COPING WITH COVID-19

It is so hard to believe that a little over a month ago, everything was normal. We were making plans to go on a family vacation to visit our friends in Spain. The business was going well for me, and I was getting ready to make some significant business decisions. Life was good, and all of a sudden, things changed.

To be honest, I never really thought that it was possible to go through a pandemic during our lifetimes. An epidemic was something that we saw on sci-fi movies, and it was not something that we would experience; talk about living in a bubble. I guess I am not the only one who thought this would be impossible.

It has been a crazy month for everybody, and I don't think I have ever experienced this much stress in my life. I did have a breakdown in our second week of quarantine. I had a little too much to drink, and I started crying because of the stress and uncertainties this pandemic has brought into our lives. As tempting as it is to have wine every day, I try to keep to 2 times per week because I know it is not healthy. There are countless amounts of uncertainties that we have to deal with, such as trying to keep our families healthy, the economy, and whether this will change us all in such a way that we will never be the same. I used to wake up in the middle of the night and read the news, mostly horrible stories of what other people were going through. I decided that doing that was no longer serving me any purpose, but stress.

Once I eliminated all the unnecessary news reading, I realized that I was feeling better emotionally. For me, it took reducing useless news in my life to realize that I was practicing emotional self-care. It is important that we practice self-care in our lives to be more emotionally stable during this pandemic.

Sticking to a routine is a simple self-care practice that has helped me cope with COVID-19.

Follow a Routine

We all have different ways that we respond to stress and crisis. Whether you have a routine or you don't follow one at all, you need to do precisely that.

Trying to keep things as normal for yourself or your family if you have one, is probably one of the only ways to stay sane during these crazy times.

Here’s how my days look like lately:

• As much as I want to sleep in on most days, I try to wake up at a reasonable time. So for me, this is in the 7 am range right now, as opposed to 5-6 am, usually.

• First things first, COFFEE.... I cannot accomplish anything without my morning coffee. I have my coffee at around 7:30 am in silence while journaling about my day, to-do list, and accomplishments.

• Between 8:00 - 8:30 am, I am on my way out to walk/ jog but mostly walk for 3.5 miles with my dog, Mia. I use my walks to call my friends and family members to check in on them and to see how everyone is doing.

• Between 9:30-10 am, it is breakfast time. I try to make a nutritious homemade breakfast, but the kids get pretty tired of healthy and will eventually want pancakes and frozen waffles. Since they are going through so much right now, I will grant them their choice of breakfast on most days. I, on the other hand, really enjoy a healthy breakfast full of fruits.

• Between 10-11 am, it is cleaning up, making beds, and jumping in the shower to start working and homeschooling.

• Usually by 11 am, I am in my morning shower, it obviously wouldn't be complete without my SUGAR SCRUB, the essential oils in the scrub are part of my morning pick me up. For me, it is also crucial to wear something decent and put some makeup on, only if it is mascara on most days. When I feel good about my self, it makes a huge difference in my overall mental health, and I feel that I have a better day.

• By 11:30 am, I am on my computer, replying to e-mails, working on my blog, social media, and going over my kid's assignments for the day.

• Between 1:30-2:00 pm, I start getting my orders of the day ready and scheduling for pickup of my deliveries for about every other day. I really try to ship out my Cleansing Essential orders as promptly as I can.

• At about 2:30 pm, it is lunchtime. We usually have a late lunch, and it mostly consists of a salad, a sandwich, or leftovers with a twist from last night's dinner.

• At about 3:30 pm, It is time to go to my working studio and create products, which can include making soap, making skincare products that are low on my inventory, labeling, storing, and anything that needs to be done with my skincare line.

• At about 6:30-7:00 pm, it is time to make dinner. We usually have dinner at about 7:30 pm at my house.

• At about 8:00 pm, I try to sneak in my 30 minutes of yoga before I jump in the shower for a quick rinse. I would be lying if I said I do this daily, sometimes yoga only happens three times a week sometimes more, When I do skip it, I try to do 45 minutes to an hour the next day, which makes me have less Netflix time, so I really try to stick with the daily 30 minutes.

• At about 9:00 pm, my husband and I have our alone time, and we watch whatever we are into for that time. We are currently watching TWD, and sometimes we stay up a little too late watching Netflix.

• I go to bed around midnight, which I hope it was earlier, but it is not.

There you have it guys; this is what most of my days look like since COVID-19 took over our lives. On some days, I start my days a little earlier, and those are the days that I feel the most accomplished, but for the most part, this is my average schedule for most days. On other days, I start my days later, and that 3.5-mile walk becomes a two-mile walk. I am not the most disciplined person, so I need to make a schedule and try to stick to it; if not, things don't get done. Sticking to a scheduled has helped me in more ways than you can imagine.