6 Best Tips for Finding a Routine Again (COVID-19)

When concerns about public health arose as a result of the coronavirus pandemic which immediately turned into financial concerns, everyone was forced to change the way they live, such as working, caring for others, multi-tasking, cleaning, social distancing, leisure activities, and so much more! We did not have time to think about what was happening, we had to act immediately. After many personal discussions with friends and family on this topic, I have included 6 tips for finding a routine again.

1. Set your expectations: This will take a lot of planning in the beginning, dependent upon the number of changes you will need to make. However, it is important to plan
2. Start small: You may need to make only 1-2 changes per week, whether that is going back to meal planning for the week or training your body to not expect the post-lunch nap that you have had (don’t worry, plenty of us, including myself, are experiencing that challenge). If we take on too much too quickly, we risk not following through with our intentions.
3. Accept support: Discuss the challenges you are experiencing or expect to experience with your family or friends. They can help to support you and encourage you. Additionally, their current routines may impact your motivation or routines, and therefore there may be some challenges that need to align across two or more people.
4. Ask for help. Perhaps you live near family. Perhaps you live somewhere and do not have any support. Many people are going through similar challenges. If you do not have others you can count on, now is the time to create that environment by joining community-driven social media groups, reaching out to your children’s school friends who may also need help, and so forth. Because I live across the country from the majority of my family and only have my spouse in the state, we have learned to lean on our friends so much and have created our own community. 
5. Be kind (to yourself). Transitions are hard. Times are hard. Do as much as you can but remember to take time to allow yourself to make mistakes.
6. Be kind (to others). Transitions are hard. Times are hard. People have different needs regarding public safety, financial obligations, and socio-emotional needs.

As you have probably noticed, these tips are extremely broad. That is because there are so many factors to consider, dependent upon the routines that need to be changed and the baseline behavior (meaning, where you are now with respect to what you need to transition).

Currently, I am trying to find a routine again within my own home to include exercise (which I did well with the first month of the pandemic but have since stopped), healthy eating (which, again, went well the first month or two of the pandemic but has since stopped), and finding reasonable work/life/school balance.

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