“I am not going to talk about it…”
That seems to be the starting point for each and every content creator nowadays and ultimately ends up donating at least 3 minutes to it. But I chose to address it! And why wouldn’t I?
It changed the very shape of this planet, how can you NOT address it? But first as you all know I am a Type-A control freak so let us begin today with a quick, smart lesson:
First of all people – it’s not a “Coronavirus” pandemic!
Coronaviruses
are a family of viruses that range from the common cold to MERS coronavirus, which causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and SARS coronavirus causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
What the world is fighting today is caused by a “Novel Coronavirus”, which brings me to my second point; the virus is called “SARS-COV-2” that causes the newly discovered, infectious disease we know as Coronavirus Disease 2019 or more commonly called as COVID-19.
Now that we are clear about the names, let’s “address” the situation at-hand or as my brother puts it: Its Pandemonium I tell you Sis, Pandemonium!
I am sitting here in my PJs on a Wednesday morning trying to explain to people what is COVID-19 and on the inside, I am screaming knowing very well that I might not be getting my next paycheck. These are uncharted times, nobody expected World War Z to actually happen, did they? Whether you talk about local businesses like Liberty Books or giant corporations like McDonald’s, doors are sealed-shut everywhere you turn. And of course it was need of the hour, the only way we can fight this pandemic is to stop the spread as much as humanly possible. #StayHomeSaveLives isn’t just another trending hashtag on Twitter, it’s our reality.
The path ahead is dark, dubious and daunting, practicing social distancing and keeping the bills on the side is the best we can do. It isn’t a solitary fight, it is a global combat and whether we like to admit it or not, we are in it – together.
We often find ourselves complaining over how quickly a weekend turns to a Monday morning and here I am freaking out on Lockdown Day 03 only. Just goes to show, we as humans cannot be contained and cannot be satisfied.
If you are reading my thoughts from the comfort of your home, trying to look on the positive side, I might not be helping you. Think about it, many of us have already lost our jobs while the rest are pondering on how to scale back operations, announce pay cuts or even lay off resources. A 120 nm virus changed the way the world works and will have changed buying habits of 7.8 billion inhabitants once this is all over.
Instead of mumbling into nothing, should I focus on how the air seems to be a little less polluted? How these dire circumstances have brought us closer together? Or should I be worried when my baby brother declared earlier today, “Sis, I am bored, I just want to blow-up the world and get it over with…”
You (yes, I mean you) are probably lying in bed, reading my anxiety-induced-piece and wondering why you ever clicked the given link but do you know what you just did my friend? You helped #PlankTheCurve / #FlattenTheCurve and we all are playing our part but is that enough? The pandemic will end but our lives will never be the same again. Right now this very moment, we’ve people trapped with an abusive partner or families with zero financial cushioning praying the virus would be far off better. And it horrifies me to my very core to think about the world soon after. We will all have to adapt to a new way of living and working, some of us will lose more than others and will result in intensely vulnerable conditions.
These and so many other questions leave me wondering through the night so what do we do about that. We try to stay calm (or in my case pretend in front of Mom that all is good), try to maintain a daily routine and prepare for a draconian future because for an indefinite period of time, this will be OUR NEW NORMAL.
In order to better grasp the circumstances, I’ve stuck to my daily routine and have made use of all the time we have been blessed with. Majority of us are either working-from-home or self-isolating or even under a lockdown and with uncertainty comes uninvited mental deterioration; implementing a daily routine is proven to help with our overall mental health and productivity. Daily routines can look particularly different from person to person, the end objective is however the same; here’s what my day looks like, feel free to share with someone who might be in search for some motivation.
My Typical Lockdown Day
Wake-up: 06:00 AM
Get Fresh & Make the Bed: 06:15 AM
Chug a Glass of Water: 06:20 AM
Open the Laptop & Put it on Charge: 06:30 AM
Yoga: 06:35 AM
Breakfast: 07:00 AM
Office Work + Personal Blog: 07:10 AM to 12:00 NOON
Chores: 12:00 Noon to 02:00 PM
Lunch Break: 02:00 PM to 03:00 PM
Check Emails & Wrap-up Work: 03:00 PM to 05:00 PM
Me Time (Mostly Spent Reading): 05:00 PM to 07:00 PM
Dinner: 07:30 PM to 08:30 PM
Telly Time with the Family: 07:00 PM to 09:00 PM.
Reading in Bed (And Attempt to Not Scroll through Twitter): 09:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Get Ready & Hit the Hay: 10:30 PM
Ahhh! Feels good to get it all out, doesn’t it?
Time to mop the floors; catch you later!