I’d like to start this off with an acknowledgment of the current situation. COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by WHO, Italy has been placed on mandatory quarantine, and the numbers of those affected are increasing. The CDC, local governments, and health professionals at large are calling for people to engage in social distancing and isolation; basically, staying home as much as possible.
When I initially started writing this post, I intended to make it about a few things I’d learned when working from home if you were also a person who worked from home. But with more and more businesses closing their doors and either requiring workers to work from home or laying them off altogether, this kind of post felt like it needed to evolve with the current context.
While certain safety net precautions are cropping up here and there, for example with some counties stating that they will not be processing evictions during this time, this still creates a ton of housing and income anxiety, especially since those most affected are sex workers, people who work in the service industry, and freelance/contract workers, all of whom are already forced to work under precarious conditions when it comes to wage and housing security. Further, this intersects across racial lines, as there are higher numbers of black and brown people working within industries where remote work is not possible and sick leave is not available. Undocumented people are left without care or security and ICE continues to conduct sweeps.
Published in 2018 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this chart demonstrates the racial breakup amongst different types of occupation in the US.
What we’re living through right now is a slowing of capitalism. There are calls to freeze evictions, rent and mortgages, loans, debts, water bills. Restaurants and bars are closing up shop. Weddings, festivals, and conferences are all being canceled.
The show does not go on. Business is not as usual. So, this is no longer a post on tips on how to work from home. Instead, I’m asking a few questions.
Rather than engage in an endless hustle and grind cycle during this time of increased stress, what if we took advantage of the time to care for ourselves instead?
Instead of trying to find ways to be productive while at home, what if we tried to rest?
The idea can feel foreign. Just laying on the couch? Without it being in avoidance of a chore or deadline?
Watching Netflix? Without trying to learn how to sew at the same time so you can open up an Etsy shop on the side?
I know it can be hard to let go and unlearn the things that capitalism has taught us are of value. But, there have been a few things that have helped my Virgo sun self to engage in ways that don’t have “keeping busy” as the objective. To share, here are some ways to help disconnect from the productive drive during this time of increased stress and uncertainty in particular, and lean into yourself.
Create a Morning Routine
Regardless of whether you’re in the privileged position of being able to work from home, or have had your hours cut and are engaging in self-quarantine, etc., waking up each morning without necessarily a place to go to can feel weird after some time. To be frank, we could be looking at weeks of isolation within the walls of our home right now.
The hills are alive with the sound of…silence.
For myself personally, mornings have always been fraught. I’m either waking up in a mad dash to make it to class/work/something else or I’m sleeping past the morning entirely. No room to catch my breath, no space to process the fact that I’m now awake, no time to adjust or prepare for the day ahead.
It’s always seemed like mornings are something reserved to people in movies and television, who always have a full continental breakfast spread but opt instead for a single sip of OJ before running out the door. Luxurious. Unrealistic.
After too many chaotic starts to the day (and subsequent breakdowns), I decided that I would commit to giving myself time in the mornings for…myself. Even if it meant I’d have to wake up way earlier than I’d like. So I created a routine that involved absolutely nothing outside of myself: I would wake up, stretch, make some coffee and journal. Once I was done, I would move on with my day, whatever that looked like.
That’s it. No involved routine including a 5:30 AM barre class, no green juice smoothie with 7 different fruits and veggies to prep. Just, time.
This can look however you want it to. If it’s the smoothie or the barre class (although in this case, a streamed class would be recommended), go for it! The point is to cater this time to what your needs are. No one and nothing else’s.
Get Dressed
Pajama days are great days. Exquisite. But after a few days, a week, a few weeks, it can get a little…redundant. That is to say, that for me, I begin to feel like my life has turned into a treadmill and I’m just walking on it. I begin to feel the effects of not going outside of my home to do a thing, of feeling the sun on my face, of moving from one thing to another.
Being in the same thing I wear to sleep (sometimes) makes me feel like there’s no separation from yesterday and today. It all begins to blend.
Wut.
If this sounds like you, get dressed. It doesn’t have to be into a full blown outfit, complete with the appropriate underwear and shoes. (In fact, I recommend foregoing the underwear entirely.)
Change from one pair of sweatpants to another if you want to! Do a full face! Put shoes on, or throw them into the back of your closet, never to be seen during your social distancing again! Wear whatever feels most comfortable for you on any given day. And honestly, sometimes that will just be pajamas.
Give Yourself Breaks
It can be hard to unplug from whatever you’re doing at home since you’re, well, at home. The feeling with being home is that now you can do what you want to do, so you don’t have to consider a boss leering down your neck if you’re on your phone or what other people will think if you are watching television all day. The social aspect of “what they will think” isn’t as harshly in play because “they” can’t see through those curtains you just got from IKEA for your windows.
This can also have a Cha Cha Slide reverse moment, where you feel the need to be extra productive to prove to your employer that you can work from home just fine. Or, need to post on social media that you’re still making moves.
Whether you’re working, scrolling on Instagram, trying to deep clean your house, running around after kids, trying to find remote employment online: give yourself intermittent breaks from the task at hand. Seriously, even just get up from whatever you’re doing and walk a lap around your apartment.
Or, take five minutes to sit in silence.
Or, go get a glass of water.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. Give yourself a little bit of space.
Basically, Do You
Right now, we are in the midst of a global pandemic that is continuing to spread. And I don’t say this to cause panic or incite anxiety about what’s going on. But I say it instead to drive home the point that maybe, right now is not an opportunity to increase your productivity. It’s not necessarily a sign from the universe that you can now work on that essential oil side hustle you haven’t had the time for. This is not a now-or-never chance to work on your book.
Maybe the sign we’re receiving right now is to rest. To take care of one another by practicing social responsibility. To prioritize our health above all else. Because at the end of the day, it may be time to ask yourself: what’s more valuable than your rest?