(Guest article by Emma Grace Brown @ emmagracebrown.com)
The pandemic has forced most of us to make changes to our daily routine. For many, this means spending a lot more time at home than normal. While this is a great chance to make memories with your loved ones and bond with the other members of your household, it also heightens the potential for family tension and conflict. Keep reading to learn how you can reduce household stress and ensure that everyone gets along during this strange time.
Prioritize Health and Wellness
Your household is going to have a much easier time getting along if everyone is feeling their best, so try to make health and wellness a priority! Wellness4Life can help you develop a health plan and find ways to bring more wellness to your family’s pandemic routine through diet, exercise, and other healthy habits. For example, regular exercise will have a wide range of benefits on everyone’s mood and energy levels. Whether you prefer to take walks around your neighborhood or follow online workout videos, a good exercise routine will help reduce the negative effects of being confined in the house and keep everyone feeling calm and relaxed.
Keep Everyone Well-Fed
Diet will also play an important role in keeping your household happy and healthy during the pandemic. According to Mental Health First Aid, unhealthy eating habits can have a surprising effect on your emotional wellbeing. Skipping meals, for example, can make your family members feel weak and irritable. Likewise, diets that lack essential vitamins and minerals can lead to moodiness and fatigue which will only fuel family tensions.
Try making some healthy food swaps to mitigate these issues. For example, swap white bread for whole-grain versions to reduce blood sugar spikes and the subsequent energy crash that can make people cranky.
Do Some Deep Cleaning
Our surroundings have a bigger impact on our mood and energy levels than many people realize. Clutter, for example, tends to make us feel anxious and unfocused, which is why you may feel a little less stressed after cleaning up the house. Redfin suggests that clutter can even contribute to bad energy in your home!
This could be a great chance to deep clean your home and instill more calm into your space. Sort through your stuff and say goodbye to unwanted items that are weighing you down. If you want to go a step further, rearrange your furniture, give the walls a fresh coat of paint, and have your carpets professionally cleaned. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to redecorate your house, this is it!
Get Out of the House
Spending days upon days cooped up inside isn’t good for anybody. Cabin fever is bound to lead to a few household arguments! If you’re craving some fresh air, get everyone out of the house for some outdoor time. Nature has the undeniable power to relax and calm the mind, whatever the weather. Assemble your loved ones and take a long bike ride, pack a picnic and head to the park, or go hiking in the woods. There are all kinds of fun activities you can enjoy with your family outdoors during the pandemic!
Make Time for Yourself
The importance of “me time” cannot be understated, especially now. While it may not be easy to find time alone when everyone is working, learning, and playing under the same roof, it’s not impossible! Even parents have found inventive ways to steal some alone time during the pandemic. For example, you could go sit in your car and listen to an audiobook or run a hot bath and lock the door. If you need to distract your kids for a while, set up a fun craft activity, give them a few household chores, or permit yourself to be a little more flexible about screen time limits.
Coping with the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been easy for anyone. But as time goes on, we’re all learning to live in this new normal. Turn to Wellness4Life for pertinent tips and information, and help the rest of your family adapt to a harmonious life at home so you can all get through this together.