All of us have the tendency to get tired of doing things a certain way when we see no tangible benefits of our actions. Quarantine is no different. While we kept washing our hands and stayed six feet away from others over the past few months, most of us didn’t ‘see’ the benefits of such actions. This inability to reap the tangible rewards of such behaviors means we might fail to recognize how important they were.
Consequently, as months pass and the restrictions around us ease, the behaviors that have kept us safe from coronavirus might cease to be an important part of our daily life. All the talk about the ‘New Normal’ that we have had with ourselves and our loved ones over the past few months notwithstanding, there aren’t many of us who won’t give anything to get back to the ‘Old Normal’.
However, as experts around the world warn, we may have no choice but to live with things ‘as they are’ and not yearn for ‘as they were’. In other words, we have to adhere to the protective behaviors that have kept us safe over the past few months without any ‘official’ guidelines to sustain them. We have to keep quarantine fatigue from setting in.
Here’s how we can do that:
#1: Tell Yourself: “This Will Pass”
As all of us can tell from personal experience, we endure tough times better when we can see the silver lining through them. The silver-lining in the current situation, unlike what the news outlets want you to believe, is that our life won’t always be like this.
It might be difficult to convince yourself to believe in this but that’s true. Nothing lasts forever. Not electrostatic sprayer disinfectant. Not the troubled times. Not the tough situations. Therefore, tell yourself that this too shall pass!
#2: Set up a routine
When we set up a routine, we are more likely to feel that we are in control of our life. That any external force has a minimal impact on our daily life. That regardless of how things around us are, we are in control of what is happening to us.
For this purpose, wake up at a specific time every day. Check out that electrostatic spray gun price that you have been planning to buy for an eternity. Workout. Do anything that you can sustain on a daily basis. Provided you do that, you’ll see how you will get back into your life’s driving seat.