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6) Make whatever adjustments you need to settle in for the long haul.
So... you're in quarantine. Working from home, or out of work, or working in incredibly different circumstances than you're used to. You have probably settled into a single place with the only people you expect to see in person for a very long time, and started socializing through the internet in many new ways. Most of your local stores are closed, and you have figured out how to acquire food and other things.
At this point, you've probably been doing this for at least a week? And it's starting, weirdly, to become routine. You don't know how long this will last, but you're not expecting it to end any time soon, and, well, here you are.
So what I've been telling people is: right now is the best possible time for you to look at your life as it is, and ask yourself two questions:
1) Can I stand to do exactly this for, like, months?
and 2) If the answer is no, why not?
And then look hard at how you can change that thing you don't expect to be able to put up with forever without completely burning out/breaking down/running screaming into the street. You can put up with almost anything for a short amount of time, and you may well have done that, as you moved into this strange new world that has no people in it (outside, anyway).
But what you can put up with for a week or so is not necessarily what you can put up with for months and months. And the time to figure out what doesn't work for you is now, when the patterns are still new and malleable, not the point where you have Had It, and it needs to change Right This Second Now, and that change may not be as accessible.
It could be anything. Do you need more exercise? Do you need more downtime (especially if you have small children)? Do you need more sun? Do you need to stop panicking? Do you need more contact with a specific person? Do you need to feel like you're doing something to help with the global crisis, or just something you're doing that's more meaningful than Netflix? Do you need permission to relax and watch Netflix during the time you would be working or commuting? Do you need a creative project? Do you need tacos? Do you need different boundaries with the people you're living with? Do you need spiritual meaning? Do you need political activism? Do you need to find some way to not check the news every fifteen minutes?
Right now is the time to figure out what you need that you're not getting, and how you can get it. Later may not be too late, but it will definitely be after you've put up with unnecessary aggravation and frustration.
Here we are. Catch your breath, look around, and figure out how to make this sustainable.
--R
So... you're in quarantine. Working from home, or out of work, or working in incredibly different circumstances than you're used to. You have probably settled into a single place with the only people you expect to see in person for a very long time, and started socializing through the internet in many new ways. Most of your local stores are closed, and you have figured out how to acquire food and other things.
At this point, you've probably been doing this for at least a week? And it's starting, weirdly, to become routine. You don't know how long this will last, but you're not expecting it to end any time soon, and, well, here you are.
So what I've been telling people is: right now is the best possible time for you to look at your life as it is, and ask yourself two questions:
1) Can I stand to do exactly this for, like, months?
and 2) If the answer is no, why not?
And then look hard at how you can change that thing you don't expect to be able to put up with forever without completely burning out/breaking down/running screaming into the street. You can put up with almost anything for a short amount of time, and you may well have done that, as you moved into this strange new world that has no people in it (outside, anyway).
But what you can put up with for a week or so is not necessarily what you can put up with for months and months. And the time to figure out what doesn't work for you is now, when the patterns are still new and malleable, not the point where you have Had It, and it needs to change Right This Second Now, and that change may not be as accessible.
It could be anything. Do you need more exercise? Do you need more downtime (especially if you have small children)? Do you need more sun? Do you need to stop panicking? Do you need more contact with a specific person? Do you need to feel like you're doing something to help with the global crisis, or just something you're doing that's more meaningful than Netflix? Do you need permission to relax and watch Netflix during the time you would be working or commuting? Do you need a creative project? Do you need tacos? Do you need different boundaries with the people you're living with? Do you need spiritual meaning? Do you need political activism? Do you need to find some way to not check the news every fifteen minutes?
Right now is the time to figure out what you need that you're not getting, and how you can get it. Later may not be too late, but it will definitely be after you've put up with unnecessary aggravation and frustration.
Here we are. Catch your breath, look around, and figure out how to make this sustainable.
--R
