Lockdown Self Care Series: Living In Flux aka Our New Daily Routines
That Sheryl Crow song “Change Will Do You Good” keeps playing in my head as I get ready to write this article, which normally I would enjoy hearing. However, in this season of constant change and uncertainty, that song seems to not resonate the same, and the message is not a new concept we are hopeful for, but our daily reality.
Every day, we are all dealing with, and living amongst change. Whether it is with your new work from home life, or working out in the public with all your PPE, everyone is experiencing a shift in their day-to-day “normal” lives. But is there a way to find routine amidst constant flux?
“It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?”
Date nights, chores, happy hour meet ups, double-date nights, cleaning, friend dinners, shopping with the girls (or in my case, by myself), oh and working, are just some of the things we use to do throughout our day, keeping us running a mile a minute.
My old routine didn’t seem overwhelming, or like I was running super hard, but when I had to set up my work from home work flow and life, I was surprised at how much I was actually doing before COVID-19 and lockdowns. I didn’t realize how many directions I was going in, and how it all seemed so… normal. When I had to stop working, stop going out and just be home and recreate what “a working esthetician” looks like, I could appreciate how much I was doing before.
The shift to work from home taught me some things, like I had to become more intentional with everything I do. If I didn’t get work done, it wasn’t someone else’s fault for distracting me, or having too many clients/errands to run, it was because I simply didn't do it. I started noticing that working on the computer brought me joy, my new routine of going to the same grocery stores, once a week, very early in the morning, a task that I always put off until between clients or after work, is now a highlight of my week.
The shift I went through, made me really think about those things I fit into the spaces in my day, and how if I was more intentional with my day, I could find more joy in it. This connection to the tasks I am doing changed, and wasn’t just hitting the grindstone, but intentionally showing up better in the work I do and my feelings behind it.
I was making myself busy before, focusing on what I had to go and do, not separating what needed to be done and what I thought I had to do. I wrote a little about this in my blog “My Experience: An Esthetician’s Life During a Pandemic” and how I noticed I was just squeezing things in instead of making time for them.
Luckily, I worked out some FOMO I had started to develop halfway through the first lockdown, so when the second wave came, I felt better prepared on how to set up my day/week. I stopped being busy, and started becoming productive, which are two very different things.
Busy gives the impression that you have a lot on your plate and go go go. Whereas productive has the feeling of time management and accomplishing tasks, getting it done without burning the midnight oil. I didn’t even have time to pause and think about planning my week before as everything was centered around when I had clients, when I had to be at events, or date nights with friends. Holidays were always extra stressful as it can involve having to buy, make and bring a dish and choose whose party or what house you were going to, family or friends? Which family? Which friends? And all of this lead to overwhelm and resentment. Instead of enjoying the entire day, I would only be able to enjoy a couple of hours as the rest of the time was a mad dash to get everything, and myself, ready to go, and then turn around, pack it all up and safely get home.
This time to hit pause, and spend energy on what is right in front of me, instead of running in and out of the house all day, has really allowed me to see where I was spending my energy and renegotiate terms with myself on what I wanted “busy” to look like.
Many of us are now more used to working from home, or adjusting to the work world during a global pandemic. It can be a blessing and a curse, depending on how you see it. In conversation the other day with my boyfriend, I told him how much I miss him during the day when I’m home, but how grateful I am that he is not home because I find myself less productive when people are around, another piece of insight I’ve gotten about myself.
Without being able to use those around me as a reason to be distracted from work, I can work on polishing those traits that pull me away from productivity. Our house is now our office, break room, cafeteria, school and recording studio. It is up to us to make it what we want it to be, and now with no one around, we have to take the blame for there being no coffee in the pot.
“Having a routine, knowing what to do, gives me a sense of freedom and keeps me from going crazy. It’s calming.”
I have always found comfort in having a routine. As a kid, I would wake up and make three bowls of cereal for my family, regardless if they wanted that for breakfast, and had already preplanned my outfit for school, even if I changed my mind and didn’t wear it. I love having a routine!
So no surprise that in becoming a Skin Therapist, I found a deep and calming joy in finding that it is all routine, from my perfect am and pm skincare routine to setting up and performing skin care treatments. It is the one thing I have control over, what I do in my routines. Going into lockdown did throw a lot of that out of wack, but fortunately a few of the routines I had set up for myself previous to COVID-19 could still be a part of my new work from home life.
Starting somewhere is key, we won’t all be on the same level or in the same place all the time, we each have our own journey to go through. Having a routine that can be flexible, like washing your face twice a day but not having a strict time of day you have to do it, can help you feel accomplished no matter how much you did or when you got to it. This was the lesson I learned right away. As a practicing Buddhist, I began with prayer, which allowed me to have a calm mind and clear vision of what I wanted and needed to get done. As a task-master, I love lists, and I found apps that helped support tracking my projects and being able to give them timelines that are ok if moved around. I learned how to be flexible within my routine, something that I don’t know when, or if, it would have happened without COVID-19. For that I am grateful, we were all given a moment to pause and really reflect on what is going on in and around our space.
Now, I am not a life coach yet, but we do have amazing women at our Spa that can help you find your balance in life. My goal, is to inspire to find that balance, to look at the change in your environment through a positive view and see where you can move into your growth, and not hit a wall. I am still working out my own routine, and figuring out what my most productive self looks like, but I am making daily efforts and that’s the key. Be consistent even if what you’re doing has to be in flux, keep making efforts.
eri the esti