How to Keep your Mind Healthy during the Pandemic

You might be wondering why you started losing the will to complete simple tasks or chores during the pandemic. Leaving your house for work becomes a burden, because you are constantly worrying about safety. Some of us might have decided to finish their work remotely and not leaving the house at all. Perhaps, we also suffered from the lack of will to get up every morning and be haunted by fear of this pandemic all over again.

While these feelings might be overwhelming, clinical psychologist Catherine Powers-James, Ph.D. stated that it is completely normal to experience what she called as “Covid-19 Blues.” According to an article written for mdanderson.org Covid-19 restrictions have made a lot of people unable to enjoy the things they’ve always found interesting. Again, this situation will be completely normal as long as it doesn’t take a toll on our daily lives on an extreme level.

If so, what can we do to avoid this blues and fatigue? Acknowledging your feelings will be the most important step that you can take. Keep in mind that everything you feel is valid and don’t blame yourself on something you can’t control. The next thing you can do, is by following some easy steps that we’ve summarized in this month’s article:

1. Seek for essential information only

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Although information can become really handy during the new normal era, there are a lot of things that must be taken into consideration. For instance, the news about death statistics due to Covid-19 might be triggering for some people. Not only it raises fear and anxiety, such thing can also bring bad influences for our mental health in the long run. Instead of focusing your attention on that particular information, WHO advised people to watch, read, or listen to news related to Covid-19 prevention. This way, anxiety or distressed can be managed a lot easier.

2. Pick up a new hobby

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You might have notice how some of your friends and relatives share updates about their new hobby on social media. From cooking, knitting, learning new languages, to gardening – people will go to a great length in order to keep a positive mind these days. Of course, this is something that is also applicable for your life. Josa Lukman wrote for The Jakarta Post about the unexpected joy on taking up new hobbies. Not only it’ll help people to pass the time, this activity can also be a great start to gain valuable skills. Who knows if one day, our knowledge around knitting or gardening can lead to something great!

3. Be mindful of what you eat

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Did you know that food can both affect our physical and mental health? On an article wrote for mentalhealth.org.uk, food can trick our brains into releasing any chemicals that we might be lacking. For example, eating chocolate can make someone in a good mood because it can help to increase our dopamine level. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we must consume chocolate at any waking moment. Our body still needs a good source of protein, vitamin, and good fat to help us adjusting our mood. Remember what our mother used to say “Don’t forget to eat your vegetables!”

4. Do light exercises if necessary

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Since we spend the majority of our time at home, a lot of us might have just realized that they always born to be a homebody. There is nothing more satisfying that sitting in a couch all day, watching movies, ordering take-outs, and then repeating those activities the next day. While this routine is everything we can only dream of on busy day, do not abandon your body’s need to burn calories. Doing exercises such as yoga, light jog on the treadmill, or perhaps a quick cardio can help you to fulfil this need.

5. Take time for yourself

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We might have come to a realization that working at home doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll have a lot of time in our hands. After jumping from one virtual meeting to another, perhaps we’re still left with reports and daily tasks to finish. Once the working hour has ended, there are chores at home that cannot be postponed until the next day. This can be overwhelming for a lot of people – especially with once we realize that the situation out there isn’t get any better. If you’re starting to feel stressed out, try to take a step back from your hectic daily lives. Keep in mind that while your professional life matter, your mental health is more important.