Coffee, crayons, and conversations

Congratulations! We have been in Community Quarantine 🇵🇭 for over 100 days! 🤣

One thing is true and sure about the situation we have right now: that everything is still quite uncertain for us at the moment.

Anxiety level is at record high, people are real scared of both acquiring the virus as well as letting their families go hungry, jobs are displaced and employees are worried if they’re going to still have their work the following morning; students are confused with the terms synchronous vs asynchronous/ fully-online vs blended learning, and much more, parents are at loss on how on earth are they going to afford the required gadgets that can be used for the online classes. Decidedly the most important confusion of all, our government has showed that they are as disoriented and bewildered as all of us in battling this pandemic.

But I have just realized that even though we are in a very difficult and confusing time, what we can do is to just take hold of whatever things we can actually control. And the virus’ transmission rate, the world’s economy, and the breakdown of PDU30’s loans are all way beyond our circle of control. What’s within our power are how we manage our anxiety and stress levels, as well as structuring our daily routine so it can help us maintain well-being.

I just would like to share one of ‘tactics’ that I’m doing to take control and take care of my own mental and emotional health. I’m aware of myself as someone on-the-go, and that actively “doing” something is one way that can make me feel happier. So whenever I start to feel stressed out, there are three things I will myself to do: (1) something productive, (2) something relaxing, and (3) something fun.

Doing something PRODUCTIVE

Productivity doesn’t mean you have to start out being the best; what’s important is you just have to start. When you’re productive, you can develop other aspects of your life, like your mental ability, relationships, creativity, health and physical strength, and even your happiness level.

But this ‘doing something productive’ shouldn’t be on the expense of your Mental Health. The idea is that being productive must boost our morale, by keeping our motivation on a high level since having goals to accomplish gives our days some direction and purpose. We shouldn’t force ourselves to be “productive” if it’s already straining us and draining us of joy and energy.

For me, these are the things I do on a daily basis to make myself productive:

1. Work from Home
2. Tamang walis lang at ayos ng bahay/ doing household chores
3. Attend scheduled webinars ng PGCA
4. Paligo kay Ella, pakaen kay Ella, laro kay Ella
5. Exercise (yes, nasa point pa lang ako ng buhay na isang productive activity kong itinuturing ang exercise 😅)
6. Try to write something for IG/ blog

Doing something RELAXING

This is self-explanatory. Charot hahah. Rest and relaxation should of course be one of our top priorities every day! Whether it’s a 4-hour nap 😅 or just a 5-minute stretch, doing something relaxing can give us the energy we need to tackle our workload or the problem we are facing. Not only should we start our day feeling refreshed but we should continue to refresh at various points throughout our day.

Here are the relaxation activities on my daily routine:

1. Writing to-do lists and some updates on my planner (it calms me)
2. Drinking coffee 💯
3. Sleeping (and power naps)
4. Reading on my Bible phone app
5. Reading books and blogs
6. Scrolling through IG (I should be honest enough to admit this ❤)
7. Kwentuhan with the husband, while drinking coffee 😉

Doing something FUN

I am a firm believer that whatever we do in life must always be fun for us, for there’s really no point in pursuing things that make us feel bad. What I mean with fun is that it makes us smile, it makes us laugh, and it makes us feel happier and more alive (and yeah, safe pa din dapat). Fun activities shouldn’t just be some distraction, rather, it must engage us and balance our routine.

These are fun activities for me that I do on a daily basis:

1. Playing with Ella (or engaging her on an educational play if nasa mood sya haha)
2. Playing Clash of Clans 🙈
3. Watching Netflix
4. Daydreaming/ planning on things we have to renovate in our house 😅

Now more than ever, it is important for us to prioritize our Mental Health and well-being. It’s not an easy shot, because we have to be intentional on helping ourselves feel better. That’s why we have to do it every day, for even the trivial, little things we do for ourselves matter. These trivial, little things built to become a self-care habit can make a whole lot difference.