Tag Archives: coronavirus

Craving Social Interaction (or Staying Away And Staying Online)

Posted on March 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Craving Social Interaction (or Staying Away And Staying Online)

Even though I’m not someone who goes out every single day or spends a ton of time surrounded by others, I’m already feeling extra isolated and lonely right now. The few regular things that I do that are social (such as my workouts) are gone from my schedule. And the events that were coming up that I was excited about were canceled. My calendar is empty with the exception of work right now. And even though I can chat with my co-workers while I work, it’s still a solo thing.

I know that being isolated is the best thing for my health and the health of others. I might be at a slightly higher risk of getting sick, but I’m still low risk. But I have many people in my life who are very high risk and it’s not worth it for me to potentially pass something to them. So I’m staying away from people and I know it is for the best. I have no clue how long we will have to do this, but I don’t see it ending in the next week or two like some others were thinking. I hope it’s not more than a few months, but I know I have to work on not feeling more isolated already. It hasn’t even been a full week and I’m already feeling it and notice changes in my mental health.

But on Wednesday, I did get a nice dose of some socializing. In the morning, one of my friends came over because she needed to borrow an iPhone cable. It turned out I had the wrong cable, but it did allow us time to talk. She stayed in her car and I was by my front door, so we were easily more than 6 feet apart (what the current recommendation is for keeping distance from others). We were talking about a few random things and it was probably under 10 minutes, but it was the most in-person socializing I had gotten this week. It really did improve my mood and outlook and I’m so grateful I got that little boost.

And that evening, I had my first movie night in with friends. I think I’ll be doing a lot of these, but we used an extension for our web browsers so we were all watching the same thing at the same time and we had a text chat on the side so we could talk to each other. This was with one of the dating Facebook groups I’m in and we decided to watch “Always Be My Maybe” because we wanted something light and upbeat.

Even though we weren’t seeing each other or talking out loud, having something where we were seeing the same thing at the same time and could talk about it really did help make it seem like we weren’t apart. Texting randomly is good, but having some sort of community event was so much better. We have already planned to do more of these and I am planning movie nights in with several other groups I’m a part of.

And I’m also working on scheduling virtual happy hours with friends over Skype. The good thing is that it’s not as hard to schedule now as it usually is since nobody really has anything planned. The only thing we have to work around is any other virtual hangouts that people have with other friends. And it seems like everyone is doing these types of things now, so at least it seems like a normal suggestion.

Because there are so many people doing virtual events, there is a chance that my calendar can be more full than it was before. And I think I will need that because nothing replaces in-person time with a friend. But that’s not an option right now and we have to accept that. We need to find ways to not feel alone and being together online (or in-person but far enough apart) is all that we can do right now. At least I know that I’m not the only person who feels this way and that there are so many people who understand how I feel and we can help each other try to feel a bit better about this temporary situation we are all in.

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Default ThumbnailFinding A Social Life Where I Can (or Virtual Parties and Distance Hangouts) Default ThumbnailJust Taking Things One Day At A Time (or Handling What Is Right Now) Default ThumbnailTrying To Avoid Holiday Burnout (or Staying Home For Self-Care) Default ThumbnailAnother Santa Barbara Day (or A Little Bit Of Social Interaction) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailFinding A Community (or Online Motivation)

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Some Advice For Working From Home (or One Thing I Was Ready For)

Posted on March 19, 2020 | Comments Off on Some Advice For Working From Home (or One Thing I Was Ready For)

I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been working from home for several years. The jobs I have now aren’t the first ones I’ve done from home, but they are the jobs I’ve done from home for the longest length of time. All my previous work from home was a temporary thing or only lasted a month or two. And I remember when I started those jobs that I was excited to not have to drive to an office, but I also wasn’t sure how the entire set-up would work for me. And when I started my current jobs, I had that same concern but I also have had enough time to get into a good routine and things seem easy for me now.

And with so many people around the country working from home for the first time now, I thought it would be good for me to share some of the tips that I’ve learned over the years so that others can have an easier time working from home. Hopefully, those of you who are used to going into work (and like going into work) are able to be back in your offices soon. But I have a feeling that it will be at least a month or two before that will be happening. So getting comfortable while working from home is a necessity so you are able to be productive.

The first thing about working from home is remembering that it is still work time. You aren’t having a day off at home with work on the side (unless your job is like that). For most people, the hours that you work are still the hours that you work. You aren’t able to goof off or do whatever you want. I know that some of my friends have said in the past that I was lucky to work from home because I could do whatever I wanted all day. But when I’m working, I’m tied to my computer. I do get up to get water or go to the bathroom, but for the most part, I’m sitting at my desk for those hours. There may be some people who don’t have to work as seriously at home as I do, but making sure you have official work hours is important so you do get your work done.

And going along with that, maintaining some sort of schedule is important too. Still having mealtimes and trying to go to bed and wake up at normal hours is important. It can be easy to snack all day while at home since you have all your food there, but making sure you have whatever meals you normally eat in a day helps to make things feel more normal. And if you don’t usually bring lunch with you to work (so you wouldn’t have easy to put together things at home), make sure you have something that is easy to make for lunch is important. I usually don’t eat a real lunch while working. Instead, I have snacks for lunch that I eat between customers. And going to bed and waking up when you normally do helps make sure you don’t stay up all night and sleep all day (unless that is what you do because you work at night).

This next one might be a bit harder since many of us are stuck at home, but it’s also important to have some sort of break when you finish work. You don’t want to feel like you are still working because you haven’t left the space you were in. For many of us, going outside for a walk (as long as you aren’t in a crowded area) is still ok, so that’s a good idea to break up work time from home time. Even just moving from one place in your house to another can help. Or make a fun phone call when work is done. Just something that splits up the time in your head so you feel like you have left work.

And while some people think it would be fun to work in your PJs and work from bed, I honestly don’t recommend it. Working from your bed can make it tough to be productive. And it might not be the best place to work on a computer for a long time. If you have a desk or kitchen table, I’d recommend that over working from bed. And I am a huge fan of working in comfortable clothes, but they are never what I slept in the night before. Even if that means I take of PJs I slept in and just put on clean PJs, I’ll do that. I need something to feel like I am getting ready for my day.

Hopefully, if you are working from home you are having an easy transition. Maybe your company will discover people can work from home and you’ll be given that option for the future if you want to. And if you aren’t enjoying it, I hope that some of my tips help and that you can get back into your office quickly.

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Staying Isolated (or Doing My Part)

Posted on March 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Staying Isolated (or Doing My Part)

I assume everyone knows what’s happening in the world right now. For a while, coronavirus seemed like something so far away and not something we had to worry about. I don’t know if I was naive thinking that or hopeful. But for a while, I thought that it wouldn’t be something we would have to deal with. With other viruses similar to it, I don’t remember it being something Americans were this worried about. It could be because we have social media and instant news, or it could be because this is so much worse.

Right now, Los Angeles has shut down a lot. Essential things like pharmacies and grocery stores are open (and I’ve seen some other retail shops open that didn’t seem essential), but for the most part, things are closed and we are told to stay home. Not being around others is the best, and right now only, way to stop the spread. If I got sick, I would probably be fine. I know it’s not a guarantee, but I’m not as high risk as others. But there are people in my life that would be higher risk and I wouldn’t forgive myself if I passed it on to one of them and they got really sick or died. So staying away is necessary.

Almost all of my friends are working from home now. I’m lucky that I already work from home so that doesn’t feel different. But I feel so much more isolated than I ever have. Orangetheory is closed and that is such a huge part of my life for both my mental health and for my social life. I’m still texting and messaging with my friends, but it’s not the same. There are no places to go out and see people, nor can we really be around each other. This is for 2 weeks right now, but I have a feeling it will last longer. I hope that it doesn’t, but it seems like 2 weeks won’t be long enough to make sure that we stop the spread.

I’m doing ok. I was able to get to the grocery store and they had a lot of things still on the shelves. I got food and supplies to last me at least 2 weeks, but I am planning on trying to do weekly shopping so I can keep at least a week or 2 of food in my house in case I do get sick and have to stay home. With the exception of being alone and not seeing my friends, I have everything I need right now. Mentally, I’m not doing as great, but I’m not doing horribly either. I’m just very anxious and everything seems so overwhelming. I think this is because there are so many things changing at a rapid pace and there is no sign of that changing. I think about going to my sister-in-law’s baby shower about a week and a half ago. The world seemed so different then. I never would have imagined it to be like this now. And if then I couldn’t imagine this, what could life be like in another week and a half? I try not to think about that and just focus on what I can control, but I can’t help going through a lot of what-ifs.

I also wonder what to do with my blog. I would love to be able to blog every day, but I also don’t know what to write about. I will be writing about what I’m doing to manage things and how I’m trying to find ways to have some normalcy in my life, but if this isolation lasts over a month I might not have much to write. I guess if it comes to that, I will figure out a new blogging schedule and hopefully, you will all understand.

Please, stay home to help keep everyone safe and healthy. Even if you would be fine if you got sick, you don’t want to pass it on to someone who wouldn’t be ok. Putting your life on hold isn’t fun, but it’s necessary. And the sooner everyone can do that, the slower this will spread and the more likely it will be that our hospitals can take care of everyone who needs it. We will be ok. We will get through this. It might not seem like that right now, but soon enough we will be looking back at this time and a blip in our lives.

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