6 tips to maintain your style & routine while social distancing

Without routine, life during this time can feel pretty random. Daily activities are inconsistent, mismatched, disorderly, and strung together by a common thread of going to sleep each night - and sometimes even that is missing.

Some of this chaos is caused by the fact that there’s no real playbook for life right now. There isn’t a voice of reason telling you not to that bag of chips (please don’t) or to go to sleep at a reasonable time (who’s using an alarm anyway?) The days can blur together when you don’t have a set routine.

So, what to do? Stay up late cranking through a year’s worth of unanswered emails? Binge watch every season of your favorite TV show? Make a drive thru run at 1am on a Wednesday? No! Lose the laptop, put down the chicken nuggets, and turn off the TV for a second.

Here are six suggestions to give your life a little more structure so that when life returns to (a new) normal you’ll remember how to get out there and seize it!

1. Plan 30 minutes of physical activity for each day.

Do jumping jacks. Stream a home workout that you like (there are a LOT). Local gyms and fitness influencers are sharing exercise tutorials on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and more for anyone to try. Try a HIIT workout, work on those abs and step up your chest game. Find a space in your home that’s convenient for your workouts, you would be surprise what can be done in a small space – a hallway, the corner of a room, even a closet! Do anything you can to get your body moving - good physical health promotes good mental health.

2. Take care of your face and body

3. Get dressed when you wake up in the morning.

You may be tempted to roll right from your bed to your computer, but the simple act of changing out of the clothes you slept in will help to create a mental distinction between nighttime and daytime. There’s no need to go formal (or put shoes on, for that matter), even sweatpants are okay! But keep in mind, if you go 5 weeks without wearing jeans, it may be hard to put them back in rotation.

4. Stay connected

If you are housebound with roommates or family, this is an opportunity to slow down and really connect with them. Cook dinner together, play a board game, or just sit down and chat. It’s incredibly rare to be free of many of life’s distractions.

5. Spend the last 15 minutes of your day on self-reflection.

Amidst this chaos, it’s important to check in with yourself and be aware of what you’re feeling. Before you go to sleep each night, write down things you’re grateful for. If you’re not into journaling, take some time to reflect on things you’re grateful for. No matter how big or small, practicing gratitude will help to put things in perspective during this time. If you’d like to take mindfulness a step further, there are a lot of apps that can provide you with short guided meditations.

6. Look for silver linings.

Staying at home means more time to focus on your side projects.  Staying at home means you can finally learn that new skill. Staying at home means you can develop more healthy habits. Take this time to enrich your life in any way you want to – that could be something as simple as drinking water more frequently.