So for those who only hear from the disability and chronic illness communities at a distance, we are currently sharing tips and hacks for how to cope with self isolation.
Right now I’m not doing more self isolation than I normally do, which is close to what is being asked, but I am focusing on what I can do right now, and for another year, even though I have had two particularly bad years already where I couldn’t go out and do things.
So that means not just distracting myself but reminding myself that what I am doing right now has meaning. It is both my own personal meaning, as well as has meaning to people around the world who I would never get to meet anyway.
I am also pacing myself.
This one is more difficult as we tend to want to make as much use of “down” time as possible. But right now being healthy and protecting everyone else as well as ourselves means taking time to build physical, mental, and emotional resources.
I know that projects put on hold are so tempting to finish now, right now, but pacing means perhaps leaving a bit for later in case you don’t have 20 projects on the go. Ehem.
But yes conversely sometimes that passion will help carry you to a point where you can settle for a bit after and you can relax, basking in the glow of success.
It really does depend on you, but also this mix can change over time and so it is absolutely correct to figure out what works for you as an individual.
But this next part is something a bit tough to remember. Isolation is isolation. It brings stresses that even the most introverted of us deal with. Over time if the bulk of your in person contact is purely from professional health providers it can start to impact health, or perception of self.
So absolute kindness to yourself, and in thinking about those who have to self isolate either because they are sick, or to prevent others from being sick is going to go a long way.
For me my self isolation is probably going to ratchet up a bit over the next few weeks. We have very few cases in NZ but one patient was in the hospital I will have to go to and about 50 staff have had to self isolate already. I cannot risk getting sick because I won’t be able to wait it out at home.