What Positive Habits Will You Keep From Your COVID-19 Experience?

In the current pandemic environment we are all doing things we may never have done before.

Working from home.
Cooking.
Exercising from home.
Going outside to play / walk.
Cleaning our house.
Waiting a week to shower.
Spending every minute of every day with our family.
Being creative when spending money.
More deeply worrying about about loved ones.
Creating boundaries for work/play/relaxation.
Managing levels of stress and anxiety above and beyond what we are used to.

There are a lot of things that we are looking very forward to never doing again when our lives are ‘back to normal’ (hello wearing a mask and gloves in the grocery store!). But this crisis may also be an awakening of sorts.

A realization that there may be actions/habits/traditions that we have begun and really enjoy. Things we wish we did more regularly. Things we didn’t even know we would like but, surprise surprise, we actually do!

Good habits that we may have struggled with in the past (setting boundaries around work and family life). Newfound skills we didn’t realize we had (cooking a healthy dinner). Understanding that texting may not actually be the best personal connection medium (amazing what a Zoom video will do for reconnecting to loved ones!)

So while there is a lot of negativity, concern, scaredness (I don’t think that is a real word, but I like it), complaining, frustration and mourning over lost conveniences that we could (and probably do) participate in, I thought it might be fun to turn that on upside down for a moment.

And focus on something positive that has come from this situation that you will maintain in your life after we finally get ‘back to normal’ (whatever that may look like).

This isn’t an exercise in gratitude (though that would certainly be a positive habit worth keeping in your life going forward). This is an exercise in positive habit acknowledgement, creation and awareness.

But let’s start with identifying positive habit(s) we already had that we have been able to maintain (and perhaps build upon) during these crazy times. Habits that may have been reinforced as being a part of your ‘being’ – not just good habits.

Because starting with a celebration of all the things you do well reminds yourself how good you actually are! Remember my notes last week on negative bias.

I’ll start things off to get you warmed up.

Habits I Had That I Will Keep:

Habit 1 – I have been eating well, maintaining an 80/20 approach to my eating habits. Sure, there have been a few extra cheese and cracker appetizers, but I have been able to accommodate those by the next habit I have maintained.

Habit 2 – I have been exercising regularly. Again, maybe not as intense as I used to at the gym (because we are exercising in our living room), but I am still maintaining a strength/cardio routine 3 days/week, walking outside 1-2 days/week, and yoga/mobility/stretching at least once/week.

Habit 3 – Gratitude. Sometimes I write down my gratitude list, sometimes I list them out-loud, sometimes I just list them in my head as I’m laying in bed in the morning. I have so much to be grateful for – family, friends, RJ, our life, our condo, food, health, the work that I do, the list can go on and on. During this crazy coronavirus time, I’m even more aware of how much I have to be grateful for – because you see a lot of people who don’t have some (or all) of these wonderful things.

Your turn! Take a minute and write down 3 healthy habits that you had before COVID-19 life that you have maintained during COVID-19 life.

Habits I Have Developed That I Will Keep In My Life

Now, the fun part – identifying what positive habit(s) you have developed during this pandemic time that you will keep in your life when we are ‘back to normal’.

I’ll start you thinking again by listing my new found habits that I plan to continue to make a part of my everyday life going forward:

Habit 1 – Thoughtful and Regular Communication with Others

While I like to think I was a fairly thoughtful and regular communicator with friends and family, I realize now what a difference a conversation can make vs. a quick text. Sure, the text thing is better than nothing, but when you are able to see the person to whom you are speaking, read their body language, smile without using an emoji – you realize that you miss out on a lot of information when you are simply using one liners, emojis or gifs.

Additionally, I know that I always have good intentions to keep up with colleagues, networks, ex-clients and friends, but then we get busy. And de-prioritize these conversations because, well, they just aren’t critical path. They are ‘nice to have’, but with everything else on my list, how can I possibly take the time to just sit and chat?

Well I have now learned that these ‘nice to haves’ are really ‘must haves’. We need to learn. We need to connect. We need to have a fun conversation. We need to commiserate with each other. And I intend to be a proponent of doing this with others more often.

Habit 2 – New Family Traditions

Like many of you, we are now doing regular Zoom calls with our families. While my parents have learned how to get on Zoom enjoyed how much we all look like the opening song of The Brady Bunch in our little boxes on the screen, I have learned that spending an hour actually seeing how my nieces and nephews have grown, how long and uncolored all of our hair has become, and what we all look like when we aren’t dressed up for the holidays is priceless! This connection makes the whole family thing feel much more real. More present. More current because we give and get real-time life updates vs. those fleeting moments of rushed conversation that happen over the chaos of family holiday gatherings.

Rj and I have also had a blast doing Friday virtual cocktail hour with his sisters and spouses. We catch up on movie recommendations, toast each other over Zoom, enjoy some inside jokes and see who can make the most creative quarantini.

I think these traditions are things I’d like to keep in our lives – even when we are able to go back to visiting in person.

Habit 3 – Awareness and Understanding of Other’s Situations

Being the work that I do as a Life/Health/Executive coach, I am trained well to listen, understand and stay empathetic to other people’s situations. I also like to think that some of those qualities are inherent in my personality, which is why I enjoy doing the work that I do so much.

But we can all get a bit myopic when we are faced with real world events that are impacting all of us. We focus on how things are impacting our lives first – because, well, we are being impacted!

While being aware of and addressing your own situation is important, this pandemic has encouraged me to think about others just as much as I think about myself. Maybe more.

And to understand that what might seem like a hardship for me is a reality that many people don’t even have available to them.

For example:
I can work from home. I’m used to working from home.
I don’t have to worry about how my kids will get their lunch without being at school.
I don’t have to worry about kids at home during this time.
I have work to do to keep me busy and connected.
I have savings in the bank.
I am healthy.
My hair style is such that I can go for long periods of time without a cut or color.

OK, maybe that last one was a bit superficial, but here’s the context. On the news the other night, while watching a group of protestors here in Maine upset about the stay-at-home order, one guy was actually holding up a sign that said, “I need a haircut”. Meaning – he felt we should all be allowed to open up businesses because he needed a haircut!

Which brings me back to my point – that while I was outraged about his complaining that he needed a haircut, there is the complexity in this situation. Specifically that hair salon studios are full of independent workers, many with families to support. They can’t work from home right now. They just aren’t working.

So us getting a haircut could mean income for others.

While I’m not sure that is what this particular fellow was trying to get across with his sign, I am appreciating that I’m thinking more deeply about these complexities now – vs. just getting angry about one man’s sign.

Awareness and seeking to understand other’s situations beyond our own is a skill set / habit that I personally would like to develop even further than I feel I already have. Because I’m finding a new depth of understanding of myself when I take the time to be more aware of others.

Now it’s your turn. What is one (or more) habits/new ah-has about yourself that you have picked up during this unprecedented time that you plan to make part of your life going forward?

I will tell you all though – the minute Morgan can come back into the condo to clean will be a day of celebration for me. Cleaning the condo is one activity that I do not want to continue when we are ‘back to normal’!

No deep awareness on that one – just the facts folks.