With a global pandemic on our backs and a prolonged summer vacation under the constraint of social distancing rules, spending time indoors means different things for different people. While some enjoy the quality time with their families and loved ones, others can sum up the experience of engaging with their relatives using these two words: stress and pressure.
Whether it is the inability to maintain healthy relationships with household members, or simply the urge to be left alone, there is no denying the tension that follows along. Nonetheless, there are different ways to confront the strain of being stuck with family so that your time at home is a little more bearable.
Try communicating. Being home for the majority of the day, if not all, leaves the opportunity to communicate and possibly bond with those in your household. Try taking time out of your day to talk to them, whether it includes conversations about COVID-19 — a topic of common interest — or even small talk. And if there is an issue in the household that has yet to be resolved, you now have the time to possibly talk and figure out the root of the problem.
Create a safe space for yourself. Perhaps communicating with your family is not effective, or perhaps it’s not enough to ease your mind. Creating a safe space, such as your bedroom, will allow you to have an area that is associated with calmness and serenity. You can reserve a place in your home where you can be alone with your thoughts, listen to music, or settle in any solo activities that you might enjoy. Completing calming activities such as journaling instead of stressful ones such as homework can also help your mind associate said area with peace and safety.
Also, try to surround yourself with items that you like in this area. Adding or placing items throughout this room such as pictures/paintings on the wall or candles of your favorite scent on your dresser can help further establish this area as your safe space.
Make time for self-care days. Choosing a day out of the week to focus on yourself can help one worry less about the pressure of being stuck with family. Whether a self-care day consists of extensive skincare routines and facemasks or something like sleeping in and enjoying a bowl of fruits later on is entirely up to you — as long as the day is not filled with anything that brings you stress, but rather activities that make you feel relaxed.
Find things to work on, be productive. Social distancing leaves room for discovering news hobbies and working on what it is that you are passionate about. This simultaneously leaves less room to feel the pressure and stress that may come with being home all the time.
Work on that project or business plan that you have been putting off for the last few months. Learn more about music theory. Create an exercise routine or discover new television shows — the list is endless. Wide ranges of activities easily occupy and stimulate the mind, and it will likely decline any stress you may hamper.
Staying inside of your household along with the people who live with you may not be the easiest thing in the world, it can be stressful either. But don’t forget that there is a wide variety of ways to make pandemic-filled summer endurable, even if it does not seem possible at first.
