My Quarantine Routine
photo: @dnamag.co
The thing I promised myself from day one of Shelter in Place is to remain some type of normalcy. Not in the form of delusion where everything is the same as it was, but just a nugget to motivate me to believe that everything is temporary. Such is life, right? I figure the only normalcy I can have are my weekday mornings. I have always been an early riser falling under the 5:30 a.m.’er category. I can explain why I get up that early in another post, but when people say that it’s a game changer, it really is. So, do I still get up at 5:30am every work morning?
illustration by Ana Hard
Yes. Some mornings no later than 6am. The most still and focused part of my entire day is between 5:30 and 6:45 am. I won’t let the quarantine take that away from me.
This has been my Mondays for the last few weeks:
5:30 am: Alarm 1, set to Robyn’s “Dancing on my Own” and even though my eyes open, it’s no surprise that my hand taps “snooze” on the phone screen.
5:45 am: Alarm 2 is the snooze in effect. Before getting out of bed, I mumble “good morning Leroy!” to my adorable rescue dog lying beside me. He prefers to sleep in until at least 6:30am. Lucky dog.
6:00 am: Light a Boy Smells candle and say one thing I am thankful for. After reading a few articles on how giving daily gratitude can somehow change the vibe of your life, I decided why not give it a try. Currently on the third month of doing this and while there are no definitive results, my burdens do feel lighter. For the next 20 minutes I meditate.
6:30 am: Making a good breakfast during quarantine has been important to me. It’s more time to fuel myself. Oatmeal with rolled oats, blueberries, bananas, moringa powder, chia and flax seeds and honey. Multigrain toast with butter and some honey (been on a honey kick these days, and it doesn’t help that people seem to be stockpiling them during the pandemic). And of course coffee, the first of many throughout the day.
7:00 am: I’ve kept up with my regular skincare routine, because it’s just a good, smart idea to. (Read “Keeping Up With Your Skincare Routine During Quarantine”) Since I do have a Zoom meeting in an hour, I decide to change into a fresh pair of black leggings paired with & Other Stories oversized button-up shirt. This shirt has found its forever home in my WFH wardrobe, because it’s oversized, the color is great if I need to just wear it with sweats, leggings or jeans. Being a shower at night person, I know my hair is clean, but I have no interest or enough energy to put any product in it. So I top my Zoom look with a Ganni headband, which makes me look half decent.
As for makeup it’s really light, just enough to make myself “feel cute might delete later” appropriate.
The MVP’s:
7:45 am: With 15 minutes before my Zoom call, I spend time with my bullet journal and check to-do list and edit a few things around. Review my Google calendars, the first one is the daily work calendar with all digital meetings scheduled, deadlines, mixed in with personal day-to-day anecdotes. The other is the editorial calendar and see what’s on the site this week and start planning for next 2 weeks. Then, check and reply to important emails, Slack messages, Instagram and Twitter.
8:45 am: Walk Leroy a.k.a. getting some much needed morning fresh air, even though my fabric face mask covers up any hint of that. You do what you got to do.
9:30 am to 12 pm: I try to make Mondays very productive and with the lack of a social life, there’s no excuse to feeling run down from the weekend. During this time I partake in coffee #2 and #3. I do not turn on Netflix, YouTube or any streaming tv as tempting as it is, instead turn on our WFH playlist on Soundcloud. With some intermittent cuddle and play times with Leroy, I try my best to focus on work, emails, Slack, Instagram, Twitter.
12 to 1pm: I also decided that during quarantine I would give myself a lunch hour. Not the kind that’s sitting at a desk with a plastic container of salad while staring at a laptop screen or my phone. I review what’s at my disposable and decide to finish off the last of my kale to make a caesar salad. Also accompanying it is a blueberry and oat milk shake. Got to keep the immune system in excellent order. I sit at the table and watch some vids on YouTube. There’s something about watching vlogs or a skincare tutorial during quarantine that makes you feel like there’s others around you. Is that just me? Well, for me it’s a perfect way to zone out.
1:00 pm: I spend this time doing admin stuff on the laptop, although I clicked on a link via Instagram and allowed myself about a 30 minute distraction to fall into a social media hole. The rest of the hour is spent reading random stuff or news online.
2:00 pm: This is a hard part of the day, because I feel good about lunch, and now I just want to take a nap. I return to work and do some writing. For the next hour it is some writing, Slack, Instagram and Twitter.
3:30 pm: Around this time I contemplate whether or not finding a good IG or YouTube workout is a good idea. Alas, I cave in and instead reward myself with a 45 minute nap. We can do that now, no one’s going to tell.
4:30 pm: I like this part of the afternoon, it feels like I’ve almost made it through another quarantine stay at home day. Normally this becomes a 30 minute time suck of Instagram scrolls.
5:00 pm: Time for Leroy’s evening walk and this one we try to drag out and get as much fresh air as possible. Back in the old days, we would venture to the dog park, but sadly they are closed for the time being,
6:00 pm: Get back home in time for a digital happy hour with friends. I make myself a gin and tonic w/a squeeze of lime and rip open a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. This is the new normal.
7:00 - 8:30 pm: Start to make dinner, pan fry some kimchi dumplings, broccoli (separately) accompanied by white rice. Pour myself a glass of chardonnay and watch something on Netflix.
9:00 pm: Feels weird to not have to think about what to wear tomorrow. Pour a second glass of chard, write some more, make sure scheduled posts are kosher and check emails, Slack, Instagram and Twitter with Shark Tank in the background.
10:00 pm: Watch more Netflix while doing nighttime skincare routine. I use this last hour before bedtime to just relax my brain and text friends and family. If you’ve noticed I don’t watch any kind of network news. The last thing I need is a bunch of media headlines in a loop. The only way I’ve been able to stay calm through this pandemic is to stay away from click bait articles and watching any news whatsoever. I am keeping myself well informed by way of New York Times online and other reputable online news outlets.
11:00 pm: Now cozied up in bed and spend about 20 minutes reading (one of my 2020 resolutions) My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh.
Sometime between 11:30 pm and midnight: I’m off to dreamland with Leroy tucked in to his favorite spot on my bed. There you have it a somewhat productive Monday in this temporary, maybe new standard of life.
To quote Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder, am I getting good at this, this staying home thing? Is isolation me a better version? What if it’s another month? What if they cancel summer? This is why someone like me can’t watch the news, I have vowed to remain optimistic, to believe that this is temporary and we can only come out of it stronger and better human beings.
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