Like many of you, the pandemic has stirred up a lot of stress, anxiety, and a whole mess of questions that still have yet to be answered. As we move into the fall and the cases have begun to surge again, it’s very clear that we’re going to be stuck in the house forever! The pandemic has forever changed the way that we will interact with the world and I’m trying to come to terms with all of this. Here are 5 things that I will be doing until I can wrap my mind around life post-pandemic.
AVOIDING LARGE CROWDS
This is something that I did prior to the pandemic but will do it even more so post-pandemic. Because it’s unclear if everyone will be tested, I don’t want to be in areas where there’s a large number of people who are asymptomatic that can still pass on the virus. Since I’m still living with my aunt and uncle who both have underlying diseases, I want to make sure I’m doing everything that I can to prevent harming them. My focus is on interacting with people in more controlled environments. This is what’s going to keep everyone safe.
AVOIDING PERSONAL SERVICES
This means no getting waxed, hair, or nails done for a while until I feel completely safe that the virus is mostly contained. Over the past 5 months that we’ve been in quarantine, I had to learn how to do these things myself anyway. Even though it’s always better to have someone else do it, I will continue to do it myself- until I feel comfortable allowing someone else to do it- in order to keep myself and others safe.
MORE WALKS/OUTDOOR TIME
There’s nothing like being stuck in the house for an extended period that makes you want to do anything to get out of the house. One thing that I started doing every day, that I want to incorporate into my daily routine post-pandemic, is going for walks. Taking a break during the workday to get some fresh air and step away from all my electronics has done wonders for me. It’s gotten to the point where I look forward to my daily walks and something that I want to keep doing post-pandemic.
PUTTING MY FRIENDSHIPS & MY RELATIONSHIPS FIRST
One thing that the pandemic showed me was how much I had been dropping the ball in the friendship category. I was so wrapped up in my life, trying to get my business off the ground and look for jobs that I realized that I was missing out on a lot of things that my friends had going on. The pandemic really showed me the importance of those relationships and maintaining connections, especially when you couldn’t just get up and go to dinner somewhere. Intentionally making the effort to schedule virtual calls with them was something that I didn’t always do when we weren’t quarantined.
Being able to reconnect and reignite friendships helped make quarantine a lot easier. Post-pandemic, I will definitely be more intentional to stay in touch with people.
MORE TECHNOLOGY BREAKS
During the pandemic, the use of technology increased because of #QuarantineLife. Whether that was more bingeing, more working, video calls, watching cable, I got exhausted with being glued to a screen all day. Because of this, I’ve been more intentional about not looking at a screen all day. Even though some days I failed at this, I try to make sure for at least 2 hours after I stop working, I would read a book or do something else that would not require me to look at any screen.
In addition to these 5 things, I will also be wearing a mask, for the foreseeable future, anytime I am in public. Again, it’s all about comfort levels for me. Until there is some control over the spread of the virus, don’t be surprised when you see me in my mask.
WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING DIFFERENTLY POST PANDEMIC?
