During the surreal times that we now find ourselves in there appears to be two lines of thought amongst bloggers and influencers…
THE STORY
…The first is to carry on with business as usual, meaning talking about the multitude of other topics that aren’t coronavirus related. The second is to acknowledge and discuss openly what is happening in all of our lives; the changes, the fears, the hope.
I can personally see the value of both approaches. I think the choice of which path to choose all comes to down to where each of us are in our personal headspace, our comfort levels in regard to sharing personal thoughts, ideas and feelings as well as how we perceive our own personal brands/businesses and the goals of said brands/businesses.
Moving forward I will be including a mix of the two. I’ve never shied away from sharing my personal thoughts and feelings on the blog, especially if my writing will help someone else, and that isn’t going to change now. However I also see the value in distractions, I call them “brain candy”, from time to time; something to get our minds off of the incomprehensible situation that we all now find ourselves in.
I feel that the current state of the world offers us an unprecedented opportunity to connect with others, which is ironic considering the social distancing and isolation that is inherent to the situation. What makes it unique to anything any of us have ever experienced is the fact that it truly affects every one of us regardless of location, nationality, age, race, religion or sexual preference; if nothing else the novel coronavirus is equal opportunity. Through sharing our ever-changing personal stories and experiences we are able to help others to not feel so alone in this overwhelming mess we all find ourselves in.
Personally, the primary issue that I need to work on right now is time, more specifically the scheduling of my days. Based on what I’ve seen in my social media, I think that many of us are struggling with a sense of time. It has been difficult for me to even know what day it is since this began. It’s far worse than the occasional confusion that I get during summer break. I’ve put thought into it and I believe the reason for so many of us being sucked into a void in the time/space continuum is this: Not only are our own personal daily schedules disrupted, but every single thing that gave us a sense of what time/day/month it is has also been disrupted.
Think about it. Most of us are no longer going to work (and to those of us that are, thank you from the bottom of my heart), any regularly scheduled social activities are no more, our daily/weekly routines for running errands and getting groceries have been disrupted…anything that we regularly did outside of our homes is on hold…even things that you never really thought about as being part of your time awareness. For example my neighbor has a friend that works for the local phone company. He stops by every weekday at lunchtime and if I noticed that red van across the street it gave me some concept of the time…something as minor as that makes a difference when it’s gone. You may not have consciously acknowledged it as such, but your brain used those little things to keep track of time.
Add to all of that the confusion that comes from attempting to come up with a logical way to work from home if that’s something you need to do. I’m currently in the midst of figuring out how to handle faculty/department meeting via online video at times that aren’t “normal” meeting times; finding a way to be in daily contact with my students’ parents that makes sense and will be effective…it’s all just…a lot.
With that being said, I want to share a few ideas for maintaining some sense of time:
- Post a calendar in a visible place in your home. Yes, you can look at your phone however I have found it helpful to have an actual calendar on my fridge and above my desk as a constant visual reminder.
- I took that one step further and have been actually crossing off the days on the calendar with a sharpie. Again, it’s a visual cue for your brain to remember what day it is.
- Over the coming days, come up with a daily schedule that works for you. Divide your day into blocks of time based on tasks/activities that need to be completed. If you are working from home, do not forget to schedule in breaks.
- Write your daily schedule down on paper. I am using my planner, but since I also use my planner as a journal, I printed out daily goals/schedule pages, and have started filling one out for each day the night before.
- Be flexible and don’t stress if you get off schedule, after all that happens often in normal life doesn’t it? Just pick up where you left off and get back on track when you can. Already today I had to reprioritize a few things that needed done earlier than I had anticipated. I did them and then returned to where I had originally left off.
You might also be interested in my post 8 Tips For Maintaining Our Collective Sanity. Do you have any tips for scheduling a daily routine?
THE OUTFIT
I’ve discovered that few things beat a hoodie dress (or sweatshirt dress) for comfort. Obviously this is a work outfit from several weeks, as will be most outfits for awhile.
I can’t emphasize enough how comfortable this dress is. I also have it in gray which I styled with a blazer awhile back. The only issue that I’ve found with a sweatshirt dress is the boxiness…however that is also part of what makes them so damn comfortable. I added the blazer over the gray version to give it some shape and that is the reason for the plaid shirt I have tied at hips in today’s look. Tying a button down shirt at your hips/waist is a super easy trick to add shape as well as visual interest to an outfit.
I finished it off with over the knee boots and sheer tights for some additional warmth since the temperatures haven’t yet climbed to bare leg range just yet.
THE TIP
Since we are all hunkered done at home for the foreseeable future, now more than ever, comfort is key. When you get dressed in the morning put on something that you are comfortable in, but also if possible, makes you feel better mentally as well. Right now keeping ourselves feeling mentally well is crucial and something as seemingly minor as what you choose to put on your body can help with that.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas…
Dress: Walmart (Similar); Shirt: Walmart (Similar); Boots: Amazon
