Advice for Newcomers

So… I’ve been stuck at home recovering from surgery since January 16th, 2 months now. Across the world, but certainly as per CDC guidelines here in the United States, I’m sure many of you are now looking down the tunnel of similar isolation as you protect yourself, your family, and your community from COVID-19. I thought, since I have a bit of a leg up on this (although, it does mean in a few weeks this staying at home will flip from being related to surgery recovery to being related to COVID-19), that I should share some advice:

• Forget about the weather report. I mean, seriously, why bother. You aren’t going anywhere anyways. The most it can affect you is if severe storms risk power outages, so pay attention to NWS warnings, but the daily forecast really isn’t important.
• Give up on activity tracking like that which the Apple Watch does for the time being. This was definitely a thing for me stuck at home not even walking much, but for everyone who is at home all the time you won’t likely meet your goals. That is just fine. Your health is important and being protected largely by staying home for the time being. If you don’t meet your movement or exercise goals that is fine. Your stand goal should still be met, though. You may even want to disable the activity notifications your device has for the time being.
• Stay in touch with friends and family using the internet. Social media is one way. But so to is the use of tools like iMessage, FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and many more. Oh, and also phone calls. Regularly check in with your people.
• When shopping is necessary, consider going at low-volume times like right when stores open or right before they close. Also go to local shops for the necessities as much as possible. But hey, I just read that as I haven’t been anywhere except doctor’s appointments recently.
• When working from home, which remember is my norm anyhow, find a hobby or other fun activity to do, be it on the internet or entirely offline, to break things up. Also it is best to have a given place in your house in which to do your professional work.
• Perhaps, just maybe, try to stick to a regular basic schedule of when to sleep, when to eat, and so forth. That will be healthier than sleeping more, eating more, and such.
• Netflix and other streaming services are your sanity’s friends. So are games you play on your devices.
• Having reputable news sources to read online is a good idea. This will help keep you informed, and sane.
• Whatever you do, do not panic. Seriously, that will make things much worse (see toilet paper hoarding, for example).

Of course, the CDC plus my advice is not the end of the line. If you have more, feel free to share. Together we will get through the next few weeks to months of this COVID-19 more or less shutdown of good swaths of society.

Also posted on my surgery blog.