Greetings from Quarantine!

Hello, dear readers! I hope you are reading this from the comfort of your home, far away from other people, with recently washed hands that are not touching your face. If not, please stop reading this and go home and wash your hands.

I’ve been writing about COVID-19 coronavirus a lot lately. And reading about it a lot. Everyone has. You can’t avoid reading about it. You shouldn’t avoid reading about it. But you should definitely avoid other people (but you already knew that).

Source: @jasonmustian — *Source:* *@jasonmustian*

I’ve been keeping busy in my impromptu world of crisis communications: heads down writing ad hoc emails and content about how my company and freelance clients are handling coronavirus; rolling my eyes at other corporate response emails in my inbox; hitting max capacity on meme consumption;and playing business casual dress-up under quarantine.

Business casual straight outta bed. Photo credit: 86mm Photography — Business casual straight outta bed.
Photo credit: *86mm Photography*

But the realities of self-isolation are setting in and I’m starting to feel it. I’m a social person, an extrovert, a busy bee constantly moving and working and going places and doing things. And now that’s come to a grinding halt as I work from home (WFH) for the foreseeable future and keep my distance from the outside world.

I know I am very, very fortunate—I have a job that I can WFH and have done it often enough that it’s old hat at this point. In fact, I’ve already said my peace about WFH in this very blog, but we’ve entered new territory here.

My WFH coworker is no longer just that adorable corgi, but now includes my adorable boyfriend and we’re all in this isolation thing together. So far it’s been fun—we set up our work stations and play Mogwai throughout the house and sometimes put on blazers while still wearing sweatpants to feel more professional.

WFH headshots brought to you by 86mm Photography — *WFH headshots brought to you by* *86mm Photography*

Sidenote: Seriously though, we’ve been surprisingly productive at both our jobs.

Even more seriously though, this shit is scary in more ways than one. COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire and people are dying out there and drastic measures beyond our imaginations have gone into effect. And then there’s the fact that self-isolation hasn’t historically been good for my anxiety—add a pandemic layer on top and the prognosis doesn’t look good.

So instead of giving in to my anxiety—or my urges to go break quarantine—I’ve given myself some goals to strive towards through this uncharted territory.

Combatting Cabin Fever & COVID-19 Fever with Goals!

I know what they say about best laid plans, but sudden self-isolation calls for some structure—and I’m not just talking about work (but I am definitely including it in there). So in my quarantine I’m going to try to practice both self-care and selflessness through some handy-dandy lil goals.

● Don’t get sick and don’t get anyone else sick

As far as goals go, this one can be categorized as “no freakin duh,” but yes, goal number one during the COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine is to not get sick or get others sick. I encourage, nay, I scream from the rooftops at you to please also strive towards this goal.

I mean, how often can you say that cancelling plans, ordering take-out, and staying home is a selfless, potentially life-saving act?

● Set boundaries with work

Again, I am extraordinarily lucky that I have a job where I can easily work from home (and I’ve done it enough to have a whole ranting blog about it already). And all my freelance projects and volunteering can be done from the comfort of my couch too since it’s literally all writing.

That luxury has always been just that—a luxury. Now it's a mandate and my WFH woes come fast.

When I work remote, time no longer really has meaning. My eyes pop open and I open my laptop and start checking email and don’t stop working until my fingers get little cramps from furious nonstop typing and my eyes have dried out from staring at the screen all day. But then I just blink my eyes (don’t touch your face), crack my knuckles (don’t touch your face), give a big yawn (don’t touch your face), and start typing again (how often should I sanitize my keyboard?).

Source: pikisuperstar — *Source:* *pikisuperstar*

So this goal is to set boundaries for myself when it comes to time more than anything else. There’s always plenty of work to do, but before quarantine there were plenty of little moments away from the laptop that gave my hands, eyes, and brain a break. And I have to remind myself to take those little breaks even in this bunker mentality.

Time management is a big component of self-care and being online 24/7 isn’t a healthy way to work from home, or a healthy way to handle self-isolation through this pandemic.

● Beyond not getting sick, trying to actually stay healthy

So I am admitting this openly: I went to my local gym the day before it closed indefinitely. I only did cardio on the elliptical and sanitized the living hell out of it both before and after, but there’s a part of me that still feels weird/guilty/paranoid about going literally less than 24 hours before it shuttered its doors.

But now we’re here and the gym is closed and the aerial studios are closed and I have an abundance of nervous energy. And also a fear of gaining the quarantine 15 (like gaining the freshman 15 in college but gaining weight from a 15-day quarantine instead). Another anxiety storm brewing perfectly in isolation.

So I’m busting out the yoga mat, the cookbooks, and of course, our beloved friend YouTube.

Remember that little bit about time management? Although it may still be using screen-time, I’m aiming to keep up with an exercise routine and allot time to get creative in the kitchen so every meal I eat isn’t microwaved.

Staying healthy means more than just not getting sick.

● Continue to support the local economy

Austin is home to a plethora of one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, galleries, and events—and almost all of them are suffering beyond belief due to COVID-19 quarantines.

And that’s after the devastating effects cancelling SXSW had on our city’s economy.

So I want to do my part to “Keep Austin Weird” and continue to support local businesses any way I can. I’m ordering take-out. I’m buying gift certificates. I’m signing up for virtual classes. I’m not cancelling—I’m rescheduling. I’m not asking for refunds.

Photo Credit: M. Miller Photography — *Photo Credit:* *M. Miller Photography*

I’m on budget, of course, and one that has suddenly gotten tighter too. Everyone’s has. But witnessing so many of my friends, performers I admire, my regular restaurants, my favorite shops, and so many more suffer beyond sickness makes me realize that I am one of the fortunate ones and I can’t just sit back and watch others struggle—even if we’re all under quarantine.

So I can feed a little bit of my budget back into the pockets of people and places I know and love, and hope that a little can mean a lot in the long run.

● Maintain relationships

Social distancing. What a phrase. I never quite had those words, but I’ve done it plenty of times before. And not in a good way.

Remember how I said I’m an extrovert? Social distancing isn’t just a hard adjustment—it has been one of the prime symptoms of falling into depression for me. Self-isolation has never been a good thing and now here we are.

Maintaining relationships with friends, family, coworkers, etc. is vital to maintain some balance in my brain. And it might be just as important for someone else’s brain too. In this strange time of self-isolation, I want to stay connected because we all need to stay connected. The WHO listed “staying connected with your social and family networks via technology” as the leading factor that can mitigate the effects of being isolated. Loneliness doesn’t have to be a part of this isolation (I remind myself).

Source: The Female Collective — *Source:* *The Female Collective*

So this is a big goal for me during this time of quarantine. And I need to remember that it’s not necessarily about finding someone to virtually keep me company—it’s to make sure all those people in my life are doing okay too.

Someday We’ll Look Back on All This…

And what will we say?

There will be plenty to say and plenty of people to say it all. We will talk about what happened, what should have happened, what could have happened, why it all happened, what toll it takes on society from global to local, and so on and so forth…

But what will I say?

I don’t know yet. None of us actually do yet. But my hope is that having some goals, setting some structure, and holding myself accountable will help me form a positive answer even through a pandemic.

See you on the other side, dear readers. Stay healthy out there.

And for god’s sake, wash your hands and quit touching your face!