Auntie Carni's Woes and Tips

Auntie Carni’s Woes

This week I have decided to cancel my weekly review of a Sydney main street. It’s too risky to catch the train and I’m heeding the advice of the health experts to avoid going out unless necessary.

I’ve also decided to suspend my voluntary work which I’d only just started and was really enjoying.  

I did go to a parenting course “Engaging Adolescents” but wondered the whole time whether it was the sensible thing to do. I probably won’t go next week. 

For many months I have been experiencing the negative effects of being socially isolated and unemployed and it was affecting my mental health- so much so that I enlisted the help of Beyond Blue’s New Access Program (which by the way has had to move from face to face appointments to telephone appointments, which is still useful but that’s another excuse for an outing I’ve had to scrap).    😩

My feeling of social isolation began when I moved house 3 years ago and lost that local contact with friends which is so important- the weekly cup of coffee after school drop off, the spontaneous get togethers with the flick of a text message invite. It worsened when I left my job 10 months ago and found myself without purpose, routine or direction as well as having too much time on my own. To make matters worse, along came the bush fires and the hazardous air pollution which caused me to experience terrifying breathing difficulties. I could not leave the house on those very bad days of poor air quality of which there were a good many, or if I did, I wore a mask and was rather worried. The worse thing was being unable to even sit out on the balcony, my previous “happy place”.    

Finally, the rains came, the corn flower blue skies re- emerged and I could take deep delicious breaths of fresh air. I expanded my daily routine by starting my weekly blog reviews,volunteering and taking up courses. My weeks had a semblance of routine, structure and balance.  🎕

Auntie Carni’s Tips

So this hideous pandemic and the necessary discipline of staying at home, has unfortunately left me feeling frustrated, disappointed and dejected as my world has once again shrunk.  On the up side, I have had some experience in spending inordinate amounts of time at home, and have some ideas about what is needed to stay sane.

Although my situation is a little different from those who are working from home, as I am unemployed, parts of this list may still be helpful to others.

1.       Stick to a Routine: Get up at the same time, (ok cut yourself some slack but get up at a reasonable hour.) Have breakfast at the same time, walk the dog and get showered and dressed (don’t stay in PJs all day, you’ll feel like an icky sloth). Make your bed. Still have 3 meals a day and two healthy snacks in between.  Allow plenty of time to prepare a home cooked meal- it’ll be 6pm before you know it.  Go to bed at the same time or close to what you usually would. Remember this virus attacks weak immune systems, so stay strong by getting adequate sleep. 

2.        Keep a balance of passive and active tasks. Eg. Undertake computer activities for a certain amount of time, then switch to undertaking house work.  

3.       Spend time outdoors – even if you take the lap top outside on the balcony, courtyard, garden better still, do a physical outdoor activity eg. Gardening, raking leaves
. 

I’m a keen bird watcher and will happily sit outside and partake in surveys for BirdLife Australia.



4.  Keep connected with others by telephone, skype etc. It could be a work colleague or friend or group of friends. Get creative with how to do this. There are loads of ideas at the moment. I need to work on this one but being cooped up at home is a strong motivator. We are social creatures and need others. 

5.       Stretch and exercise or go for a walk

6.       Undertake one “project” each day that you’ve been putting off eg. Clean the fridge.

7.       Put a limit on how much time you aimlessly lose yourself down the rabbit hole of social media, news etc.  don’t be tempted to turn Netflix on until the afternoon or evening.

8.      Get creative  - if you wanted to learn a language, get crafty, do art, play an instrument, write or try out new recipes,  now's the time to do it. 

9.    Family Fun  If it’ s a non-work day, play a board game or watch a movie with the family and work towards this “treat” by accomplishing other necessary tasks earlier in the day. My brother had a family disco the other night!
Strike a balance between spending time doing singular activities, and time together. 
  10. Read  It's a great indoor activity that you can also take outside to the garden/balcony 

Plan what you will do the next day/days and revisit this plan first thing every morning.

Look at the funny side 😁

One of the best ways for me to release the pressure valve in the face of uncertainty and angst is to find some humour every day.  I love The Shovel ( satirical blog commentary on current affairs).
I also enjoy Netflix comedies like Brooklyn Nine Nine. 

3 take away key words:  Routine, Balance, Creativity