I’m writing this a few hours after our city and county leaders mandated a shelter in place order, effective beginning Wednesday, when this post publishes. While the library here has been closed to the public for over a week, most staff have still been reporting to their workplaces. This new order means that we’re all working from home now, which is a huge challenge for many library workers whose jobs are focused on people and physical materials. I feel fortunate that I can do my job remotely, and those of us who are able to do so are working hard to come up with projects other staff, whose normal job functions are now impossible, can assist us with from their homes. Turns out – there’s actually a lot of useful stuff we can do together.

While I’ve worked from home before, it’s usually only been once or twice a week, and I’ve always gone outside my house and done something afterward. This is more than just an unusual situation – the combination of working from home and not allowing myself (or being allowed by others at this point) to go spend time with other people is a strain. I anticipate it will be difficult for many of us. But I’ve been working from home and social distancing for over a week now, and it’s given me some time to figure out the things that help me the most when it comes to my mental, emotional, and physical health. Let me know what’s been working for you.

• Get outside the house at least twice per day. I had been training for a 10k run in April, and while that’s been cancelled, I want to maintain the progress I’ve made. Exercise is one of the essential functions that we can do outside the house, so I usually go for a short run in the morning before work. It gives me a burst of energy for the work day, and I always feel better generally after exercise. March and April are possibly the best weather months here in Texas, so I’ve also been going out for a walk in the late afternoon/early evening, effectively bookending my day with sunshine (usually) and the outdoors. It’s helped me more than I thought it would. There are several other people who are also out and about, and while we don’t have face to face interaction, we do wave, nod at each other, make eye contact, and kindly move out of each other’s way to maintain six feet of separation. It’s a small connection, but it’s there.

 

• Play games virtually with friends and family. I started playing Words With Friends on my phone, but it doesn’t give the face to face connection and camaraderie that in-person games do. The next best thing to actual in person board game nights are videochats where people at 2 or 3 (or more) different locations can play the same game together and see each other’s faces and carry on a conversation. There are board games out there that can be played in such a way with minor modifications. The first I tried was Roll for the Galaxy. Since both my friend and I own a copy, and it doesn’t require one player’s pieces to interact with the other player’s pieces, this actually worked really well. Plus it’s just a super fun game. There are plenty of other games, especially party games, that are suited to this kind of format, as long as each player has a camera and can see the game setup, wherever it is. Both Codenames and Just One can be played this way – and only one person needs to have the game to make it work. Even if you have no board games you feel you can adapt, you can always do charades.

 

• Find a home project to do. This hasn’t been anything big for me. The first one I planned was simply finishing unpacking my suitcase from PLA and putting the suitcase away, something I had been putting off but took almost no time to accomplish. Accomplishing something concrete and physical helps me to feel like I’m not just sitting around the house, and it’s a bit of exercise, too.

 

• Ensure my work space at home is tidy. For me, this has meant making the bed each morning, washing all the dishes before I go to bed at night, and putting away all the stuff I normally let gather on tables and countertops. A less cluttered space makes me feel less confined indoors.

 

• If it’s nice weather out, open the windows. Heck, even if it’s not that nice, I’ll open them. I love to hear the birds chirping and the sounds of my neighbors out walking their dogs. It makes me feel less isolated to hear the sounds of life going on outside. Plus, the way my house smells when it’s had fresh air blowing through it for a couple of hours is amazing.

 

• Put on a nice shirt and earrings. When I work from home in normal situations, I do usually just wear shorts and a t-shirt and forego any jewelry. But this week I’ve made sure to wear my normal work clothes, and it has made me feel more like I’ve done something during the day – again, helping me avoid that “all I’ve done all day is sit around on the couch” feeling.

 

• Read murder mysteries. I thought I’d want to read lightweight stuff, but turns out I am in a murder mystery groove and can’t get enough of them right now. Perhaps it’s because these characters’ situations are so much more dire than mine. I can’t see my friends or family face to face and am worried about my job and the people I love, but I’m not navigating a loved one’s murder (or being murdered myself). These also fully occupy my mind while I’m reading them, since I’m focusing on putting all the pieces together and trying to figure out whodunnit before the sleuth does. In the past week, I’ve read two adult mysteries (You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen and Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson) and one YA mystery (One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus). All have been very satisfying.