For many of us coping with COVID-19 developments brings heightened levels of stress and anxiety. For others, it can elevate general concerns for self, family and friends. Staying in the know of the daily details can feel stressful, scary and overwhelming. Dealing with daily developments can leave some feeling as if they are barely hanging on.
Here are some ideas you can implement now to assist
feelings of elevated stress and anxiety:
Monitor your news feeds
Watch or read only what is necessary to ascertain current status in regard to your employment, school openings/closures, or anything else to address your basic needs. Then tune out. Do not have this on your daily news notifications and do not continue to search for updates online. This will fuel the fire of anxiety and often create undue stress and panic. Be smart, be aware, then step away and focus on your daily living.
Work Life
If your new norm is working from home, get a routine going ASAP. Routines create order and structure and allow you to focus on work at hand. If you have to adjust to children being at home, modify your schedule to allow for space to care and support them.
You will not be perfect at this, no one will be. It is new, it is ever changing, and there are other humans involved. So, it for sure will not be predictable. Give yourself a break here. Give others a break as well including children or perhaps coworkers.
Self-Care
Addressing your needs can be very helpful in adjusting to new happenings. Take time even if only a few minutes a day to get out and go for a walk. Keeping safe distance from your neighborhoods, and allowing yourself a few minutes of exercise and peace, will be helpful. Can’t get outside? Meditate. There are dozens of free apps or YouTube videos to assist you. Spend 5-15 minutes doing this every day. Feeling very stressed? Practice meditating twice a day or more. The 5-minute meditations can be just what you need to balance work and home life at the same time.
Eating and Resting
Keep your meals simple. Make what you can with what you have. Be creative. There are many of us that survived summers on macaroni and cheese, or bread and crackers or popcorn. We also thought we were living large at the time. Adjusting to a change in your grocery shopping habits can feel stressful also. But take this opportunity to adjust your perspective and accept that meals should be simple, and as nourishing as they can be.
Sleep. It can be hard to fall asleep and stay asleep when we are feeling heightened stress levels. Do not tune in to news before bed, of any kind. If you have curated your social media feeds to have positive influences, then of course tune into that. If not, tune out. Read, any kind of reading. Your local public library as free online books you can download and use as if you were checking out a physical book. Listen to music you find relaxing or comforting. Stretch or even meditate, again! We offer even more tips here on the importance of good sleep.
Connect
Stay connected to friends and loved ones via text, calls or facetime. Social distancing doesn’t mean you can’t talk to a loved one or check on friends. Connect and engage, we are seeing now that many people are craving this contact and community with others. 
Lastly, give yourself grace and give those around you grace. We are all feeling a little discomfort, concern, and stress right now.
Pace Counseling Group is a professional counseling firm located in San Antonio, Texas. We are focused on continuously improving the quality of life for our clients and their families. We are currently accepting new clients with no wait list. Insurances accepted. Make your first appointment online by clicking here.
To learn more, visit us at Pace Counseling Group or call (210) 481-3727.