The Little Things That Keep Me Sane Right Now

As a cranky introvert, my dream life has been to work remotely and isolate myself at home with the dogs and while I’m thankful for the ability to work from home and hang with my pets, I do struggle with loneliness and boredom.

There are a few little things that bring me joy, occupy my time and re-energize me though and help me fight the boredom and loneliness:

Mini Road Trips

I consider an hour away a mini road trip and as exciting as life gets for me right now. Last weekend, Rob and I planned a trip an hour away to Ann Arbor to do some grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s. We got there early in the morning and shopped quickly without many other shoppers around. It was delightful!

We also grabbed coffee from a local shop where they have a walk up window outside and then headed back home. That little three hour trip made all the difference for me mentally.

Coffee Walks

Another activity I’ve done quite bit during quarantine is a coffee walk. This is where I meet up with another person, generally a colleague, and we grab coffee and take a socially distanced walk outside and catch up. I try to switch up the local coffee shop I visit too and that gives me a different area to explore during walks too.

Walking in general makes me feel happier and so whether or not I have someone to walk with, I take at least one walk a day with the dogs and do this first thing every morning to kick off my day

Games

I never thought in a million years I would suggest this. I’ve always been anti-game unless I can throw down a micropenis card during Cards Against Humanity, but now I’ve realized I do like games! I’m not trying to hang in big groups, but Rob and I recently had a game night at his sister’s with her boyfriend and it was so much fun. I got to see people, play a new game and get out of the house for a couple hours.

This might not be something everyone is comfortable with, but I hear there are games you can do with Zoom (I hate Zoom) so I have no recs for that, but it’s another option!

FaceTiming my Mom

I bother my mom at least once a day and ever since she got a smart phone, and most recently an iPhone, we spend a lot more time talking virtually face to face and that’s helped my mental health as well. I think making time to talk to the fam on video is a great way to connect with loved ones. I regularly show my mom updates in different parts of the house, show her the dogs sleeping, what I’m eating, etc and it feels like we’re catching up in person.