One Small Thing at a Time - Part 2

In my last post, I spoke of how Quarantine has given the free time to spend time with other people. However, things like that, even in Quarantine, are hard for several people to do. Yes, Quarantine has given many of us more free time than we normally would have, but for some of it isn't enough to talk to friends for a few hours, watch games together, or play games together. Some people only have 15-30 minutes where they can take a break from their work, whether it be in the middle of the day or at the end of the day. Since school has started again, I've had several days exactly like that, so these are some of the things during those breaks to take my mind away from my work. 

One thing I like to do when I take short breaks from anything is to make some food for myself. Many people like to grab a snack, whether it be during our designated lunch-time from 12:30 to 1:15, or any other break we take from our daily lives. When I take a break, I don't like to think about whatever it is I'm taking a break from at all, and usually. After Quarantine began, I thought about what exactly I could do that would distract me just the right amount, but not too much, and or me that was cooking. I don't mean entire meals or anything, but just small snacks. Instead of heating up something from my fridge/pantry or grabbing some chips, I wanted to learn how to actually make some small dishes. Not only would this not take too long and distract me from what I was doing, but it also gave me the opportunity to start eating healthier as well. This usually gives my mind a break for 15-30 minutes, and I get to enjoy some delicious food afterward. 

Towards the end of my days, I generally do 1 of 2 things, read a book or workout. After about 10:00 I'm pretty mentally checked out. There will be days where I need to force myself to do some work, however, generally just want to relax a bit and not focus on anything that may stress me. What I do depends completely on how mentally challenging of a day I've had. My mental health foes affect my physical output, so on a very challenging day, sometimes I do skip a workout, and just sit in bed and read a bit. However, on days where I do feel good physically, I try my hardest to get some sort of physical activity in. Both of these things again are things that I don't have to do for long, only as long as I feel comfortable doing, and then I can stop. However, both also give me a path to escape to somewhere where all the tasks I have to complete and the chaos of my life don't exist. 

The best part of very small tasks like this is that in many ways they refuel ou to keep going. For the foreseeable future, sometimes it feels like there's an endless stream of work coming our way, so being ready to do what we need to is important. However, these are both things I think can be incredibly helpful for all people regardless of workload. The easiest way to promote good mental health is to have good physical health, so going on a jog, playing some basketball or volleyball, or going to a gym can have profound effects. Reading is the simplest form of entertainment that allows us to escape from a screen. Not only is looking at our computers all day bad for our eyes, it often causes us headaches and makes us simply not feel good. Grabbing a nice read and settling down away from all that for a bit can do a lot to calm the mind down. As I had said before, these aren't complicated things, but rather things almost anybody can do without much. They are simple, and in their simplicity lies their helpfulness.