I am Your Quarantine Spirit Guide

I have decided that today, I'm going to have a good day. How novel! Actually, I decided it yesterday, and I set the groundwork for today. Fresh set of sheets, floor vacuumed, DIY pedicure. I am going to do social distancing right.

As a Master Introvert, I'm here to help you cope. I'm home a lot, and I work from home. I'm no doctor, but I'm an architect of being at home without going crazy and an engineer of time management. I've also managed depression for a long time.

If you're feeling like you are a danger to yourself, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. If you're feeling down in general, I recommend visiting www.youfeellikeshit.com. It has saved me from many a downward spiral.

I begin my day in the mirror. (I've already had coffee at this point. Caffeine is a given, here. Please begin your day with your stimulant of choice. If you don't need a stimulant in the morning, please DM me - I may be interested in hiring you as a life coach). Do whatever you need to do to find yourself attractive. We're all in athleisure these days, myself included, but I do a general spruce-up to unfuck whatever might cause me to feel unattractive. This morning it was dry shampoo, concealer, brow powder, and moistuizer. I had some pimples to conceal and bronzer made me look like it's summer - a time during which I'm happier.

I find that I'm best off with a mix of leisure and productivity. I'll do something useful for twenty minutes or a half hour, then take a break. If you're working from home full-time, then you may work throughout the morning and afternoon, taking quick breaks, and extend this pattern into the evening. I have found that rewarding myself after each task helps keep my spirits up. Stay rested; I understand that being tired makes you more susceptible to viruses like Covid-19.

Make your bed. A note on this: it doesn't have to be done first thing in the morning. Mine's unmade right now, because I wanted to sit down and write while I was in the mood. I'll make it later while I'm cleaning. Unless something drastic and concerning happens to the laws of physics, it's not going anywhere. (By the way, Coronavirus, this is not a dare).

I have done a lot of reading about which foods are good for you, but I have also hoovered cake straight from my fridge under the cover of darkness. I feel like the best two bang for your buck foods are berries and spinach/greens/kale/etc. I don't force myself to eat anything else unless I'm in the mood to. I do eat a lot of apples and bananas because I love their size and portability. And guess what - that switching off and on thing - I do it with food, too. I had a banana for breakfast today and lunch is probably going to be a reasonable portion of something unhealthy. Social distancing makes me crave sugary carbs sometimes, and I think a little is okay. I'm balancing my foods with my moods.

If you ask your doctor what foods are right for you, they'll cringe when you bring up hot Cheetos. But you're going to eat them, so you might as well come to terms with that now. Figure out where they fit into your nutritional profile and overall mental health management.

Nobody reading this needs a reminder about interaction with animals and its benefits. Moving on.

Try to be a little positive. I'm not going to go cold turkey on this, but I'm going to scale back my hate reading a little. Exercise typically puts me in a better mood. Even just a quick plank can drag me back from the edge of googling "not suicidal but sick of living." I've had a lot of anger about how poorly Coronavirus has been handled, but I can suppress my rage by lifting weights.

Hope this helps or at least gave you a distraction! As a homebody cat lady who only leaves to ride or run errands, I felt called to get this out there in a timely manner, and it's not my best work. But also I bribed myself with Doritos to write it, so I feel like I won.

"You have to be able to smile at your own shadow." - Diane von Furstenberg