Madness, Chaos, & Uncertainty: 15 Easy Ways to Stay Positive in Trying Times
I think it’s safe to say we’re living in a pretty stressful time right now. Over the past weeks, COVID-19 has blown up on a global scale, shutting down schools, businesses, and cities in its path. The virus has altered everything about life as we know it — social gatherings put on pause because of social distancing, live sporting events and concerts canceled or postponed, travel bans put in place, limiting movement domestically and internationally, non-essential businesses ordered to close, a record number of employees laid off and filing for unemployment due to hard times and lost income, and grocery stores left post-apocalyptic thanks to shortages in food, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies.
It's a sad reality to sit back and reflect on all the things we’ve taken for granted back when the world was moving at its normal pace. For people like me who like to be on the move, being quarantined at home and isolated away from other people with no real ability to do anything or go anywhere has me feeling pretty anxious, restless, and overwhelmed. We can agree to disagree on a lot of things happening around us, but one thing I think we can all agree to agree on right now is this: we're living in a crazy, strange, confusing, and unprecedented time.
Amid the madness, chaos, and uncertainty, it's important that we remember to be grateful for what we have now and even more grateful for what we will have when normalcy is restored to our daily lives. No one knows how long these trying times will last, but there's beauty in the fact that we're all in this together.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post detailing the ways I practice positivity each and every day. As I mentioned in the post, practicing positivity on a daily basis helps to drown out a lot of the bad news and negative energy happening in the world. At the time I published the post (just over a month ago), life was running as per usual; I didn't think in a million years that life would become so interrupted so quickly. As the story goes though, nothing in life is as constant as change.
Since my brand is all about love, happiness, and positivity, I thought it would be good to further elaborate on my previous positivity post and share some easy ways to help us all stay positive during the COVID-19 craziness. Though I don't want all my content to be related to COVID-19 (because it's overwhelming enough the way it is), I think it's important that I use this platform to talk about and embrace it in a positive way. Yes we’re all stuck at home. Yes we’re all breathing in the same old stale air day after day. Yes, it really sucks. But it could be worse too, amirite?
With a little bit of focus on what to do to stay sane during social distancing and quarantine, I have confidence we can reduce our stress and anxiety levels and power through this to the finish line. Here are my recommendations:
Keep your routine as normal as possible.
Whatever your daily routine usually consists of, try your best to keep it in check as much as possible. It’s easy to fall into bad habits while working from home, but trust me, keeping your body in a standard rhythm will help you feel more productive and accomplished throughout the day. With everything around us changing so quickly, keeping consistent morning and evening patterns will help maintain balance and purpose.
But can I take my own advice?
Like a lot of people, I’ve been struggling with routine in the past weeks. I’m not saying my routine was perfect in the pre-work from home days, but I can see that I’ve fallen off the tracks a bit more than usual. I’m hoping for changing tides as a new week approaches. Are you struggling with routine as well?
Slow down and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.
I know I’m not alone when I say that I enjoy a good cup of coffee daily. There’s something about the day’s first pour of coffee that makes the sun shine a little brighter and the world seem a little nicer. Or perhaps that’s just my grumpy morning mood speaking, who knows! For me, coffee hour in the morning is a peaceful time to brainstorm writing ideas, especially on the weekend. I like to sip my coffee and use the time to do a brain dump of creative ideas or thoughts while light noise plays in the background, usually music but sometimes Netflix or the tv.
Go outside and get some fresh air.
Whether a quick run, a walk around the neighborhood, roller blading, biking, playing some kind of yard activity (softball, yard games, etc.), tossing a ball or frisbee to your dog, or simply just sitting outside on the patio with (or without) an adult beverage, you’d be surprised what a little fresh air will do for you! Being stuck inside all day is no fun for anyone, so do yourself a favor and step outside to enjoy the daylight every once and awhile (pending the weather is nice of course).
Here’s my bonus recommendation: if you’re working from home, take a short break every hour or so to step outside and enjoy freedom from the four walls trapping you inside all day. I usually let the dog out every couple of hours, so I use that time to throw the frisbee and let him run around while I (usually always) record it. Dog videos, gotta love them.
Play board games, card games, or video games — whatever interests you!
Board games and card games are two great options to keep your mind busy because they give your eyes a break from the screen and tend to yield lots of smiles and laughter. I have a few favorites — Battleship, Sorry, Trouble, Sequence, Cribbage (anyone?), and Mexican Train Dominoes. If you’ve never played Mexican Train Dominoes, now is the time to add it to your cart to ship with your next Amazon order. It’s one of my favorite favorites for sure!
Join the puzzle-club and complete a jigsaw puzzle!
Jigsaw puzzles are great for using critical thinking and problem-solving skills, especially the really complicated ones! As a result of everyone being stuck at home, jigsaw puzzles are starting to make a comeback in the activity department and rightfully so for two big reasons: they burn up lots of time in a non-wasteful way and they provide bucketloads of visual stimulation to help keep your mind sharp to the very last piece. It’s been a minute since I even had the thought of sitting down to complete a puzzle, but I’m thinking now is as good a time as ever to join the puzzle-club. Ironically enough, Alex’s mom sent us a Wisconsin-themed puzzle for Christmas last year, so I’ll start with that one and see where it goes!
Read a book.
Reading is one of those de-stress activities that pulls you away from reality and drops you into an entirely different universe. Whatever reading material you fancy the most, setting aside a block of time each day to read will surely help keep you busy and less distracted by all the constant news alerts.
A few months ago, I set a personal goal for myself to read at least one book every month. At the present date, I’m still struggling to fulfill that goal because reading is not something that I naturally love to do. However, I’m planning to use some of this housebound downtime to finish at least one book. What are you reading right now?
This bookshelf brought to you by Jumpin’ Java, a local coffee shop in Fayetteville, NC.
Get crafty!
Do you have any projects you’ve been working on that you haven’t had time to finish? Now is the perfect time to knock out all those would-love-to-finish (or start) projects that have been taking up space on your to-do list. I’ve been working on a Yellowstone scrapbook for awhile that’s about 88% done as of today, but I’ve been struggling to put aside time to craft up the last few pages. Hopefully this downtime will give me energy to wrap it up!
Here are some crafty ideas for you to consider: decorate your house, plant some flowers, start a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel, paint a canvas, create a scrapbook or photo book of pictures, and/or color in a coloring book (thanks to my friend @somewhatperfectblog for the coloring idea!).
Cook something new. Bake something fun!
It’s time to bust out that recipe you’ve been dying to try but haven’t had time to make! I’ve got a handful of cookbooks with markers for new recipes and more pinned Pinterest recipes than I’m comfortable admitting, so I’ve got plenty of somethings to try and surely enough time on my hands to follow through in actually making them. Plus I love to cook, so it should be a good time, unless the ingredients I need are sold out at the grocery store (which in our current reality is more of a true statement than a bad joke).
As a side note, I am not a person who enjoys baking, but I’ve been meaning to get around to making these pumpkin bars, so…
Get lost in the black hole of YouTube.
You know what they say — time flies when you’re watching YouTube videos! I don’t find myself on YouTube that often, but when I do, I’m usually watching: concert videos, BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, NPR’s Tiny Desk, Hot Ones, Ellentube, The Phillip DeFranco Show, and/or lots of Taylor Swift content. So, wrap yourself in a cozy blanket and let me know what kind of YouTube goodness you stumble upon after watching recommended videos for an hour.
Binge a tv show on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Watch a movie or two or three.
Shows I’m currently watching include:
Catastrophe (comedy) on Amazon Prime
The Office (comedy) on Netflix (I’ve actually never finished it yet!)
Suits (legal drama) on Amazon Prime
Some of my favorite shows I’ve watched and often recommend others to watch include:
Casual (comedy-drama) on Hulu
White Collar (drama) on Hulu
You’re the Worst (comedy) on Hulu
Dead to Me (dark comedy) on Netflix
You (thriller) on Netflix
I don’t get around to watching a lot of movies, but Alex and I are planning to watch Uncut Gems soon. If you have any other movie recommendations, send them my way.
Light some candles and take a bath! Or just light some candles if you’re not into relaxation bath time.
For me, the smell of burning candles are just about as soothing as the sound of ocean waves crashing onto the shore. Anybody else? Good smelling candles not only make the house smell good, they also make the house feel so warm and relaxing too. Along with candles, I love taking time for self care in the form of a nice bath soak. Between the candle scents and the soapy bubbles or bath salts, I find bath time to be the ultimate form of self care in stressful times.
Create a music playlist and have yourself a little karaoke dance party.
If you’ve been hanging around my blog and Instagram long enough, you know I love listening to music! Nothing says social disDANCING like a little living room dance party (ok, ok, bad pun but I read it somewhere else so it’s not my bad pun to take credit for). I’ve been listening along to a lot of whole albums lately, so I’ll share below the ones that have made their way to Jen’s-sing-along-recommendations in the recent months:
tryhard, The Band Camino
Ticket To L.A., Brett Young
Supernova, Caitlyn Smith
Dedicated, Carly Rae Jepsen
Because The Internet, Childish Gambino
I Don’t Believe We’ve Met, Danielle Bradbery
Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa
Dear Happy, Gabrielle Aplin
BADLANDS (Deluxe), Halsey
The Hype, Hoodie Allen
Happiness Begins, Jonas Brothers
Golden Hour, Kacey Musgraves
kelsea, Kelsea Ballerini
Melodrama, Lorde
You Are OK, The Maine
If I Know Me, Morgan Wallen
Heartbreak Weather, Niall Horan
Made In The A.M. (Deluxe Edition), One Direction
After Laughter, Paramore
ASYLUM, A R I Z O N A
Rare, Selena Gomez
Living Proof, State Champs
reputation, Taylor Swift
a constant state of improvement., Virginia To Vegas
I’m Not Worried Anymore, THE WLDLFE'
I highlight After Laughter by Paramore as the music mood of Quarantine 2020. The songs of the album fit perfect amongst the fake-happy, rose-colored misery we have to deal with in these hard times. Another pun, oops.
Have e-hangouts with your friends and family.
So what you can’t hangout with your friends and family in person anymore? Forget actual human interaction, it’s time for socialization the 2020 way — FaceTime, Zoom, Facebook Messenger, etc. Social distancing is hard for a lot of people, but technology sure helps it feel a little less lonely. I’ve already had several Facebook video chats with my family back in Wisconsin, our own little version of a virtual family reunion I guess! Though I can’t wait to get back to actually hanging out with my friends and family, e-hangouts will help fill the void for now.
Reminisce on some of your favorite travel memories.
When I feel stressed out, I have a few outlets, one of them being travel. With travel plans put on hold indefinitely, I’ve been trying to use my time to look through photos of some of my favorite travel memories in hopes they hold me over until I can be on the go again. Wishful thinking or reality? I guess time will tell.
Mom and I in NYC Thanksgiving 2019. Read about that trip here.
Dress up, take some cute selfies, and remember to SMILE!
I end with this one because I know the feeling — it’s hard to have the desire to get dressed and look nice when no one is going to see you. BUT, “look good feel good” is a saying for a reason. It’s easy to feel gloomy and miserable when you’ve been lounging in your pjs with messy hair all day. Replace the lazy day gloomies with some positive vibes by getting dressed up, even if it means you will be the only person to physically see yourself. You can always take cute selfies to upload to your blog for all your friends to see!
A collection of quarantine selfies from my iPhone camera roll.
Stay safe out there friends! I’m wishing you all good health and happiness in the days ahead. Please remember to do your part to quarantine and isolate; the quicker we band together to support the various executive orders, the quicker we will make it through these trying times.
Just remember, sometimes it gets bad before it gets better. Do your best to stay positive and if you find yourself needing someone to talk to, please reach out.
Enjoy.
JB