that I feel like me, the more productive I seem to be.
I am reading just 1-2 chapters of a good book nightly. I’m currently reading a book that Richard Skipper recommended to me, Platform, Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt. It’s a step-by-step guide for anyone with something to say or sell. I’ll do a Sue’s Views on this when I’m done.
Taking the time to write to everyone with a Birthday on Facebook with a little note checking in with them to see if they are OK vs. just saying, “Happy Birthday” or nothing at all. This means a lot to people, especially people who may be alone. Take the few minutes to do this because it could make someone’s day.
I have also been picking one person every day on Facebook who I have not heard from in a while and sending them a PM to just check in with them and say “hello” and to see how they are doing. It takes less than a minute!
I work out 30-40 minutes right before dinner 3-5 times a week.
I am also incorporating weekly things to do with no specific schedule but with a commitment to do a few of these things at least once a week:
Sunday is my day out of my office, but I do prep all my To Do Lists forward for the week and prep my Cabaret Hotspot Spotlights in the morning. Sunday late afternoon I have a standing Zoom meeting with some singing friends.
Dance Party! Kenro and I put on some salsa music and just dance for 30-40 minutes once a week as the spirit moves us!
Grabbing my husband for a spontaneous "Movie Star" kiss for no reason again, as the spirit moves us! (Wink! Wink!)
Schedule a Zoom session with my Musical Director and/or Director.
Schedule a Zoom session with my “girls”, two young gals I’m mentoring to do their first Cabaret show.
I bake some goodies to freeze so that we can have 1 delicious treat every day with afternoon tea at 3:00. Please read my next article A Survivor’s Guide to the Pandemic #3 – Stress Eating! This is a look at those of us with food issues at a time when stress eating is all that we seem to want to do!
And speaking of food...try a new recipe!
Ask yourself what else you can do to structure your day better to make it more productive, less lonely and more fun!
What is your Quarantine Routine?