Ironically, writing this piece about handling distractions during quarantine was a tough slog. Between not having a set schedule as a freelancer, new realities at home, an abundance of Zoom calls, and feeling all the feels, I just couldn’t concentrate with the ease that I normally have. And apparently, I’m not alone.

Perhaps you’re also dealing with the stress of being unemployed, managing a team, or the added challenge of having kids at home. Here are some tips to manage the distraction that you may be experiencing as you shelter in place.

Start Your Day Out Fresh

Put your phone on “do not disturb” if you can and use apps to block social media if unplugging is a challenge. Work in a comfortable spot where other chores or housework on your list won’t grab your attention.

“Do the most important thing first, before you check your email,” advises Jill Dovale, a masters of social work candidate at NYU. “Be aggressive about it. It will help alleviate a lot of stress and provide a mental boost, the wind in your sails for the rest of the day,” she continues.

Sometimes rather than doing the most important thing first, I like to do the thing I’m avoiding the most. Knowing that you managed to accomplish one thing, particularly something you’ve had difficulty finishing, will make you feel more in control and like you are taking steps in the right direction. If you’re facing a more complicated task or project, it may be helpful to knock out a few smaller deliverables, so you have some “wins” for the day.

Break Work into Manageable Chunks

Dr. Carrie Hastings, a clinical and sports psychologist for the LA Rams, spoke recently on a  webinar, “Managing Stress During Covid-19,” hosted by Creative Circle. She suggests defining short- and long-term goals that are achievable and giving yourself deadlines. Have a “solution-focused mindset,” she says. Slowing things down and breaking them into smaller pieces also helps to reduce feeling overwhelmed or anxious.

The Pomodoro Technique is a method of working in timed increments. It can be very effective if you’re distracted because shorter bursts of work can feel more manageable and are generally more productive. Planning a midday break like taking a walk outside or doing a yoga video could be a goal to motivate you during the day.

Take Care of Yourself

Dovale adds that it’s important to acknowledge when you do need rest and to do something that’s actually restful. Preferably, “something that does not involve inputting (like consuming media),” she continues, “which tends not to be restful.”

I find it helpful to remind myself that brains need rest to be productive. Dr. Allen Pack, a psychiatrist with a specialty in anxiety disorders, explained on the webinar that there is a feeling of “shame that is attendant to anxiety.” With everyone sheltering in place, perhaps feeling isolated, helpless, or depressed, it is particularly important to take good care of ourselves and be self-compassionate when we can’t do everything.

Self-care includes getting a restful night’s sleep, eating healthy foods, getting adequate exercise, and using relaxation strategies like meditation or visualization. It’s also important to find humor and things to be grateful for, enjoy social connections, make time for hobbies, experience nature, and pause to check in with yourself.

Dr. Hastings suggests speaking to yourself as would to a child or your best friend, saying: “We’re going to get through [this]. It may not always be pretty.” But things will change, eventually.

Accept What Is

Understand that emotions are running high and it’s important to protect your mental health. Even taking four breaths in and out, connecting to the breath for a brief moment, will help to “change the stress reaction in the body and bring calm,” says Elaine Retholtz, an acupuncturist and meditation teacher.

She is mindful to take time to step away from work, whether simply walking in her apartment or petting her cat, to “tend to [her] own experience.”

Set Good Boundaries

Retholtz says she’s busier now than ever. “We’re not just working from home,” she quips, “We’re living at work.” That means it’s important to set clear boundaries. There is a temptation to be constantly productive, without a clear separation of the demands at home and at work.

And it’s not a typical remote work experience, either, because we’re socially isolated and unable to have the usual outlets outside the home. Try to have a set schedule or routine, if possible, so that there is a clearer boundary between work and homelife, with adequate time for rest and relaxation.

Dealing with distraction during the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems, is best done by taking good care of yourself. It may not be like it was before, but you’ll get the work done.

About the author.
Jess Powers writes about marketing, food, and wellness. She has experience in nonprofit communications and emergency management. Follow her @foodandfury.

We are now a nation of remote workers. While some of us are digital nomads — used to the rhyme and rhythm of working from home — most of us are not. Taking care now to prevent burnout is more important than ever.

Even when operating under normal circumstances, more than half of all employees in the United States feel burned out at least some of the time, and almost one in four feel burned out very often or always. Here’s why this matters, maybe now more than ever: this doesn’t just impair our productivity — it can damage our mental and physical wellbeing, too. Evidence links burnout with a weakened immune system and heart disease — the antithesis of what we want right now. And let’s face it, during a pandemic, we are more at risk of burnout and emotional exhaustion. We are more likely to feel depleted and isolated, leaving us with less to give. We are all on edge living in a time that has no real historical parallel.

So here are five smart ways to work smart in these unusual times so that you can help keep burnout at bay!

1. Move Your Body.

Set an alarm. Every hour get up. Shake your body. Stretch your arms to the sky. Bend down and reach your fingers towards the ground. Bend from side to side. Try ten jumping jacks. Jog in place. Get animalistic with a down dog and some cat / cow poses. Do any movement that moves blood through your body, loosens your muscles, and gives you a brief respite from sitting (or perhaps standing) in front of a screen. Also, I am loving Dance Church. Created by Kate Wallich in 2010 to bring dance to non-dancers, it’s the party you want to go to, just happening now in your living room. Designed for humans of all shapes, sizes, creeds, and identities (and their pets, now that it’s virtual) as a safe container for free expression through movement — with some fantastic dance music. Part dance party / part workout, it’s an amazing way to let the ya-yas out. I’ve been livestreaming the class (free, every Wednesday and Sunday) and doing a Zoom so I can do it with my friends and feel a sense of togetherness. Great for mind, body, soul.

2. Fresh Air — Get Some.

Cabin fever is real, especially for folks not used to working from home regularly. Without the imposed excursions of a commute and set lunch breaks, we can get squirreled away in our homes and forget to go out. Create a routine for yourself. Every morning, try to take a break and get outside (social distancing please!) and get some fresh air. And then, every day, take a post-prandial solo stroll. Make getting outside a habit — it will help you stay balanced mentally and physically.

3. Clock In / Clock Out

Crafting a daily routine with consistent parameters will help eliminate the stress of constantly “winging it.” When your office is your home and your home is your office, without the physical separation of “work time” and “personal time,” it’s easy to just keep working — which can lead to stress and burnout. Create a work schedule for yourself and stick to it as much as you can. Start at the same time every day. Clock out around the same time as well. Take your fresh air and move your body breaks at the same time. Eat lunch at the same time. Endeavor to keep your work schedule as consistent as you can. Routine is reassuring when you have to create your own schedule. You no longer have the rhythm of a commute and morning coffee talk and lunchtime as schedule markers. It’s up to you to create a new routine so that you can normalize things as much as possible.

4. Get Square: If You Start to Feel Stressed, Try Box Breathing

You may feel anxiety creeping up — and that’s okay. If that happens to you, try this breathwork technique known as square or box breathing — a very simple and effective way to manage stress in the moment. Here’s how it works:

  1. Breathe in for a count of four (1—2—3—4). See the air entering your body and feel it expanding your lungs.
  2. Hold that breath in for a count of four (1—2—3—4).
  3. Now exhale fully for a count of four (1—2—3—4).
  4. Hold for a count of four (1—2—3—4) before repeating the cycle and breathing in again for a count of four.

Do this for at least five cycles. Studies show that this and other breathing techniques can successfully help promote relaxation.

5. Nix Notifications When You Have to Focus

Yes. These are scary times. The news is coming at us fast, furious — but we can control when we consume this hard-hitting information. A constant deluge of anxiety-inducing notifications is just going to raise your stress levels and make it that much harder to stay focused. Consider making a hard limit for yourself in terms of checking the news — two times a day, maybe three. Try and be present, as much as possible, with what is in front of you. You’ll feel better for it.

Try these simple methods to stave off burnout — let us know if they help you out — we’d love to hear about it. These are unusual times, but you’ve got this!

About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.

As we adjust to the new normal of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of emotions are running high. People feel worried, disoriented, lonely, sad, and uncertain about the future. If, as a freelancer, you’re also adding financial disruption to the mix, it’s a lot of change to handle. Here are some tips to manage stress and support your mental health right now.

The limbic system, the part of the brain which regulates our stress response and controls our emotions, is certainly being stimulated during this historic moment. The amygdala responds to potential threats to our safety (think: the primal “fight or flight” response). It elevates our emotions — particularly, fear, anger, and anxiety. That warning system has its place, but over-stimulation in the form of chronic stress also has long-term health consequences. The trick is to switch gears to more rational thought, to slow things down. That’s not to say that denial is a good approach. But there are ways to nurture ourselves and approach the situation with a greater sense of calm and resilience, in order to support our overall wellbeing.

Limit Media Exposure

Studies show that exposure to bad or negative news takes a toll on your mental health. Find the balance between staying informed and triggering yourself. New information continually arises as the medical community works to better understand the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Some good sources include the WHO and CDC, and your local or state government (for updates on closures, rules, and recommendations). You probably don’t need up to the minute stats or a never-ending dose of theories or opinions.

If you have trouble avoiding the temptation to go down a news or social media rabbit hole, try to set a specific time of day when you will tune in. Perhaps that’s after you do your first chunk of work in the morning or in the early evening. You can use apps on your phone or browser extensions like WasteNoTime or StayFocusd to limit screen time.

Also consider the type of entertainment that you are viewing. While it’s tempting (and very popular) to binge all the movies about pandemics, this might be a better time to focus on humor and lighter fare, particularly before bed.

Learn to Adapt

One challenge of dealing with stress right now is that you might not have access to the same resources that you rely on to manage it under normal circumstances. Your gym is closed, there are limitations to how you can spend time with friends, maybe you can’t visit parks or get out of town.

But, at the same time, new opportunities are opening up. There’s a wealth of free classes available online, free movies, and even free audiobooks to check out. People have more time available and suddenly everyone — including millennials who normally avoid chatting on the phone — wants to catch up, often over Zoom or FaceTime. Reach out to your support network and schedule time for social interaction during your day.

The Headington Institute, which works with emergency responders on resilience and trauma recovery, explains that “adaptive engagement” is critical right now. That is, “remaining flexible to changing conditions around us and leaning into what we can do and what we can control.”

Sure, you might not be able to buy plane tickets for your next adventure, but you can start researching a trip. Maybe you can’t take an in-person CrossFit class with your favorite trainer, but you can workout at home. Spend some time working on the things that you never seem to be able to get to.

Getting back to the basics means getting sufficient sleep, eating nutritious food, and moving your body, says Jill Dovale, a master of social work candidate at NYU. She suggests doing at least one thing a day that brings you joy. She also recommends making lists and posting them on the fridge or near your desk. Some ideas: write out the things that soothe you, list the people who you find safety and connection with, or post the things that you’re grateful for. These reminders can serve as a “visual trigger to take care of ourselves,” she says.

Acknowledge What’s Coming Up for You

“You’re a human being having a human experience,” says Dovale, so it’s important to acknowledge that we have feelings and thoughts about what’s happening in the world around us. The key, she continues, is to work to establish “consistency and stability for the body and mind.”

Resist the temptation or pressure to think that it’s possible to be productive all of the time. Create boundaries for yourself and have self-compassion if you just need to space out and watch TV. You might not be able to attack every single home project that you suddenly have more time for.

Dovale suggests setting a timer for two minutes at least once a day to simply check in with your emotions. You can ask yourself, “what emotion is coming up for me?” and “where in my body?” to get valuable information about how you’re really feeling and to center yourself.

Have an Accountability Partner

With social distancing, it can be tempting to slip into bad habits or to lose our balance and spin out of control. Try to find a friend or loved one who you can check in with about any goals, whether work-oriented or personal habits, or even to check in about your mood. Consistency is key.

Some Tools if You Start to Panic

If your mind is racing or if you feel like you’re struggling, try to get centered in your body. Dovale, a serious meditator, points out that centering in the body is skillful because the body moves more slowly than the mind.

You can pause, breathe, then look around the room and find an object for each color of the rainbow (ROY G BIV). Alternatively, you can check in with each of your five senses. Ask yourself what you see, hear, feel, touch, and taste. Dovale encourages using these grounding activities or other useful exercises for self-regulation and self-compassion.

If you need additional support, the PinkyMind app is an option to connect with a licensed therapist, and many cities and states are providing mental health hotlines. Ask for help if you need it.

COVID-19 is changing many things about the way we work and live. We will get through this. Try different things along the way to encourage and support yourself in this uncertain time.

About the author.
Jess Powers writes about marketing, food, and wellness. She has experience in nonprofit communications and emergency management. Follow her @foodandfury.

Breakfast. “School.” Zoom meeting with my class. Walk. Lunch. More “school.” Walk. Bike ride. Zoom meeting with my friends. Dinner. (If my brother and I have been good, some Wii time.) That’s pretty much my schedule lately.

At this point, I’ve been out of school for three weeks. Coronavirus is taking over the world! The school district is telling everyone to stay home and practice “social distancing.” “Stay six feet away!” “Don’t spread germs!” Our district says that it’s more dangerous to the teachers than the students. My teachers even let us bring hand sanitizer to school before school was canceled altogether!

It’s kind of insane, but I am starting to get used to having “school” at home. I have a few tips and some pros and cons for adjusting to homeschool (from a kid’s (my) perspective).

Take lots of walks.

I know it may sound silly, but it’s definitely helpful, and I don’t even like to walk that much! Walks have been helping me clear my mind. My parents even let me walk two blocks with my dog by myself now, which is new and pretty fun. (My dog Maggie is the only one who loves this change of routine – we’re home all the time now!)

Be good to your parents.

This one probably doesn’t seem as “silly.” I bet if you go show this article to your parents and ask them which tip they like best, they will probably (and definitely) say this one. Try not to scream when they are on work calls and it’s better if you just get dressed and brush your teeth before they have to ask you a thousand times.

Have a workspace.

It is actually harder than I expected to keep an organized, neat workspace. It can be anything, from a nice, neat desk, to the kitchen counter (that is where my workspace was until I got a new folding table for my room). (It was horrible because I had to share it with my brother, and his stuff is always everywhere!) Now I have a spot in my bedroom with my books, pencils and erasers, highlighters, and a ruler.

Try your best.

I am speaking mostly to parents (and adults) right now: It is surprisingly hard for parents (and adults) to not have a meltdown. (It happened to my mom the other day.) My parents have to work their regular jobs at home and they say it’s hard to do that AND help us with our work. SO, kids: just do your work! That way, it’s easier for your parents who are always on their computers or on video meetings. My parents think it’s hard to keep my brother on track (I stay on track on my own, but that’s because I’m in 3rd grade and he’s in 1st.) (I’ve tried to help him, but it doesn’t go well.)

Enjoy your family fun time!

Even if everything is closed, you can still have fun with your family! Solve a jigsaw puzzle (we’re doing a 500 piece puzzle but worried our dog ate several pieces)! Exchange jokes (I like riddles)! Play a board game (we like the game Ticket to Ride)! Build a house (or anything else) out of Legos! Try baking! (But not by yourself, unless it’s Jello!) You could even just draw a picture (that’s one of my favorite hobbies, second to reading)!

Pros:

It’s not so bad staying at home. You don’t have to rush anywhere or wait too long to be able to cozy up on the couch and read a good book. Currently, I am reading all the Harry Potter books in reverse order.

Cons:

No matter how much I think about it, I will never like homeschool better than real school. It’s just too different. At school, you have so much interaction! At home, the only interaction is through Zoom and family. And I miss doing all my out-of-school activities, like theater and swim team. My theater group was about to perform Frozen, and it was postponed. 🙁

I hope I can go back to school this year, but I might have to wait until next year to see some of my friends. In the meantime, my parents tell me that because we are staying home, we are helping our community stay safe, and I think that’s important too.

To everyone reading this: stay safe and healthy! If we all stay home for a little bit, hopefully things will be normal by the time I start 4th grade in August.

About the author.

image-of-author-harper-8-years-oldHarper Forbes is 8 years old and is in 3rd grade at Pacific Elementary School in Manhattan Beach, California. She likes reading, dogs, acting, and swimming, and she is definitely going to follow her tip #2 from this article!

Dear freelancer,

I hope you’re doing well — as well as you can be during what are some pretty stressful, uncertain times — and staying healthy.

I wanted to take a moment to address the elephant in the room: the fact that many of you talented, tenacious individuals we represent have lost work due to COVID-19. We — myself and all of us at Creative Circle — empathize with you and recognize that this situation frankly isn’t fair. No one could’ve anticipated the world turning on its head like it has, and we know that with this, there are additional challenges you, as freelancers, face.

I want to personally assure you that we are doing everything in our power to keep you working. I’ve seen firsthand (well, firsthand through Zoom) the Creative Circle team stepping up to the challenge — working early mornings and late nights, doing everything they can to find and take new jobs from clients, so we can give freelancers more opportunities to get to work — all while trying to find balance in their own lives.

I’ve been especially humbled to work alongside the Creative Circle team during this crisis; seeing my colleagues put their own lives on hold has shown me — now more than ever — that our team comes to work each day because they CARE. About our candidates. About our clients. About the importance of creative expression — and the importance of turning creative expression into a fruitful career.

You are the lifeblood of our organization and the reason we do what we do. We’re proud to be an organization that’s built on the creative lifestyle, with nearly every single employee coming from a creative background. So we know personally how important the work you do is.

In case you need them, we’ve gathered a few resources that you may find helpful:

In the meantime, during these tough times, please keep applying for jobs via our site. Please reach out to your recruiters. And please keep your chin up, as much as you can, and know your Creative Circle family is committed to you.

Thank you for trusting us with your work. We will continue to do everything we can to support you.

All my best,
Matt Riley, Chief Operating Officer
Creative Circle

Back away from the internet, dear reader. If you want to get more done, you may have to do less. It seems the greatest life hack we have for improving brain function, is giving it a goddamn break. As a productivity-focused society, we often want to be more efficient and focused. All anyone wants is to get more done, but the science has come back to let us know that in actuality, it’s our rest states that boost creativity and mental output.

When we are actively focused, the dorsal attention network, or DAT, is what’s actively firing away. When the mind wanders and we are awake but not necessarily focused, we slide into the DMN, or default mode network, and a ton of brain activity occurs there, too — like most of our processing, daydreaming, etc. Our brain functions best when it has the space to oscillate between these two states (which it does via the temporal circuit) so if you’ve ever felt bad for getting distracted in the middle of number crunching, coding, or planning and feel guilty about it, you may be comforted to learn your brain was designed to work that way.

Not all distractions are created equal. There are ways to get in your rest and distraction in a way that nourishes your mind and body better than say, binge watching stand-up comedy clips on YouTube or scrolling through Instagram. Our mind needs flexibility and freedom from screens and certain stimuli to truly tap into essential downtime. Here are a few ways to tune in and drop out of your mental mind games.

Take a specific nap

To get a several-hour-long energy boost, 5-15 minutes will suffice. Any more and you risk getting into that weird groggy zone because the brain will start a sleep cycle. If you want something deeper, like a high performance creative boost, REM is required, so a solid 90 minutes will be necessary. That’s enough to dream and move into wakefulness before the next cycle starts. Don’t go longer that that or else you end up in those weird “what dimension am I in?” places. Yikes.

Go for a walk … but let loose

Giving your brain time to unravel while the body moves can boost creativity for most (and increase test scores for some). If you can get outdoors, the effects increase, so think outside the box if you don’t have immediate access to nature. Maybe there’s a rooftop or park you can frequent (or you can be like this French guy and run a marathon on your balcony). It’s important to allow yourself to wander and observe what might delight you instead of going out with the goal of solving a problem.

Make some art

Whatever you like — painting, music, writing, dance — it’s all got benefits! Art can help us express things we don’t have the language for. There’s a deeper subconscious mode of expression you can tap into without having to think in a focus talking way. Through dance, you can let your body do the talking and processing. Journaling can help get thoughts and feelings down that may be crowding the mind. Music — both making it and listening to it — also has profound effects on healing, relaxation and mood. Beyond providing a venue to express yourself and allowing the DAT space to play, art therapy has been proven to shorten hospital stays and help patients with chronic fatigue. If you need a break to brighten your day, and even boost your immune system, try making, listening to, or gazing upon something beautiful.

Switch up your meditation style (or start meditating)

If you’ve been meditating with fixed attention (or not meditating at all), open-monitoring meditation (OMM) might be an interesting way to switch things up in your neurons. Instead of keeping the brain active, OMM encourages awareness of whatever comes to us internally or externally. So you could work with feelings or sensations inside your body like where you’re holding tension, flutters in your stomach, and relaxing muscles. Or you could stay open to the world around you noticing a breeze, sounds, or sources of the like that may affect even closed eyes. This is best for amplifying creating states and is closely related to vipassana meditation.

Conversely, focused attention meditation requires a specific point of focus and requires the mind to stay sharp as a razor on a particular point of focus. One of my favorites includes watching the flame of a candle, but you can also use the sensation of breath or counting breath. This improves attention and discipline. That’s great, but if you’re trying to tap into DMN, OM meditation is your best bet. It’s typically easier to see benefits for beginners and allows the mind to ungrip, without the emphasis on focus.

Many meditation practices like mindfulness, body scans, and loving kindness include combinations and play with the natural variance our mind likes to pop through — so be sure to try a few out to see what creates the best playground in your mind. (I love Journey Live as a place to try something different, but Headspace and Calm are also great places to start.)

Dream a little daydream

Maybe meditation is not for you right now. No problem. There are other ways to let the mind rest without even setting specific rest time to do so. Whether you’re distracted by a thought or simply allow the mind to wander, daydreaming has massive benefits for the psyche. After periods of focus, allowing thoughts to pop up — yes even the silly ones — can inspire creative problem-solving and new ideas. Need help tapping into this liminal space? Simple tasks like washing dishes, showering, and folding laundry can free up the mind while keeping your hands busy, so your next breakthrough idea can shine through.

Your mind needs space to process data, interactions, and all the stimuli of the day. Our minds are wildly active. So have your daydream, take your walk, and step away from the internet. Your brain will thank you.

About the author.
Alessandra is the mentor, educator, and writer behind Boneseed, a private practice devoted to deep self-inquiry through a range of physical, energetic, and mental modalities. She has over 500 hours of yoga, mentorship, and facilitation training and can be found slinging knowledge on her website, newsletter, and @bone.seed.

Kids, Fido, and WFH: A Short Survival Guide

Welcome to the new new normal. Many of us are now WFH for the foreseeable future because of the new coronavirus. And now — our kids are home too?! Hello, double-duty!little kid holding crayons

The two largest school districts in the country have switched to remote learning in response to COVID-19 — which means a very new reality sets in this week for many working parents: double duty as a remote employee and educational supervisor.

There’s a BIG difference in working remotely from a quiet home and doing so in a household shared by rambunctious children and excitable pets — who hew to Murphy’s Law and somehow know how to show up at the worst possible moment. We know that this is a tough time, so we came up with these tips to help!

Make a plan for education and entertainment.

Your child’s school will likely be instituting remote learning. Some schools have sent home laptops and iPads that would normally stay at school, and some companies have made extra devices available for their employees to take home and use. Check if you don’t have a device for your child to use.

 

In case you need them — WiFi resources.

Not everyone is in the same economic boat. Some families may not have WiFi. To help, telecommunication companies are stepping up. “During this extraordinary time, it is vital that as many Americans as possible stay connected to the internet — for education, work, and personal health reasons,” said Dave Watson, Comcast Cable Chief Executive Officer.

 

Be flexible.

Coronavirus is taking work-life balance and throwing a hundred monkey wrenches at it. Balancing child care, home school supervision, and work is not for the faint of heart. You’re going to have to stretch in new and different ways to make things work. Try getting up before your kids to get some work in before the morning breakfast / walk the dog / feed the hamster / brush your teeth hustle begins. Alternately, clock some night owl hours to catch up if that works for you. Try working in shorter increments of time and taking advantage where you can. These are most unusual times, be kind to yourself, and be realistic about how much work you can actually get done.

Create boundaries.

Put a sign that says: “In a Meeting” on the door to the room where you’re working. That can help kids understand that you are busy and can’t be disturbed. If your space is more open plan, get creative, and put an “In a Meeting” sign on the back of your laptop. Create physical boundaries in whatever way possible to delineate work time and playtime.

Define work hours.

In this land of the new normal, the old rules won’t necessarily apply. Manage expectations. Have a frank conversation with your manager — and be realistic about what you can do. These are temporary measures in a time of crisis — do your best to meet work expectations, but also do your best to make sure your supervisors understand that you are pulling double or triple duty with kids at home. Perhaps you have a schedule of on and off-hours that don’t exactly map to a “typical” workday — with one or two hours of work occurring before breakfast, and another one or two after the kids have gone to bed. Get creative. We all need to work together.

Take breaks. Safely.

Here’s the deal: WFH with kid(s) in tow is a lot to handle, no matter how many arms you have. And now, with social distancing measures in place, it’s even harder to figure out how to structure the day between work and kids and recess and play. Are playdates ok? Outdoor playdates? Playgrounds? Parks? Dr. Eli Perencivich, an infectious disease doctor and epidemiologist, told The New York Times that organizing play dates around an isolated outdoor activity like biking or hiking, or having the kids run around a big, uncrowded park is a safer bet than the local playground. Other pediatricians are recommending virtual playdates, via Skype or FaceTime, instead.

Get in the groove.

The bottom line: get into a routine that works for you and your family. It’s going to be vital to plan ahead and schedule your days and keep a balance of work, planned school activities, and free-play. Things are constantly evolving — we have to stay limber and roll with the theoretical punches.

About the author.
An award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist — Karina writes, edits, and produces compelling content across multiple platforms — including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties.