Things I learned during Quarantine

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Making it through quarantine was a feat, am I right? High five yourself for making it to the other side. I took some time to reflect on the last couple of months to see if anything positive came out of being on lock down. Here are three lessons learned during lockdown working from home with as a mompreneur.

Even introverts suffer from isolation

Ya girl is a certified introvert. Who else is in the introvert club with me? 

At first quarantine was easy for me. Plans were cancelled for me. There was no stress to make new plans. It was like a little slice of introvert heaven.

Then slowly I became a little antsy. My social meter was all charged up and I had nowhere to go! I was ready to go grab a coffee with a friend or do some networking. But meeting face-to-face wasn’t on the list of quarantine-approved activities. 

To be straight with you, this lack of face-to-face human interaction was starting to get to me. I became cranky and depressed (and a little snappy with my family members). I couldn’t believe it. I need to be around people from time to time to feel connected and grounded. Go figure.

Lesson: If you are introvert, make it a goal to meet with two people each month. Face-to-face is great, but take to Zoom to stay safe. Sharing about our lives with another person is so necessary for our mental health.

Anxiety can creep up on you and take over if you aren’t checking in with yourself regularly 

Ever since I had my daughter I have made my mental health a priority. I had mental health issues a couple of years ago and I was worried that I would suffer from post-partum depression. 

At the beginning of quarantine, even though there was a lot of uncertainty, I thought I was dealing with it very well. I was journaling about it and intentionally thinking positive thoughts. It was almost like I was forcing myself into positivity. 

On paper things weren’t that different for me. I worked from home before quarantine, I didn’t do a lot of activities (certified introvert, remember), and my daughter didn’t go to school. Despite what it looked like on paper, the anxiety and stress was still stacking up. I was trying to reason through my feelings instead of acknowledging what they were, processing them, and them making changes as needed.

Lesson: Keep checking in with yourself. There are no irrational feelings. Don’t discount what’s going on in your head or heart because it doesn’t make perfect sense to your brain. 

Learning to adapt quickly can save a lot of stress

Remember when quarantine was only going to be for 2 weeks tops? And then it went on for months? Ha!

Looking back, I wish I would have made the effort to adapt to the new way of life at the beginning. Then I could have just adapted back when the time came.

Once I realized that things were not working as well as I liked at Casa de Chayla, I made a plan to create ways to make things easier and more enjoyable. I picked up the book 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids so that I could do some fun activities with the kiddo. I made outside time a non negotiable part of our day. I focused on creating a morning routine that focused on my mental health. I stopped working on the weekends, even though I could get more done. 

It didn’t take a long time to make these decisions and implementing them was easier than I imagined. These simple things made so much difference in my overall happiness, and helped me feel a sense of normalcy and predictability. 

Lesson: Adaptability is one of the most useful skills you can have. If something is not working for you, make a game plan to change it or change your response to it.

I just want to give you a high-five for surviving quarantine! While it’s not completely back to normal, I am enjoying the freedom to get out of the house and see other people in real life and not just on screen. 

Tell me in the comments, what did you learn during quarantine?