Reduce Covid Blues

Staying home and social distancing now in its 3rd week to Reduce Covid Blues. We are all working from home and your children are attending school at home. What can be wrong with that? Social distancing means no playdates for your kids! Throw in the need to make sure they are doing their homework after attending virutal classes all day at home and you have the perfect storm. Oh and of course most kids these days are complaining about being bored.

All of this would be challenging in and of itself. Throw in the specter of a deadly virus that can be lurking anywhere and on anyone along with economic uncertainty and all that is missing is locusts and darkness.

No matter what , it is going to be a rough go. Some simple steps you can take to at least try to lower the stress volume.

Turn it Off Already

Nobody says to Reduce Covid Blues you have to watch the news 24 hours just because it is available 24/7. You can catch up with the news , without your children present. In our office we notice that children are extremely fearful of catching Coronavirus as if it means instant death. This is especially troubling since the virus so far isn’t as dangerous in children. Turn the news off and watch something lighter. The news will still be there when you are done.

Space it out

Everyone has work to do and needs to filter out distraction. Assign everyone a space that is theirs. Airpods (R) are all the rage put them on to block out sound. Ambient nature sounds can go a long way to help focus and filter out distraction.

Define the Day

When working from home it is difficult to unplug. Even when working outside of the home, it is difficult to unplug from the phone and stop working. It is even more difficult when there is no physical barrier between work and home. Decide a time when your work is done and turn off the phone.

Supplement Screen Time

Without the ability to engage in face to face activities with their friends it can be difficult for kids who are used to socializing. At the end of the day, we are all social beings. We ordinarily would not advocate screen time for children, but given the circumstances you might want to be able to liberalize the time they spend online chatting with friends. You are probably doing the same with your friends

Take it to the streets

If you live in a neighborhood where you can walk, take advantage of it, You should be safe as long as you maintian the 6 foot barrier between yourself and others going on a similar walk to Reduce Covid Blues. Wearing a mask is debatable but if you have one available and your street tends to have other people then it might be advisable to wear it for extra protection as the incidence of Covid19 is predicted to escalate in the coming weeks.

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