Sep 29

Sep 29 What you can do right now to make things better for yourself

caretaking, future you, inspiration, self-care, books, free challenge

Here we are, about to start October, and in the Northern Hemisphere, that means we are truly heading into autumn. Colorado and some places in New England are already peaking when it comes to changing leaves.

Of course, if fall is here, it means winter is soon to follow. We lose just a bit more daylight every day until the start of winter, deciduous trees drop their leaves . . . Lots of folks have issues with this season in a good year, and I think we can agree that this isn’t a good year.

As fall deepens and winter arrives, we start to spend more time indoors. On the one hand, that is an invitation for us to make things more hyggelig, or homey. On the other hand, it often comes with colds and flu, and in a year where we are dealing with a global pandemic of a virus that very few people have any immunity to, that feels riskier.

Lots of people are planning on hunkering down for much of the winter, in ways that are not dissimilar to the lockdowns many of us experienced in the spring. And this is at a time when many of us are feeling burnt out, exhausted from dealing with COVID issues and ready for it to be over.

The bad news is that it’s not over, and is likely to be a problem once flu season starts. (This is because it may be hard to determine which illness a person has; also, the flu is enough to fill many ICUs in a regular year; adding COVID patients too will strain the system.)

There is some good news, though.

There are possible vaccines in the works, which means that by this time next year, things may not be so scary. We have figured out that face masks actually work, and that in addition to protecting other people, our own face masks give us at least a little protection for ourselves.

Another big piece of good news is that we can see it coming. We were blindsided this spring, but we can take steps now to prepare for a rocky fall and winter. If you take a few minutes now to think things through, you can make things easier on yourself later this year. And your worst-case scenario if you do it is that you overprepared, which somehow seems comforting to me.

Here are some things you might consider:

assess your pantry items and stock up on some basics now
make sure you have acetaminophen on hand, along with basic cold medicine for colds, and things like tissues
if you’ve been hobbling along with a makeshift workspace, consider setting up a better one
think back to spring and any lockdown issues you might have had, and ask yourself if there are things you wish you had then that you can get now
get in some brief, outdoor, physically distanced visits with people before it gets too cold to meet up
use this time before the flu season to take care of appointments you’ve been meaning to make
get your flu shot
find cuter masks that fit you comfortably instead of making due with ones you don’t like

What this looks like at my house:

Morris and I bought two four-packs of our favorite Kleenex last time we were at Target, plus a bottle of acetaminophen. We bought a few extra boxes of pasta on our last grocery shopping trip. I got my flu shot during my last IV infusion for my rheumatoid arthritis, and will be making an eye doctor appointment this week (pretty sure I need new lenses).

And we are in the process of replacing some carpeting in our house with hardwood flooring—it was something we’d planned over a year ago to do this fall, and it makes sense to us to do it while we can have windows open, even though the installers wear masks. Also, I’m setting my sewing machine back up, since I finally found some elastic at the store.

Here’s what I suggest you do:

1. Set aside 10-20 minutes or so. Sit down with a favorite beverage (water, wine, whisky, coffee, tea, gin . . . whatever you want), a piece of paper or notebook, and a favorite pen.

2. Consider the following two categories of questions.

Are there things you wished you’d had in your life during the spring lockdown? Maybe it’s a fire pit outside so you can extend your outside season, or a generator in case you live somewhere that regularly loses power. Maybe it’s a better desk chair, or a new tablecloth, or some candles that make your space smell good. Maybe it’s a few more houseplants to bring some green inside, or a new wreath to welcome you to your own front door. Maybe it’s yeast and flour, or an InstaPot.

Spend five to ten minutes to think it through, and write yourself a list.

Similarly, are there things you need to schedule or do while the coast is (relatively) clear? Maybe it’s a dentist or doctor’s appointment. Maybe it’s your mammogram (I know I have to schedule mine). Maybe it’s a proper haircut or dye job, or getting highlights or a facial. Maybe it’s that you need to go shoe shopping, or pick up new pillows, or buy some new sweatpants. Maybe you legit just want to spend an hour browsing in a store.

Again, spend five to ten minutes thinking about it, and write it on your list.

3. Schedule stuff for yourself, whether it’s making an appointment with someone else, or setting aside time to restock your pantry or go shopping for clothes or home improvements, or inviting friends for a backyard visit or a hike.

That way, when—or if—we have to start restricting our activities a bit, you will feel more prepared and in charge. Because there’s nothing better than feeling like you are prepared and in charge and are pursuing your own choices and agenda, especially when there’s a global pandemic going on that reminds us otherwise. I’ll take a false sense of control over a complete lack of control any day, and I’m pretty sure you would too.

If you are feeling stressed out, then I invited you to join the Falling for Fall Challenge, below, or to pick up a copy of Lower Your Anxiety, an ebook with lots of tips to help you do just that.