COVID-19 Fatigue Is Real: How To Cope With The Feeling
By: Elizabeth Koblenz, LMSW
As we are approaching the year marker of being in a pandemic, it is normal to start feeling tired and “over” COVID-19. We start to feel a sense of nostalgia remembering what we did a year ago. We start to ask ourselves: Where were we a year ago? What were we doing? As the time passes, we started to create a “new normal” that looks different for each and every one of us. Although we have this new normal, we continue to remember the pre-COVID times and wish we could hug our friends, gather in large groups and not worry about getting each other sick. Although we may feel down, it is important to keep a productive schedule and positive mindset to the best of our ability. Here are some tips to maintain a healthy routine, especially during this time:
1. Take each day as it comes: It is important to try your best to best present and in the moment. We all continue to have to balance our work and home lives. Try writing down all your tasks and then see if you can split them up throughout the day. Start with a task you know you can accomplish quickly so that you can feel empowered to check it off your to-do list. If you are experiencing a good day, take that as a win and enjoy that good day. If you are having an okay day, know that these okay days come and they will go. Try to figure out what is making the day not as good in order for the next day to be better.
2. Practice gratitude: As cliché as this may sound, we all can think of things that we are grateful for. When you are feeling down and stressed, take a moment to write down what you are grateful for that day. It can be as simple as being grateful for your morning coffee that you have each day. Practicing gratitude can help calm us down from feeling overwhelmed and stressed about bigger things that we cannot control. We can start to focus on things that we can control and things we can enjoy in this moment.
3. Exercise: Exercising may look different for all of us; exercising relieves stress, which helps us feel good. Even if you aren’t big on exercising, try going for a walk. Use this time to call a loved one or you can try to make a plan with a friend to walk together. If you enjoy exercising at home, try to find a few minutes throughout your day to consolidate at a later time in order to take time out of your day to do it. Whether you go for a walk or do a fitness video, it is highly likely that you will feel even a little bit better afterwards.
4. Find things to look forward to: You may not be going on that big trip that you planned but you can still plan smaller things that you can look forward to. Plan a trip where you can drive somewhere and set a date when you are going to do it. Maybe it is as small as planning a group zoom with your friends or family members. It can also be starting a new TV show that you look forward to watching every night. Having something to look forward to makes us excited and takes our mind off of the stressful times we are experiencing.
Overall, we can all agree that we have been experiencing COVID-19 fatigue. Be gentle with yourself and with your loved ones. When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath and remember you are not alone and we all in this together. If you are finding it difficult to find ways to continue to stay positive and ways to find joy, contact us today for support at Hello@UpsiderTherapy.com or at (646)494-4878.