Adjusting to life working from home with the arrival of the pandemic was both a mental and physical struggle. After doing this for over a year, it’s become clearer what all the ramifications were of that work adjustment.
Given that the worst of the restrictions have been lifted where I’m located, my focus going forward is developing a healthy long-term strategy for getting my various needs met. Some of my plans going forward include the following:
Strength-Based Morning Workouts
My fitness level with working from home definitely fell off a cliff. Both my cardiovascular fitness and strength levels diminished due to walking less daily and the gym closing down, which eventually led to a slight gain in weight.
Limiting my diet further was proving to be unreliable to lose the pandemic pudge, so the natural next step was for me to focus on rebuilding my muscle mass and subsequently increase my basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Trying to work out later in the day was challenging to stick to as a habit due to my varying work schedule. Even though I’m not a morning person, I decided to work out shortly after waking up. This has been essential to getting back into shape and feeling better mentally too. Fitness is an essential aspect for me to live optimally.
Weekly Social Events
Ever since I took a Myers-Brigg assessment in junior high, I’ve known that I was an introvert. (As much as I don’t trust personality tests in general as an adult, that aspect of my personality was correctly identified as a tween.)
Compared to those who are more extroverted, needing to social distance and stay at home was not that challenging for me. But I have had to live a life incredibly devoid of any consistent social interaction for over a year now. I’m thankful I was able to work remotely, but living alone and never going into the office leads to a life that can drive even the most ardent introvert mad.
Admittedly, I still have been talking to various people daily, whether it be through Discord or Microsoft Teams at work. But with it no longer being in-person it’s not quite the same.
With in person social events returning, I plan to go to specific hobby groups at least once a week to ease back into in-person socializing. After going a year without, I expect to run into some social anxiety about doing so, but I know in the long run I need to get past the hurdle and foster stronger in-person social connections.
Sharpen the Saw
Sometimes the expectations I have for myself can lead to exhaustion. With the pandemic restrictions easing I can already feel myself creating a list of the things that I “need” to do sooner rather than later.
However, the extent to which I do this isn’t always healthy. I let myself get a fully booked schedule, which leads to feeling overwhelmed and unable to be present in everyday moments.
This is a bad habit I’ve gotten into, especially as I’ve focused on increasing my overall productivity. Rest and relaxation are key for long-term sustainability, and taking time for that isn’t anything to feel ashamed of. If anything, neglecting restorative activities is a fast track to feeling burnout, and by finding balance in life, that will improve long-term productivity.
To better foster this relaxation, I’m aiming for one day a week to do things non-career and non-productivity related (without any guilt attached). And I won’t make myself do “healthy” thing on that day either, such as workout intensely, journal, meditate, eat healthy, and such. If I do genuinely want to do them, that’s great, but if I don’t want to, feeling pressure to do them ends up as another stressor.
Conclusion
I hope with these renewed habits that I can return to a post-pandemic life better than ever. I don’t expect these changes to happen overnight, and with still working from home life still won’t be the same as it used to be. However, a life with more flexibility and freedom is right around the corner for all of us, and I couldn’t be happier about it.