Happy Monday and welcome to what feels like day 89374813742 of quarantine! For the first couple of weeks of quarantine, I actually felt pretty unaffected by self-quarantine and everything around us in our communities shutting down, as weird as it was to see that happen.
Now that the stay at home orders have been in place for over a month now, I have definitely felt my anxiety catch up to me about everything over the past 2 weeks or so concerning the virus and everything being shut down. As I have felt my anxiety catch up to me over the past couple of weeks, I have been treating myself to extra self-care and have been keeping myself busy through various different activities to take my mind off everything and really make the most out of all of this time at home. So, today I’ll be sharing everything that I’m doing during quarantine that has helped my anxiety – let’s get started!
1. Listening to Calming Music
One thing that I have recently started doing during quarantine is listening to calming music throughout the day. Whenever I feel myself getting anxious or even stressed out at any time during the workday with my 9-5, I immediately start listening to calming music and it’s like magic! It immediately takes my mind off everything and I can always feel myself calming down after having such calm and relaxing music on. I add to my playlists on Spotify multiple times throughout the week and have been discovering a lot of new music lately that I didn’t always listen to. My calming playlist on Spotify is linked here if you’re interested!
2. Working Out + Getting Fresh Air
I do some form of workout or exercise every day of the week and it has helped a TON in keeping myself feeling sane and also has helped with feeling better about myself overall and getting in good shape. I do at-home workout videos through YouTube 5 days a week, take my dog for walks multiple times a week, go for runs once or twice a week, and do at-home yoga classes on the weekends! I also make sure to get out for short walks in the mornings as well before I start work for the day and that also helps out a ton in waking up and feeling refreshed and ready to start the day.
As my anxiety has caught up to me, I have definitely felt myself being not in the mood to workout, but I always remember the way I feel after I get it done and it’s always so rewarding. I’ve also been super motivated this year to achieve my fitness goals and wouldn’t want to quit just from not being in the mood. I always tell myself to just do it and am always so glad I did. Linking my blog post here on how to stay motivated to workout!
3. Taking Bubble Baths
I have been taking more baths than I usually do lately since it’s such a good way to calm me down and relax. I usually listen to my calming music Spotify playlist while sitting in the tub and it’s so relaxing.
4. Watching My Favorite TV Shows & Movies
My boyfriend and I love to watch our favorite TV shows and movies together in the evenings after work and also has really helped take my mind off everything. We’re currently watching Scrubs on Hulu since I’ve never seen it and it’s one of his favorite shows. The real bonus is we’ve been watching a lot of rom-com’s together too so I’m definitely enjoying that as well!
5. Journaling
Now more than ever it is so important to focus on the good in every situation, even though it can be so easy to think of all the negatives in the world right now. I have recently started journaling each day and focusing on gratitude and positivity and have already seen it help me be more positive during this situation.
I dedicate time early each morning before I start my day and each night before I go to bed and set my intentions for the day, focus on gratitude, and reflect. I’ve linked my exact journal I use here!
6. Limit Time Watching/Reading the News
Right before my anxiety started to kick in, I was looking at the news multiple times throughout the day to learn more about everything going on and inform myself on it. After putting myself in that habit every single day for a couple of weeks, it became way too much and too depressing. I now limit myself to my news intake by giving myself 5-10 minutes in the morning and that’s it for the day. Just enough time to stay informed, but not too much time where it all becomes too much.
One of my favorite apps on my phone for keeping up with world news is Refinery 29 This AM (linked here). The app gives you 8 headlines of top trending world news for the day to read each morning and it’s such a quick and easy way to get informed on what’s happening in the world and then continue on with your day.
Shop today’s post:
*My exact mug is from Francesca’s from a couple years ago and is sadly no longer in stock – but Etsy has a lot of cute similar ones!
Thanks for reading!
XX
Kelsie
Enjoyed your post, thank you and I like your mug! 🙂
Thank you! Glad to hear it!
Getting outside for walks/runs a few times a week has really helped me too. I am also in the middle of moving so my apartment is full of boxes. Being outside helps me unwind a ton and takes my mind off of all the stress.
Yes! Totally know what you mean. Moving on top of all the craziness can be so overwhelming, it’s amazing how much getting out and getting fresh air can help!