With the world now continually and rapidly changing on all of us, the way we used to live our lives is no longer how we currently live our lives.
Most of us have lost any semblance of what used to be our normal routine, and have been forced to discover what our new “normal” is, as the old “normal” that we remember is far gone and will never be coming back
And in that new normal, most of us have a lot more time on our hands to be doing things. Most of us have more free time then we’ve had in a very long while. Even though in our busy times we often long for free time, when confronted with an excess of it, it's very easy to get bored and just sit alone with our thoughts. Finding ways to fill all our newfound time can be challenging. But you can’t give up!
With the way the world is now, we simply have to find new and exciting ways to fill our time. Classes are now mostly online, and a lot of people have lost their jobs, so the social interaction and time filled that most of us gained from those things are gone. We cannot hang out with our friends and family as easily as before. We cannot go to restaurants in the same way anymore, or go shopping, or go to the gym.
So instead of getting out and socializing to fill our time, we have to spend our time doing other things. I have spent a lot of time thinking of things that I can be doing in this time, and I have also tried out a lot of different things. I’m going to present to you what I’ve found to work best for filling my time, and what’s helped me craft a new normal.
Instead of time at the gym spent working out, I do at home workouts by watching Youtube videos or doing something more relaxing like yoga.
I go to get takeout at a local restaurant. By doing this, I support local businesses and also just get out of the house. It’s nice to see a stranger's face every once in awhile. Plus, you’re supporting your local economy!
Drawing, writing, journaling, and reading are also all great things that can still be used to occupy time. Typically a lot of these would have been hobbies before COVID-19, but now all of these things can be used to keep us busy when we have nothing else to do to fill our time. In addition to keeping you busy, all of these activities can be very relaxing and stress relieving.
Even though it’s been extremely difficult to try to find things to fill all of the time that my busy schedule filled in the past, I’ve had to keep pushing. Even when I’ve felt like a day went by and all I did was sit around, the next day I got up and attacked the day with a new plan of how to fill my time.
As long as you’re doing stuff that’s filling your time, and keeping yourself busy as you navigate trying to figure out a new normal, you’re doing more than enough.
