Tiny Victory Challenge for Sheltering in Place
Let’s do more than survive this Corona Virus Pandemic
It’s a scary and challenging time in our world, now that corona virus has pretty much shutdown the world. Life as I once knew it has come to a halt. Over the last few weeks, I’ve narrowed down my days to the essential activities that can be done at home or remotely. We’ve cut out all shopping excursions except curbside pick-up. We fortunate to be able to work remote and our boys are doing school remotely. We stay in our yard or in our neighborhood for outdoor activities. We haven’t had face-to-face contact with anyone except our family of four.
While I haven’t hit my breaking point yet, it does feel a little like we’re just trying to survive. I, however, want to change that. In keeping with my mission to win one tiny victory at a time, I’ve decided that I want to do more than survive. I will THRIVE during this pandemic by focusing on building healthy daily habits. I challenge you to do the same.
I’ve chosen 7 healthy habits to focus on this during this global quarantine. In Georgia, the remainder of the school year will be remote. That means we will be home at least through the end of June. That gives me a total of 8 weeks to build new habits that will help me both mentally and physically. If I focus on one action each week and add a one new habit to my routine each week, by the end of week 7, I should be doing all 7 healthy habits.
7 Healthy Habits that You Suddenly Have Time For EVERYDAY
I chose the seven habits below because they are the ones I tend to neglect or let slip when life was “normal.” Each habit is also a habit that benefits my mind and body. I am sad to say that I’ve neglected taking care of my mind and body for several months now. My excuse has been that I don’t have enough time.
Now that I don’t have to commute, go to the grocery store, or drive the boys to various practices, I really don’t have an excuse. That being said, I want to build habits that I can keep even after the shelter in place order is lifted. That means I will need to incorporate these habits into my daily routine based on my typical schedule before the shelter in place order.
If you did the 120 day challenge with me last year, than you know that having accountability partners is also key to forming new habits. So let’s do this together. I can guarantee we will all get healthier.
Healthy Habits of the Week
If you already have some of these healthy habits, than encourage a friend or family member who may need to build the habit of the week.
Week 1: Connect with family and friends
Before Corona, I would try to interact with family and friends for dinners, happy hours, game nights, or give them a call during my commute. I am generally an “Thinking” introvert, who generally doesn’t like talking on the phone a lot. I’d much rather grab dinner or drinks with a few friends. I love being connected to my friends and family. I am so grateful to have such good people in my life but I also require a significant amount of time alone to recharge.
That means that I need to make an extra effort to connect with friends and family. This is important, not only to keep these bonds in tact, but also friendships enrich your life and improve your health. That’s a win for both you and and your friends, especially during these uncertain times.
I want to make it a habit to check-in with my close friends and family at least once a week and to check in with my parents daily. Thanks to the internet and video chat, I can do fun things like host a virtual happy hour or even do yoga together.
Week 2: Drink Enough Water
Again this is a no brainer. Drinking water has plenty of health benefits and it is probably the easiest healthy habit to implement. Water helps lubricate your joints, protect your spinal cord, keep your temperature normal, and get rid of waste in your body.
Unfortunately, I usually forgo drinking enough water because I rushing from meeting to meeting. I try to drink 2 cups in the morning when I first wake up and then it is a toss up if I drink water or any beverage again until dinner. While there is a little controversy on how much water you need to drink each day, I know 2 cups isn’t enough. I can tell just by how my mouth and body feel. Being home is the perfect opportunity for me to focus on getting more than enough water.
Week 3: Get Enough Sleep
I don’t know that I need to expound upon this one much more. I am pretty sure we all know the benefits of a good night’s rest. Adequate sleep can positively impact your immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions. Now, more than ever, is a great time to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.
Week 4: Exercise for 30 minutes
Exercise helps with all sorts of things like weight loss, heart health, and certain health conditions. It also helps with improving your energy levels, mood, and sleep. An added bonus is when we exercise we usually want to drink more water. That means getting in some exercise will help with healthy habits 1 and 2.
That being said, the problem you may be facing now is lack of access to a gym and equipment. Nerd Fitness has some great suggestions and workouts that will get your heart pumping and muscles pumping.
Week 5: Express Gratitude
This is probably the easiest way to experience more joy and happiness in your life. It is more than just saying thank you. It is slowing down and acknowledging something that happened for which you are grateful. One way to practice this is to keep a gratitude journal. Each evening, you write down at least 3 things you were grateful that day. The Greater Good in Action program from Berkeley provides step by step instructions on how to get the most benefit out of your daily gratitude habit. They also have gratitude quiz that is fun way to gauge how grateful you are.
The major benefit of practicing gratitude is it can significantly increase your happiness and lessen depression. For my practice, I created a Google form that I complete each evening before bed. I saved a link to the form on my phone so that I can access my journal from anywhere.
Click to View Example
Week 6: Read and Listen
Reading and listening to literary works is most accessible entertainment and educational tool. It also has several benefits for your brain. According to a research study found that reading a novel enhances connectivity in the brain and improves brain function. Scientist also found that our brain responds to reading novels in an experiential way. Essentially the phrase “escaping in a book” is a full body experience. During this pandemic, take an hour or two a day reading a good book. It will help you escape and hopefully relieve a little stress.
Week 7: Meditate
Last but not least, while you are sheltering in place and replace your commute with a few minutes of meditation. Meditation is the practice of calming the mind and releasing tension in the body. I think of it as a practices of stillness. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation reduces stress, has emotional benefits, and positively impact medication conditions such as depression, heart disease, sleep, and even asthma.
If you are new to mediation, here are few videos and tools to help you get started: