Our lives have certainly been turned upside down and thrown into chaos the last year. The pandemic has affected everyone and we are all trying to pull through the best we can. It can be hard on our mental health and you may find life is different in some ways but it is best to keep hold of what you can until some form of normality can be returned. It will keep you going, keep you in a positive mindset and you will just enjoy how you spend your time more. I’m sure a lot of us are just sitting in front of the TV binging Netflix and snacking more than we should.
One of the things we can look to do is continue with our learning the best we can. There are a lot of people still able to learn from home, lots of teachers and lecturers are changing to online classes for now so their students don’t fall behind. Like Travis Preston at CalArts is making sure he continues so his students can still learn and progress in their education otherwise they will fall behind and end up having to redo whole parts of their courses. If you aren’t lucky enough to have home learning available, there are so many options for teaching yourself to some extent. It may be that you order some books online, sign up for other free courses around the same subject you are interested in. It means you can keep learning and not have to halt everything to a standstill.
Exercise is another part of everyday life that can easily come to a halt during a pandemic, if you aren’t able to go to gyms and do the normal stuff you do it is hard to keep motivated. A good way to tackle this is by going for outdoor activities, go for a run, hike and if you live by the sea you can do surfing and swimming. All completely safe and keeping you active and healthy. If you feel like you do need that extra support and encouragement from a trainer or friends you can set up a zoom call or video call and all do the same workout routine together and support each other through it. It will help give you that boost before normality can come back.
If your kids are missing out on certain things see what you can bring into the home so they can experience it in some way. There are so many options and sources we can look at that it doesn’t have to feel like we have lost everything. A lot of zoos and safari parks have 24-hour live cameras now in some animal enclosures so they can watch them from the comfort of their own home and see what the animals are up to. You can also get lots of different kits and sets on amazon like science, crafts, and experiments so they can try more hands-on activities they may be missing out on.
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This was helpful to read. I am trying to keep a normal routine during the pandemic.
For me, normal meant going back to swimming twice a week. Still not back up to 3 times a week like I was a year ago, but it keeps me going.
Nothing feels normal except the abnormality – which I’m getting used to. When I think of some activities I used to do (like going to museums, out to lunch, etc) it seems strange.
It is very challenging to keep a normal routine right now. Your article has a lot of great ideas, I really liked the zoos and safari parks 24-hour live cameras suggestion.