Amy McLaughlinBIOSC Senior and all around all-star We have been hearing about COVID-19 on the news since the end of last year. At the time we didn’t know the situation would escalate to what is has become. In the midst of a pandemic with stay-at-home orders, essential movement only, and remote school and work, it is important to disinfect and wash our hands to prevent ourselves from getting or passing an illness to someone else. It is equally important to make sure we are taking care of our mental and emotional health too. This is an extremely confusing, stressful, and uncertain time, but eventually life will go back to normal. People will be able to go into work again, we will be able to go out to eat after 8pm again, and there will be enough toilet paper for everyone. Some tips to take care of yourself as we work and learn remotely: 1. Stick to your morning routine. With students taking classes online and people working from home, it is easy to just want to get everything done as soon as possible while still in your pajamas. But I encourage everyone to still make coffee and eat breakfast without distractions and to get ready like you would on any normal work or school day. This provides you with time to be relaxed before working or learning and makes your work time more productive. DO NOT LIE IN BED. Sit at your desk or kitchen table and set timers. Set a time for however long you expect going through one lecture will take. Set a short timer for a break. Set a timer for lunch time. Then when you are done with everything for the day, you are able to completely relax and enjoy a tv show or spending time with your family. 2. Exercise Moving your body will likely make you feel better when in a rut. Most gym facilities are closed at the moment, but this is a great time to take a walk outside and be with nature. If there is a gym studio you love see if they are offering online classes. My favorite spin studio in Pittsburgh, 6ycle, offers hybrid classes called “hardCORE” and “booty sculpt” where the first half is spin and the second half consists of floor work. Currently, they are posting the floor work portion of their classes to their Instagram. I have seen other barre and pilates classes do this as well on Instagram and Facebook. And when all else fails, find a yoga or body weight video on YouTube. 3. Eat well What you consume can definitely make or break how you feel during the day. This is a perfect time to make a new recipe you’ve been wanting to try. Or if you don’t want to cook, many restaurants are still open for take-out. You get a great meal and they still get your business, it’s a win-win situation. This is not a time to be continuously snacking on jellybeans or some other less-than-healthy snack at all hours of the day. 4. Stay connected While everyone should be practicing social distancing, that does not mean social isolation. You can still FaceTime your friends, family members, or favorite bio advisor. Having social interaction is good for mental health, and you don’t have to carve out a lot of time, even just 20 minutes will be beneficial. You can even become pen pals for this short time and look forward to getting the mail every morning to see if they wrote you back. I know a lot of bio faculty who would love pen pals for their very bored kids! 5. Set one goal every day.
Staying home and doing work every day can become monotonous. Setting a goal or planning one thing to look forward to each day can be motivating. This could be a special movie night, making a special dinner, running one mile every day (or training for an upcoming virtual race), or organize your closet. Having a special task or something to look forward to can break up the days and make this time a little less daunting. During social distancing we may have a little extra time (no more commuting) to complete tasks we have been putting on the back burner – what’s on your goal list?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pitt Bio BlogThe Pitt Bio Blog is maintained by the Department of Biological Sciences Advising Office. Posts are authored by our students Archives
January 2022
Categories |