Within a matter of one week, our lives have been turned upside down. There’s a worldwide pandemic and you have been told you must engage in “social distancing” for an unknown amount of time.
We humans are a social species. In other words, we need each other in order to thrive. Lack of social connection often times leads to feeling socially isolated and with that, sadness and depression.
And not knowing how long we’ll be needing to limit our exposure to most of our friends and family can be worrisome and anxiety provoking.
Here are three things you can do to make sure you’re getting your social needs met while social distancing and/or self-quarantining from this whole COVID-19/Coronavirus thing.
- Make those long overdue phone calls to loved ones
Back in the pre-pandemic times, it was SO EASY to just go about your day to day life and not make connecting with your favorite humans a priority.
Days, weeks, months, and even years could pass by without you picking up your phone and talking to someone that you loved. Either because they lived on the other side of the world… or because it’s just easy to get swept up in life and not make calling them a priority.
Well, now’s your chance.
You’ve got a lot more time on your hands now, and your mental health requires you to connect with others often. So give them a call!
Whether it’s your parents, your childhood best friend, or someone who you appreciate that you don’t get to connect with often enough who lives in another country. Chances are, they’ll be happy to hear from you. So reach out to them. You’ll both be glad you did.
- Make those modern day VIDEO calls to loved ones
You can video chat with people halfway across the world for free… and literally see their face moving in real time, from a device that spends most of its time in your pocket. Pretty incredible!
Make time to call Nana and Papa on FaceTime… or your friend Eddie on Skype… or you can get a Zoom account (easy and fun!) and have ongoing group chats with family or friends.
- Keep round the clock texting and/or WhatsApp threads going
Maybe, for the stage of social distancing you’re in, hopping on regular calls feels too obtrusive for your lifestyle.
If that’s the case, keep a text thread going round the clock with all of your favorite people so that you’re keeping in touch about your day to day lives.
It doesn’t have to be much. Sending out a simple ‘I just learned this new song on guitar!’, or ‘Look at this new recipe I just made!’, or ‘Oh jeez when will this thing be over it’s only been a week and I’m already feeling super bored. Oh jeez will the world as we know it ever be the same again??’ goes a long way.