NAVIGATING THESE NEW WATERS

What a time to be alive.

At this moment, a good chunk of us are in some form of “stay at home” or “shelter in place” isolation order. If you are anything like me, you’re going stir crazy. It has only been a few days here, yet it seems like an eternity with no end in sight. During these times, it is extremely important to keep some sort of structure to keep the mind and body busy. I have a few suggestions that are helping me navigate these new waters, and I hope they help you as well.

Keep a Routine

If I don’t have any kind of reminders, I could spend all day playing video games, or binge-watching shows. However fun that is for a little while, I start to grow antsy until it becomes an issue. Keeping a routine is really important during idle time, both for your physical and mental health. This includes getting up and getting a shower every once in a while, getting dressed at the start of the day, eating meals at your usual time, etc.

That said, I found a time and habit tracker app called Timecap (Google Play Store and AppStore) that has kept me from doing one activity for too long. For a very limited time, the creator of the app has generously allowed people to get the lifetime prime version for free. Once installed, simply go to Settings, then press App Version ten times.

Learn Something New

I am a major advocate of continuing education. I tend to get bored doing the same thing over and over again, so it helps to learn something new every once in a while to keep the creative juices flowing. With the creative field, it is pretty easy to find something I don’t know how to do. Whether it be advanced motion graphics, or Illustrator tips and tricks, I try to make time to learn something new at least every few weeks. Now that we have some time on our hands where we cannot be around too many people, this is a perfect opportunity to get outside of the ol’ comfort zone and learn a new trick or two. There is plenty of great content on YouTube, and I have watched a ton of great videos. However, if you are like me, you will quickly tired of just how many ads are there now.

That said, I highly recommend Skillshare, a subscription-based website that houses knowledge-sharing content by a large amount of professionals in many fields (like Lynda.com, now LinkedIn Learning). It has a monthly cost, but I have gotten some major value from it within a few days of hunkering down and completing courses. My favorites so far have been from Aaron Draplin and DKNG Studios.

Read Something

From a very early age, my parents instilled the importance of reading. My mother has always had a vast library of everything from non-fiction to horror to trashy romance and more. I began reading Stephen King novels around 11 or 12, and I still read as much as I can to this day. That said, I have a couple of book recommendations for you during this downtime.

Fiction: Replay by Ken Grimwood
This was the (non-comedic) impetus of the Bill Murray film Groundhog Day, and it is one of my all-time favorite novels. A man named Jeff Winston dies at the age of forty-three, but awakens at the age of eighteen again… with all the knowledge he accrued in his previous lifetime. He amasses a fortune betting on events in which he knows the outcome, yet dies again at the same age… only to awaken again at eighteen. The novel sees him attempting to discern why he has been chosen to live these lifetimes over and over again.

Non-Fiction: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu
This book is the account of a group of librarians tasked with keeping some of the world’s most ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts out of the hands of Al Qaeda. A sometimes intense ride, this story plays out like a great heist movie.

Binge Watch Something

Yes, I realize the irony of this suggestion, given the “keep a routine” point. However, if you don’t allow yourself a little indulgence, you’ll go mad. As long as you set yourself some limits, you will be good to settle in and watch a bit of a new or favorite show.

What We’re Watching

The Office
This is almost always going at the house at any given time. We have watched the series through (minus Scott’s Tots) quite a few times, and with the creation of the Office Ladies podcast, we started another round to keep up with their episodes.

Agent Carter
We also started a rewatch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A while back, I stumbled upon a “chronological” order in which to watch the entries. Though we won’t include every series, we always meant to watch Agent Carter. We are about halfway through the second season, and we are really enjoying it.

Write Something

Being the son of an English teacher, I have always been interested in writing and literature. Though I have backed way off of that in the last few years, it is something that lingers from time to time (hence the long blog post). Even if you don’t feel the itch to write the great American novel, I suggest at least keeping a journal of your thoughts. It helps to keep everything straight, and it is a great time passer.

Create Something

Whether it’s sketching, drawing, crocheting, woodworking, or origami, take some time to create something. If you have always wanted to know how to create with a format you don’t know yet, learn it. We have all the time in the world right now.

Clean Something

We all have that project around the house or apartment we haven’t gotten to yet. Whether it be cleaning out the garage, rearranging the pantry or cleaning up the bedroom, there is bound to be something that needs to be done around the house. For us, we have things crammed in the garage that we haven’t gone through in ages. This is a perfect opportunity to get in there and get things straightened out.

On Furlough or Let Go?

A couple of days ago, my wife and I were furloughed from our day jobs for at least a month. We came up with a few things to help us get through financially. Though I am not a financial advisor (please don’t hold me accountable for anything), these are the steps we took immediately that could help you (in no particular order):

1. File for Unemployment
   In Texas, the governor has waived the waiting period to file for unemployment for those who have been furloughed or let go.

2. Put Student Loans in Forbearance
   My wife and I both have student loans, and anything we can keep from having to pay during this time helps us out.

3. Contact your Mortgage Lender and any Credit Card Lenders
   Financial institutions want to get paid. However, there has been a pretty large understanding during this unprecedented time. If you are unable to pay some or all of your bills, contact your lenders. Be sure to mention COVID-19 as the direct result of your hardship. If you rent, contact your landlord to see what your options are.

4. Eat at Home
   Though it is important to support the local restaurants and independent businesses during this time, making meals at home can save you an enormous amount of money.

5. Cancel or Pause Unnecessary Subscriptions
   There are so many different subscription services out there, and a lot of us have multiples. However, you may need to prioritize which are more important to you, then pause or cancel the services you can live without.

How are you handling social distancing? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll get through this together (at a 6ft distance).