Ryan Carr

Provided

Coronavirus has had an undeniable impact in our lives, and the “Shelter in Place” directive doesn’t necessarily shelter us from the anxiety caused by the pandemic.

As we do our part to stay home and help flatten the curve, we can take this time to check-in with ourselves as part of our daily routine to reduce stress and promote well-being within our households.

Anxiety and stress is often caused by feeling a lack of control.

In uncertain times like these, take time to focus on what you can control: creating a routine, eating healthy, getting enough sleep and exercising. Although these aspects of your life may alter slightly due to home isolation, you still have control over making the effort to do them to the best of your ability every day.

While social distancing has moved many of us to connect with others via phone or video chat, don’t forget to check-in with yourself.

Here are five questions you can ask yourself and connect with things that you can control for your overall well-being:

“How well did I sleep last night?” Ask yourself if you feel refreshed, and take a look at how many hours you slept.

“How does my body feel?” Conduct a self-check to see if there are any signals pointing to some stretching or activity that you would benefit from.

“What is my current stress level?” If you feel highly stressed over something, identify that source, be it school, your health, your personal relationships, etc.

“How am I managing my time?”

While we can’t control a pandemic per se, we can control our daily routine to better manage sleep, nutrition, personal relationships, and pursuing things that support health and wellness.

“What are ways I got through challenging times in the past?”

Developing objective optimism by reflecting back on what skills helped you make it through other challenges in your life can help you face challenging times – use those tools or skills now.

No one can avoid stress entirely; during this time of uncertainty, anxiety is normal and many people are in the same boat as you.

Empowering yourself by managing your own well-being can help release concerns that are simply out of our hands at this time.

Ryan Carr is the performance supervisor for Barton Health, and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.