It started with toilet paper! In 2020, quarantine taught us to slow down. The food and toilet paper shortage in 2021 taught us to be prepared. The fires, ice storms and power outages instilled in us another level of preparedness. Job challenges taught businesses to treat employees as vital partners. And we all learned that there’s no guarantees on tomorrow and deepened our family and friend’s relationships.Here’s 21 ways to survive whatever comes next:
- Keep a journal– Writing down thoughts helps us know what you think. Adding in the day’s events also serves to keep track of future, plans that did not go so well, and great things to repeat. Write down ideas that inspire rather than simply survive.
- Financial Reboot– Plan to spend money wiser. For me, I’m learning to value experience over things. Limit credit card use to pay for something that will not be there when the card is paid off. A dishwasher is considered a necessary purchase that will exist for years rather than a hamburger. You get my point.
- Invest in New Experiences- It is vital to keep your brain awake and to feed your soul. Stay home-stay safe, does not account for stay awake. We love our homes, but once a week, we need something that challenges us. Try a new exercise, a game, a hobby, or a recipe. You do not have to train for a marathon (although that is a great idea!) but taking time to build a new flowerbed, or porch garden along with a push-up challenge can go a long way to feeling accomplished.
- Embrace the outdoors- There are still places we can go and remain safely distanced until we reach herd immunity. Hike the trails in your nearby parks, woods, or walk the streets in a less busy town. Take a picnic lunch to the airport and watch the planes take off while you imagine where they are going. Find outdoor experiences around your hometown or take a day trip to another.
- Zoom with Family– using the Zoom.com app on your computer or iPhone meet with your family online. Or Facetime a loved one, especially our older loved ones. Staying home for an extended time can be soul refreshing for an introvert but soul crushing for an extrovert. Call them! A friend of mine plays games over zoom with her grandchildren just to stay in touch.
- Become a Home Chef– Try new recipes. Fast food has its merits when we need a quick fix, but there is nothing like the taste and nutritional value of a home cooked meal. Throw yourself into sugar free desserts or a Mediterranean style entrée. Or try your hand at 30 prepare ahead crockpot meals and get the family involved in all the chopping and packing.
- Steps-Set a goal for steps and then every week try to beat yourself. If you are sedentary start with 3000 steps, then 4,000, and 5,000. When the Covid-19 lockdown is done, you will be nearing bikini weather! A Facebook saying said, “At the end of this we’ll all be hunks, chunks or drunks.” Let’s choose hunks!
- Goal setting- Set one-month goals, then 90-day goals and then a year’s goal. Go through your finances, your life goals, your fun goals. Then get the family on board to see what you can do to meet those goals.
- Build a Bucket List- Life must have meaning and things to look forward to. Building a bucket list of hoped for experiences can give us something to aim for. Use Pinterest to save your favorite places, remodeling your home, or change your style. Half the fun is the anticipation and then building the plan to make it happen. You’ll be surprised how many items you can check off once you have written them down.
- Revamp- Change the color scheme of a room or the entire house—you have time now! Watch HGTV and start writing down what you like about a room—the colors, the coordination from room to room, the pillows, etc., and start to make them yours. For the small price of paint and fabric you can completely transform a room.
- Declutter– We all have those spaces that we need to go through and clean out ‘one day’. The good news is, ‘one day’ is here! Start small. Empty out bathroom drawers and dump, donate or return used items to the drawer. Consolidate. All first aid items go together in a container on a shelf in the bathroom. Go through the towels and cut up or throw away the ragged ones. Throw out expired items or anything you haven’t used in over a year. Then deep clean the room. And move on to the next one. I started at one end of the house and just kept moving through to the other end. I am amazed at how peaceful the tone is with less stuff.
- Self-Care- Take the time to take care of you. It might be as simple as ginger tea with honey for a 15-minute break, or finally starting that exercise program. Maybe it’s a mid-day nap or turning off all electronics two hours before bedtime. Perhaps it’s setting Alexa to rain sounds for sleep or committing to that ten-minute quiet time at the start of the day. Beef up your devotion time and map out your day on a small legal pad.
- Friends- Meet with friends once a week. You need to just be a friend, relax and talk. Right now, it might be virtual, or with a Diet Coke and a phone call. But if you look hard enough, there are places you can social-distance and still be face to face. Bundle up and find a table to share a mocha. Your sanity will thank you.
- Read a Book-We all have bookshelves. Many of us have books on them that we intend to read some day. Today, pick one up and start reading the old-fashioned way—book, comfy chair, tea, and a blanket.
- Dust- Get all those hard-to-reach places dusted. You know, the ones we put off, now’s our chance!
- Home Projects- Got a home project you’ve been wanting to do? There is no time like the present. Check your local stores for discounts and extended 0% financing. Think how good you will feel when quarantine ends, and all your projects are finished.
- Start a new hobby- That hobby that keeps niggling at the back of your mind to try, start it now. You can generally buy your supplies online or order and pick up at the door. Beginning now will not only distract you from being home 24/7 and might involve the family in a fun project night.
- Build an Emergency Kit-It’s always smart to have an emergency kit just in case. Quarantine taught us to have a back-up pantry, first aid kit, cleaning supplies, medications and toilet paper. The Northwest fires and ice storms taught us to also have an alternative heat and cooking source, along with flashlights and batteries. Being prepared makes the catastrophe deescalate to just an inconvenience.
- Game Night- Invest in a few great games for the family and share them and taco night together. Slowing down may inspire new activities that inspires family interaction and relationships.
- Geocaching- Here is a game that can be played in the car with just your household members but also have you team up with others in your area without close contact.
- Online Classes- There are tons of free and inexpensive classes online to either spur on a new skill or sharpen an old one. There are also online conventions you can attend for a small fee. Want to learn to write, check out a blog writing course.
COVID-19 restrictions will most likely be around until 2022. Learning to embrace the extra time off (if you can) may be an advantage! Let’s make the best of our once-in-a-lifetime gift of time. Please drop a note below telling what you used your moments for.
