It’s been said countless times on the news, but we really are in unprecedented times. It’s wild to look back to two months ago and try to remember how I thought the rest of my senior year at EOU would be, and now it’s so vastly different. I thought I would be in class, with my peers, and working at my various jobs. Almost all of that has changed now. Because of the virus, I’ve been trying to social distance myself as much as possible when I am not at work. Everyone has been handling this isolating time in their own way, and I feel like after almost a month, I’ve finally gotten into a routine that works for me.
Every morning I wake up before 9 am and try to clean my house as best as I can before my classes meet over Zoom. Cleaning is something that has offered me a great sense of control, and I love to make sure I have a clean space to do my homework and work in. If I try to work in a messy room, I can’t focus and feel stressed. During my free time I’ve also been making a list of house projects and have been executing those whenever I have a free afternoon. So far this has meant deep cleaning, organizing my closet and storage closets, rearranging things, etc. This helps me with daily cleaning tasks, but also gets me excited about moving soon and getting my belongings ready for whenever that will happen.
Another thing that has been extraordinarily helpful for me during this time is using my planner. Every monday I go through all of my classes and write down every assignment and the due dates. I also use this to organize my work schedule, and to schedule in afternoons to relax and take it easy. Sometimes I even schedule out days that I will finish assignments so that they don’t all pile up on one day.
I also try to take my dog on a walk everyday while I listen to a podcast. This has been my favorite activity because it allows me to get out of the house when I get stir-crazy and helps me move my body. My restorative yoga class last term taught me to be mindful about body movement, so walking my dog allows me to do that. I also do a yoga flow at home when I’m feeling bored or restless. This allows me to move my body in easier ways, as well as feel grounded and peaceful with my situation. I love watching new yoga videos on Youtube and following along to learn new poses.
Something that has made the biggest difference this last month is just being easy and kind to myself. It’s easy to get angry and frustrated with the lack of motivation, or the emotions everyone is feeling right now. But being kind and easy has made everything easier. When I feel sad, I let myself have a few hours of watching Netflix, reading a book, or doing yoga. When I feel good, I try to be as productive as possible. Even if I am not as productive as I want to be, I’m kind to myself.
I see all the posters and social media posts saying “we are in this together” and it reminds me to be kind to my classmates, my family, my friends, my professors, and strangers I see at the store because we are all handling this differently. Stay healthy, stay aware, stay safe, and stay kind.
