The pandemic has changed a lot of things, very quickly. Because the government and health officials are attempting to slow down the spread of the virus, a lot of businesses had to close their doors, schools had to close, and a lot of people went into self-quarantine and were ordered to social distance. This pandemic has not just affected you as an employee, it’s affected a lot of employees. It’s not just affecting your business; it’s affecting a lot of businesses. Instead of wallowing in frustration or feeling helpless, our focus should be on staying positive during this time. Here are 11 tips to help you.

1. Put a Limit on The News

Obtaining the news and staying informed on what’s going on in the world, is important. However, we should regulate our consumption. You can find yourself getting sucked into a deep hole of constant bad news, negativity, and panic. Therefore, once you’re aware of what’s happening in the news– change the channel, stop checking websites, and listening to the radio. You’ll be glad you did.

2. Consume Positivity

What can you consume instead? Positivity. For example, read a book, watch some funny videos, watch a good movie or start a new Netflix series. Instead of consuming all that negative news, consuming positivity will not only take your mind off of everything, but it will also put you in a better mental state.

3. Support Locally

A lot of businesses, restaurants, and stores were presumably ordered to close due to the pandemic. As much as this may be out of our control, we don’t want to see small local businesses suffer because of this. Luckily, many of these businesses have transitioned to offering online services. If so – take the time and support a local business! Order some gift cards, purchase some inventory/products, order food through delivery/door dash and try to support the businesses that you love during these times!

4. Practice Acts of Kindness

You can also do something nice to bring brightness to your day in other ways as well! Send a card/gift to someone in the mail, offer some hand sanitizer or order a coffee for your mailman, send a note or an email to a friend. You can also donate to an important cause – or better yet, donate to your local hospital! You can get some items ready to be donated to the salvation army/thrift stores. No matter what the gesture is, any small act of kindness goes a long way.

5. Communicate with Loved Ones

Although we are currently asked to not physically spend time or visit our friends/family, there are plenty of other ways we can keep in communication. Call, text, video chat – or even a group video chat with family or a group of friends. You can hop on a chat and play games together, tell stories – and make it fun! This time is encouraging us to communicate in other ways and get creative. Surprisingly you may even talk to friends and family more often than normal. Try it!

6. Take Advantage of Extra Time

If you’re quarantined or working from home during the pandemic chances are you have some extra time on your hands. Although you may feel bored, unmotivated, tired, and feeling a little stir crazy, take advantage of this time. You know that list of stuff that you keep putting off? Now is the time to tackle those things.

7. Learn Something New/Challenge Yourself

This is one of those tips that help us see the positives a little more. With the extra time that you have, use it to learn something new and challenge yourself! Pick up a new hobby, buy a puzzle, download Duolingo and learn a new language, learn a new skill, start a new project, build something, paint something, tie-dye, redo a room in the house. You name it! There are a ton of new things you can try and activities that you can do to challenge yourself.

8. Allow Yourself Time to Unwind

If you’re the type of person that feels the need to be productive during this pandemic, great! However, you should also allow yourself to be ok with not being productive all the time. Take time to relax and recharge. Pick up a hobby that you stopped making time for, read a book, watch a show, but allow yourself time to decompress in between.

9. Get Outside

Whether you are quarantined fully, working from home due to the pandemic, or you have been deemed an essential business and still commuting to work – getting outside is more important than you think. Go for a walk, sit on your porch or in your yard and get some fresh air. If it’s sunny out – even better. There are so many perks to being outside – so make it a priority.

10. Exercise/Get Active

Tying in with getting outside – get some exercise! This may be the LAST thing on the list that you want to do, but trust us when we say it will help. Exercising during a time like this will not only help you relieve stress, but it will also help keep you focused, healthy, give you the opportunity to do something good for yourself each day, and boost your endorphins. The exercise doesn’t have to be anything extreme, either. Go for a jog, look up an at-home workout program or pull up a short video on YouTube and get your heart rate up.

11. Be Thankful

Last but not least, be thankful for where you’re at. Your situation could be a lot worse than it is. So be thankful if you’re healthy, and for all the positives around you.

 

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