How to Reduce the Impact of Isolation on Your Family
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, schools and workplaces have been empty but homes have been full. And as much as we love our families, suddenly being forced to share our personal space 100 percent of the time can take a toll. If you find yourself suffering from stress, tension, and anxiety because of self-isolation, keep reading.
Here are a few tips to keep this beast of burden at bay so that you can continue to enjoy a healthy relationship with those you love the most.
Prioritize Yourself
When you’re quarantined at home, it’s easy to amplify your role as a caretaker. While this can give you something to do, prioritizing others may not be the best course of action for your mental health. If you find that it’s too much, it makes sense to look for ways to put yourself first. One of these is to start focusing on fitness. Your overall health depends on it, and doing things, like creating a workout plan and eating a healthy diet, can give your mind and body the strength to get through the uncertain months ahead.
Meditation and Emotional Management
There’s lots of science to back up the effectiveness of meditation. However, you don’t need to read the behavioral therapy journal to witness the benefits of meditation for yourself. Meditation, which can be something as simple as sitting quietly for 10 minutes to focus on your breathing, has a plethora of positive side-effects. According to Mayo Clinic, it not only helps you enjoy a new perspective when it comes to stressful situations but can also actually reduce negative emotions reduce negative emotions. Your physical health can benefit from meditation as well, and there is some research that indicates it can help with everything from sleep problems to asthma.
Changes to Your Household
It may also be necessary to make changes to your household layout or routine. This could be something as simple as buying a new game monitor if your spouse or children have commandeered the television for marathon Minecraft sessions. In this example, moving them to a different type of monitor can get them out of your space so that you can enjoy the latest episode of Forensic Files in peace. Importantly, do your research before making any major purchase, as buying a new screen that doesn’t fit their needs may only cause more stress. Other things to consider are changing your bedtime, waking up earlier to enjoy coffee without the kids running around, or finally venturing out to grocery shop once each week.
Delegating
One of the unfortunate side-effects of being at home more often is there there’s more to do. Cooking, cleaning, and general household chores all have a way of piling up. And, unfortunately, all of these have a knack for finding their way into one person’s responsibility pile. This can cause resentment, stress, frustration, and a host of other negative feelings. Don’t sit around and let them pile up. Learn how to delegate tasks, which the Organise My House blog acknowledges means making sure everyone has a specific job and that you get to relax when they are finished. It’s a matter of simple math. If there are four people in your household and you each spend 30 minutes cleaning, you’re done in half an hour. If one person doesn’t, it can easily turn into a two-hour cleaning event for that individual.
Managing your mental health
While meditation, delegating tasks, and taking care of your physical health are all crucial at reducing stress, during this coronavirus pandemic, it may not be enough. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a mental health expert (which you can do online if you are not yet comfortable leaving your safe space). By handling your own internal struggles, you’ll be better able to be the best version of yourself for your family.
This is a stressful time. No one is sure what’s going to happen, and the vast majority of us are on edge. But that does not mean you have to let self-isolation trigger unhappiness in your household. The above tips can be can help you manage things so that you can come out of the coronavirus crisis with a whole and happy family.
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Article by Emma Grace Brown. My Life My Rules.