With Melbourne being asked to home isolate for a further 6 weeks, many must be confused and lacking routine. Here are some ways to set routine during isolation.
Take a timeout from the news
In recent months, COVID-19 has been the center of news. It’s nearly impossible to avoid it. There is no doubt, it’s causing a heightened state of anxiety for many individuals and families.
Taking a break from the news will help. Perhaps checking news updates once a day, might allow you to devote your time on things that make you happier and more relaxed.
Keeping in touch with family
Celebrating birthdays and other family events is dear to many people. To hug a loved one truly makes us happy. Unfortunately being home bound takes that away from us for a little while.
Going virtual with the use of FaceTime, Skype or Zoom are a fun way to stay in touch. To see your grandchild playing with her toys or to hang out with your brother or sister for a chat. Keeping in touch with family will motivate you in keeping some routine.
Make time to exercise
Being isolated at home can quickly ruin your routine. One of the first things to fade away is keeping active and regularly exercising.
Try make time to exercise. A short run, a yoga routine, some weight training in the garage or simply jumping on the treadmill. There are many none weighted exercise programs online that can help you get moving. With the use of technology, you can also get a group of people together to exercise at a particular time of day. This routine will help you be more accountable to keep active.
Staying connected with others
When spending nearly 100% of you day at home, it’s important to remain connected with others.
Sharing your life’s challengers, venting a little and having a laugh goes a long way to keeping a somewhat routine.
Some other ways to keep connected is playing online board games, card games and trivia. These sorts of activities can be done through FaceTime, Skype or Zoom.
Structure your day in advance
Don’t let these hard times get the better of you. Try mixing your routine but structure your day in advance. You can establish times to wake up, eat breakfast, set working hours, schedule your exercise and allocate time to speak with family and friends.
Keep having fun
In these challenging times, look to find fun. Watch a comedy, learn a new activity, buy a pet or simply play a video game.
You are never to old to have fun. Maybe fun is different to your norm, but make time to enjoy yourself where possible.
Here are some other places to look at who can help you in these challenging times
- Headspace: If you are interested in learning more about meditation and mindfulness, Headspace provides free guided meditations, animations, articles, and videos;
- Beyond Blue: provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health;
- Heads Up: is a dedicated site for providing individuals and businesses the tools to create mentally healthy workplaces.
Please stay safe and we hope to see everyone living life to the fullest.
While we have taken care to ensure the information above is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances and legislation after the displayed date may impact the accuracy of this article. If you want to learn more, please contact us. We welcome the opportunity to assist you.
August 2020
