What a year it’s been, huh? I know that everyone is dealing with slightly different COVID-19 restrictions, based on where they live. But here in Germany, the government declared a lockdown for the month of November. So we’re back at home, dreams of working through my Big List of Tourist Activities dashed. I’m now in a position to think about staying sane during lockdown.
Why is lockdown so hard?
It’s easy to judge other people for their choices this year. And honestly, I’ve found it hard to be empathetic for people who insist on gathering in large groups, knowing it creates risk for a health threat. But the reality is that there are a lot of psychological factors layered on top of each other that cause seemingly irrational choices.
- The personal threat is invisible. Since infected folks can be symptom-free for days, it’s easy to forget how quickly it’s spreading
- Our brains adjust to stress. At a certain point, the fear wears off as our brain adjusts to the new normal. I know I’m not as freaked out about going to the store as I was in April – despite the infection rate being significantly higher!
- The unknown stretches to the horizon. I have no idea when our lives will go back to normal. Or even what normal is going to look like when we’re all vaccinated for COVID-19. And this is the most disheartening thing for me. I don’t know when we’ll get to go on our honeymoon or see our family and friends again. Friends have postponed or severely shrunk weddings. I haven’t met my best friend’s second baby. The whole world is just…waiting.
With all that in mind, it’s important to be deliberate about staying sane during lockdown. Here’s how Zack and I are attempting this November:
Live your best plant life
This is a joke that started last winter when we were adjusting to being in a new country. Whenever you’re feeling down, check and see if you’re taking care of your plant self:
- Are you drinking enough water?
- Do you have enough nutrients (eat!)?
- Have you had enough daylight?
We have 32 oz Nalgene water bottles that we keep on our persons most the time for the water, make sure that we eat regularly and healthily, and go on daily walks while the sun is up to try and get enough daylight in our eyeballs.
One protip from someone who spent 6 grey, drizzly winters in Seattle: Vitamin D pills are your friend! Because if you don’t have homemade sunshine, storebought is fine.
Pay attention to your sleep
This is something I need to work on. Working from home (or not working, in my case) makes it easy to roll out of bed late and justify staying up late. But we all have our own best sleep schedules, and now is the time to give yourself the space to find it.
I’ve found that my best balance is going to bed around 11 and waking up around 7. But lately, the bedtime has been creeping closer to midnight and I haven’t been getting out of bed until around 10. As a result, I feel like I’ve wasted the morning, my eating schedule is thrown off, and I struggle to fall asleep at night. I’m going to try and find myself an accountability buddy to help me get up in the morning to get this back on track.
Get cozy
It was really hard to be in lockdown in the spring. The weather was finally getting warm, and the numerous parks in Berlin were just calling for picnics.
This time around, lockdown doesn’t seem so bad, since it’s getting cold out and the couch is cozy and inviting. I’m working on leaning into that, by upping the cozy factor in our apartment. We already have a bunch of blankets and warm lighting in the tv room, but on nights when we’re not watching screens, I’ve been turning on some classical music and finding a youtube video of a crackling fire for the TV.
More things we’re adding to our lives: non-caffeinated warm beverages to sip at night, extra-special dinners to make the evenings in feel special, and amping up our “fun funds” budget so that we can buy enough yarn and video games to stay entertained and sane during lockdown.
Create new routines
To combat the looming weeks of having nothing planned – no holiday plans, no travel, no weekly routines like swing dancing or trivia nights – we’re making our own new routines.
Every week this month, we’re picking a new specialty grocer to visit and we’re building our weekly meal plan around that theme. This week, we went to an Asian grocer and picked up supplies to make dumplings, pad thai, and miso soup. (Yes, we know, that’s three different countries. I never claimed it would be authentic – we’re two white Americans living in Berlin, after all.) Next week, we found a Mexican grocer and we hope to get what we need to make tacos, tamales, and mole.
Another routine we’ve built in is what we call Business Thursdays. On Thursday mornings, we get up and dress in our fanciest office clothes, go and pick up bagels (from the shop I raved about here), and then eat breakfast together at home, dropping as many corporate buzzwords into the conversation as possible.
All this to say – find something to do and do it regularly. You might find yourself looking forward to it!/
Well-executed? Also no.
Delicious? Oh yes.
Replace the sunshine in your life
A blogger I follow has a saying that she brings up from time to time: You have to make your own sunshine. I’ve been thinking about that a lot since moving to Berlin, and I think it’s especially important right now.
When there’s an emptiness in your life – something that you’re really missing – try and identify what feeling or experience you’re missing. I know I miss the easy socialization that comes from being in an office. There’s no way to replace that feeling exactly. But I’ve been deliberate about popping into Zack’s workspace and chatting with him during the day. And texting friends stupid memes (instead of the incessant, “How are you? I’m fine, what have you been up to?”). And Zack started a round of an online Risk-style game with a handful of friends (look up Neptune’s Pride – it’s a hoot).
You might not be able to fully replace what you’re missing (no amount of FaceTiming will replace a hug from your mom, you know?), but making the conscious effort to fulfill your needs will make staying sane during lockdown easier.
Summary
No matter what we do during this time, it’s going to suck. And it’s going to suck until a vaccine is developed and widely distributed.
This time is going to pass, and you get to choose how you spend it. I hope you all stay happy and healthy during this time!
Any other big ideas for staying sane during lockdown? Let me know in the comments!
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