My #stayhome monotony busters

These are challenging days for everyone, each of us in the same boat when it comes to worry and uncertainty, while we each deal with our own version of what it means to stay home or continue to work outside the home as an essential employee.

I already work from home so my daily routine hasn’t changed all that much, but my husband’s job is essential so I worry about him every day he has to walk out the front door for work. With all this “extra time,” I felt optimistic about how much I’d be able to accomplish during my time at home. However, I’ll admit my mindset has taken a hit and it’s been tricky finding ways to focus on being creative while also doing my best to avoid getting sucked into the constant stream of news, local online group updates and comments, social media virus memes, and negative thinking altogether. I’m getting tired of the virus being the center of attention in just about every single thought or conversation.

I realized I was taking in an overwhelming amount of information that only added to my anxiety about the situation we’re all in. I was also taking in much more (mostly negative), than I was putting out and it was not only affecting my days but my ability to sleep at night. I had to take a step back and make a conscious effort to limit and restrict that innate need to constantly want updates.

I’ll admit it hasn’t been easy.

Restricting my news channels and feed surfing didn’t mean I was instantly productive and able to remain focused on my writing projects. There’s always that little nag in the back of my mind, poking at me and asking me…what’s up with the world now?  It’s difficult to shut that nag up, especially when it attached itself to my baggage of anxiety.

Before the restrictions we have now, I could break up my days with a trip to see family members, hit a trail at a nearby park with my dog, visit some of my favorite shops, plan for my next book event or visit a friend for coffee. And then there were the weekend plans to look forward to. Now, each day at home is blending in with the next and while I enjoy working on my writing projects, the days were becoming monotonous. How many of us are forgetting what day it is on a regular basis?

I had been looking forward to our restrictions being lifted but last week our Governor extended the stay-home order for another month until May 4th. The initial two weeks felt much longer than 14 days, and I admit I don’t look forward to another whole month of the same, but I understand the need to keep people safe if that’s what it takes.

So, it’s the monotony I want to break away from, especially when we aren’t really certain when our lives will get back to normal. In between the times I spend on my writing projects, this is how I plan to break up the monotony for the next month:

Staying active

The memes I’ve seen about people gaining weight during the self-isolation period rings true and I want to avoid pulling on my jeans a month or so from now only to discover they don’t fit, so I’m making an extra effort to stay active and will focus on these activities:

Regular walks and hikes: while we won’t be able to explore new parks like we’d like, we are fortunate to have a city and state park nearby (our local state park closed their trails recently, big bummer) that offer great trails we can continue to use (some nearby cities have closed their parks so we’re fortunate at this point). And whether we go to the park or just take a walk around our property, the fresh air is a necessity.

30-day yoga challenge: I enjoy yoga and practice it fairly regularly but I decided to join this challenge to hold myself accountable for daily movement since I’ll be sitting at my desk a lot. I also enjoy placing a little star sticker on my habit tracker every day when I complete the practice. I guess that’s the kid in me.

10,000 steps challenge: this is a challenge between me and my husband so not only will we keep each other accountable, we’ll both do our part in making every effort to reach our daily goal because we are extremely competitive with each other. Plus, we’ll feel less guilty about all the movies we stream in the evenings because, let’s be honest, we’re all watching more shows now than ever before (and that’s okay!).

Fun with food

I don’t enjoy cooking but a love to bake so I’ve had fun trying new recipes, especially when it comes to breakfast or snack items. Breakfast cookies, protein balls, banana muffins, oatmeal/blueberry breakfast muffins and mini omelets are some of my favorites. This week I’m trying an apple crumble in the crock pot. This is another reason why regular exercise is a good thing at this point.

Arts and crafts

This is easy for me because I love to craft and I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to make more time for “artist dates.” These give me the option of spending an hour or two at least a couple days a week, if not more, on one of the following:

Paper crafts – I love to scrapbook and I’m also working on other paper crafts and cards that I’ll be sending to loved ones.

Drawing and painting – I’m setting aside time to draw again and I’ve decided to work on some watercolor projects.

Cross-stitch – I was an avid cross-stitcher years ago and enjoyed it but lost interest at some point. I recently found a pattern I had begun but never finished, and it goes with a much larger project (a quilt I don’t know I’ll ever get around to making!), but I thought it might be nice to finally complete the pattern. A bonus is that I can work on it while my husband and I stream all the movies we plan to watch.

Self-care

This is a big one, especially during challenging times. I can keep myself busy in order to bury my thoughts about what’s going on around me, but it’s also good to find time to just be. Yoga is one way I’m able to accomplish this, but self care for me has to focus on the physical, mental and spiritual and will include:

• Journaling daily with morning pages (I use these to ramble about my writing projects or issues related to the business of writing) and also with nightly reflections (how the day went, what I’m grateful for, anything I need to get off my chest before going to sleep).
• Reading, reading and more reading (it really is a great escape) – maybe I’ll finally make a decent dent in my TBR pile.
• Breaks for tea time, whenever the mood strikes because it’s comforting to me.
• Bible study (I enjoy using monthly reading challenges focused on themes).
• Soaking in the sun (as the days are finally getting warmer) and enjoying the outdoors with my Border Collie, Jozee, by going for a walk, playing in the creek or playing soccer regardless of the weather (she’s the best goalie I’ve ever seen).
• Any amount of good sleep is always beneficial. I don’t beat myself up about what time I get up right now, especially when I find myself awake in the middle of the night, my mind racing about some stat or update I happened to hear during the day or before bed. I’ll continue to make up any hours lost so that my mind and body can stay healthy.

In the midst of all that, or because of it, my hope is that my creativity will be nourished so that I can make good progress on my writing projects over the next month (or more…). Our routines have changed dramatically during the global health crisis, but what I’d like to accomplish through these challenging times is the ability to keep my mindset positive, my physical and mental health optimal and my creativity a constant companion.

I expect there may be rough patches ahead and I’ll deal with them the best I’m able, but I don’t want to leave space for my mind to worry about all that’s uncertain during this time. Instead, my stay-home monotony busters are what I’ll focus on to stay positive, healthy and creative.

How about you? What are you doing to help with monotony and the blurring of days during the week?

If you have fun or interesting ideas, please don’t hesitate to share. As always, thanks for reading and until next time, please take care and stay safe.