Just STOP! It is impossible for you to do it all. For some reason when we are being sent home to self-isolate or work from home, there seems to be an increase in people wanting to be able to manage it all. Now they are working from home for their jobs and now have added teaching at home. Add to that all the regular household chores. We need to manage the uncertainty to the best of our ability.
“ S “ means safety first. Always keep this in mind. The children are home to be safe. You are home to be safe. Your partners are home to be safe. This has to be the priority at this time. So what are you doing to keep yourself safe?
“ T” means take the time to share and explain what is going on. Take the time to assess where you are right now and what is feasible to accomplish. Are you taking your own time-out to refuel and recharge?
“O’ is to manage overwhelm. It is ok if you cannot handle everything. It is impossible to work at home with all the family present and expect to sit at a computer for an entire regular work day. At your workplace you do take five minutes here and there to share with your co-workers. Now your co-worker has changed. Can you take five minutes every now and then to share with other family members at home with you?
“ P “ is about preventing overwhelm. It is about not pressuring yourself to be perfect at everything at this time. It is about preserving your mental health. We are experiencing different times and if we take care of ourselves and our families to the best of our ability we will weather this storm.
STOP everything and keep the main thing the main thing! Safety first. Everything else is secondary. Remember to focus on what you can control. There are many things over which you have no control right now, so let that go and STOP and ask yourself” do I have control over that? “
Stay in the present. Worry is in the future and is focusing on something that we have made up in our minds, because we really do not know what the future brings. Stay in the present. If you find yourself worrying, pick a time of day and just worry about everything for no more than about 20 minutes, then let it go.
