I know it’s difficult for most of you out there – I’ve been reading your social posts and perusing your blogs.
Cooped up at home. The children (maybe) getting on your last nerve. Having to teach them at home. Not working at all or learning to work from home. Not able to visit with your parents, grandparents and friends. Not knowing how your bills are going to get paid. Not knowing what the future will bring.
And a bunch of other not-so-great scenarios.
I think that we are all wondering what our new normal will be after things have settled down.
I won’t lie to you.
The stay at home part of this craziness has not affected me much.
Being an introvert and a homebody who has the flexibility to work remotely whenever the situation requires, I’m good and technologically equipped. And when I’m not working, I ALWAYS have a laundry list of things to do so I’m never bored.
During my Week 1, I decided to concentrate on being SUPER productive to lessen my anxiety, distract myself and get a number of to-do’s done just in case I’m called to work any emergency situations at my job.
- All bills paid? √
- May vacation plans cancelled? √ (By now, I think we all know that this is going to last months, not weeks)
- Deep cleaning (my go-to stress reliever) of my upstairs living space? √
- A to Z Challenge posts for April set up and scheduled to auto-post? √
- Sign up and figure out how online grocery services work? √
- Figure out how to play my father’s weekly lottery online? √
- Make a list of all the online courses I’ve ever purchased and start scheduling them for Week 2? √
- Calendar reminders of when family medications need to be ordered and delivered? √
For me, the hardest challenge is not being physically present to help out my folks who are in the “vulnerable” category and with whom I spend a lot of time with on the daily. But thank God (or whatever higher power there may be), so far, so good. We’re on the phone numerous times a day and I make a daily visits to their place where I stand halfway down their walkway outside and they talk to me front inside their door.
At least I am blessed that I can see and talk with them in person, right?
Most days, I wake up wondering if all of this is really happening to us. It feels like we’re trapped in a bad weird movie.
I’ve decided that my Week 2 will be mostly about creativity.
Online courses. Getting back on the writing horse. Blasting some good old school R&B playlists from free Spotify since music is an instant mood booster for my soul.
Tell me, how was your Week 1? What are your plans for this Week 2?
Bisous,
M xoxo
Marquessa 
We haven’t been manadated to quarantine here in Florida, but businesses are mostly closed. Restaurants are now take out only. So far, because we can leave the house, life hasn’t really changed that much for me.
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Same here but the Prime Minister just threw down that he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to get people to comply. It’s just a matter of days before absolutely everything will be closed except for groceries and pharmacies (and the SAAQ liquor store).
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I’m glad to hear this isn’t having such a negative impact on your life. I hope I can be as productive as you in week 2 🙂
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I hope so but likely not. Now that our government is officially shutting everything down as of tomorrow for 3 weeks, just the thought of it all is stressing me out now. But we’ll all get through it, right? 🙏🏾 How are you coping?
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Doing better than last week. More and more is closing down over here but we’re not on complete lockdown…yet! But it’s for the greater good I guess 🙂
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You’re doing great! I’m so impressed. I have not been productive at all. But I know that my depression and anxiety paralyze me. I have all sorts of thoughts of things to do but I accomplish none of them in the end.
Just today, the governor here in MA has given the order that by noon tomorrow, all non-essential businesses must close for at least two weeks. There is no shelter-in-place order, but there is a stay-at-home advisory… which I guess just means please stay home unless completely necessary to go out.
I am sooo bored. I know that me being unemployed should make this less of a change for me, but it doesn’t matter. This is different. I don’t go anywhere. I don’t have to drive the kids around. The kids are here all the time… no breaks. And while I can think of lots of things to do, I have no drive… no motivation. I wish the extreme boredom would get me going, but so far, not so much.
But… I baked muffins, cookies, apple turnovers… I’m going to need groceries. And a diet.
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Doing more baking is therapeutic! We are shutting down for three weeks starting at midnight. Only groceries and pharmacies. My mind is racing more than last week. Maybe because I’m realizing just how far the ripple effect will go. So many what-ifs in my head. This is surreal.
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It really is. I wonder when or if things will ever be normal again. And not this stupid “new normal” phrase people have invented. I mean a normal like we used to have… or at least close.
The baking may be a little therapeutic, but it’s also destroying my healthy eating plan.
And I still wish I could find motivation for something… anything productive.
And… I’m running out of time to come up with something for a-to-z. I think it’s not going to happen… 🙁
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