So, here we are. This is the dream, isn’t it? Staying in and lounging around doing nothing. This is what everyone has thought about doing at one time or another instead of going to work. But some of us who have been unemployed for a while now know that their quality of life has decreased. Now life feels like a void, there is no purpose that we are fulfilling. Let me tell you that the best thing to do now is dial in on your routine and exercise.

I want to start with your routine. Some questions to think about are:

• Are you going to sleep and waking up at a consistent and reasonable time?
• At any point in your day do you feel incredibly lazy?
• Are you socializing with anyone?
• Are you doing anything to improve your life?
• Is there a hobby you could work on?
• What’s your guilty pleasure? Are you keeping it limited?

It’s very important to keep a good sleep routine. Sleeping is leads to a healthy mind and body. Just like how everyone has a morning routine of drinking coffee or reading the news or scrolling through social media, you should have a routine for going to bed. How do you expect your body to go to sleep quickly with bright lights from your phone or TV blinding you? It all starts 2 hours before bedtime. You shouldn’t be eating a big meal or hitting a hard workout 2, even 3 hours before bed. To increase your chances of going to bed early you should dim the lights down, start turning the electronics off, and wind down by reading a book or doing some light chores. Establishing a sleep routine and keeping it at the same time everyday will set you up for success everyday.

Regarding your day, especially if you’re home all day during this time of lay-off, you should be productive. There is always something to do that will help your career, family, friends, etc. This could be attending that zoom class if you’re a college student. Now I understand that’s its hard to be productive. Some 3 million of us are corruptly unemployed and that means all of a sudden we have free time. To be more productive, figure out how many minutes or hours you’re already productive, and slowly start to add 20-30 minutes of productivity to your day! It could be as simple as reading a book for 20 minutes after you’ve been crafting presents for your friends birthday that isn’t happening. Ask yourself, is what I’m doing right now helping me become a better person? If not, now is the perfect time to start!

Lastly, exercising and being active is the best thing you can do right now. Having a strong and resilient body will only help you handle stress better. Not only that, it could be a way of using all that pent up energy you have from sitting all day! Exercising during this time of COVID-19 doesn’t have to be extensive. You can plan a 40 minute workout and do 10 minutes of it throughout the day. Or every hour you can spend 5-10 minutes dedicated to being active. This will improve your routine and make you a stronger, healthier person.

Hopefully this got you thinking about what you’re doing on a day to day basis. Are you wasting your time or are you setting yourself up for success? It’s easy to say but harder to do. If you need any assistance just DM @coachvong on Instagram.