Mental Health October: Work-Life Balance

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I am one of a lucky few that settled into remote work well at the beginning of quarantine. In the “before times”, I generally worked from home 1-2 times a week. Because of this, working from home was not as big as an adjustment for me as I’m sure it was for other people.

On the other hand, this way of thinking ended up being a mental trap! I went into quarantine with the mindset that it wouldn’t be that bad, and didn’t change much about my usual way of life from the beginning. As time went on, however, I realized that I would need to make some changes for my own physical and mental well-being.

Below, read up on some of the new habits and routines that I’ve built up around my work life in quarantine!

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Mental Health October: Exercise and Body Image

In the summer of 2008, I was on vacation with my family at Disney World. After a long day at the parks, I spent every moment we had in the hotel room watching the Beijing Olympics. This is when I fell in love with watching gymnastics!

I remember watching Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin and the rest of the women’s team absolutely destroy their events – doing flips! spins! splits! tumbles! the rest! (I don’t know gymnastics terms!) I was enthralled! I wanted to be as strong as them, fly through the air like them, be as confident as them, the whole thing!

While watching one night, one of my family members commented on how chubby the girls looked. Why were they wearing leotards when their legs were so fat? If they worked out so much, why weren’t they all skinny?

My brain started short-circuiting. They’re some of the strongest athletes in the world! It’s all muscle! They responded, Eh, is it worth being so strong if they look so chunky? I wouldn’t want to look that heavy.

I’ve spent most of my life trying to reckon with these conflicting values. Do I want to be strong and healthy? Or do I want to look thin and “beautiful”, according to traditional values?

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Mental Health October: Social Media

My social media use has changed drastically during quarantine. As I’ve spent more time indoors, on my couch, doing nothing, I’ve also found myself mindlessly scrolling on various social media feeds now more than ever, even if everyone else is just at home, on their couches, doing nothing as well!

I’ve made lots of changes to the way that I use my phone and social media, both before and during quarantine, in order to reduce the amount of stress that they trigger. Many of them are very small changes, but all together, they’ve saved me a lot of anguish – and I hope they can be helpful to you too!

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