Category: Internal Medicine

How to Focus on Your Mental and Physical Health (When You’re Home)

Whether you are quarantined and on self-isolation or just spending more time at home,
you need to focus on both your mental and physical health. They are both vital to
keeping your sanity and focusing on general wellness.

Take it Easy and Give Yourself a Break

During this time, try not to stress about being perfect and doing everything right. Nobody
can “win” at being home and being productive. Whether you are spending more time at
home because of an illness, virus, or other reason for your isolation, putting too many
expectations on yourself is going to make your stress and panic worse. This will
severely affect your mental health.

Give yourself a break and remember you are trying your best. Set small goals that can
be achieved easily, but be open and flexible for things to change.

Know What You Need Right Now

What are your biggest needs right now? Take a few minutes to consider what you need
the most, both for your mental and physical health. Using a journal is a great way to do
this. Write down anything you think would improve your life while at home, or would
make it easier.

This might mean having a schedule or routine, talking to friends online or on the phone,
finding a therapist who you can work with remotely, getting in a little exercise or getting
more fresh air. The sooner you understand what you need the most, the faster you can
switch up your schedule to improve your overall health and wellbeing.

Get Your Body Moving

While at home, try to find ways to get exercise and move your body. This can be both
exercise inside and outside your home. If you are on strict quarantine and can’t go
outside, then find online workouts you can do. There is a lot that can be done even
without equipment, like stretching, yoga, Pilates, and bodyweight workouts.

If you can go outside, go for a walk, walk the dogs, do some gardening or home
improvements, or take a family stroll every evening.

Combine Treats with Nutrition

While nutrition is very important for your physical health, restricting yourself and trying to
be on a “diet” while in isolation is not going to do your mental health any favors. An easy
method is to have a tread for every nutritional thing you eat. If you are going to have a
piece of fruit as a snack, maybe add a few pieces of dark chocolate. Have dessert after
your healthy dinner, or enjoy popcorn while watching a movie after dinner.

How to Get More Exercise at Home

Are you spending more time at home than you normally do? Maybe you are in isolation
right now, or you can’t leave for a while for other reasons. This is when you need to try a
little harder to get exercise without being able to just be active in your community or go
to the gym.

Know How Active You Are

To start with, it helps to be more aware of how active you are. It is really easy to either
under or overestimate your activity level, which might keep you from adding exercises
as needed. If it is possible, get an activity tracker like a Fitbit or Apple watch. These can
be worn all day, and will show you the number of steps you take, how many calories
you burn, and the general activity level. You will know if you should be trying a little
harder, or if it is okay to take it easy.

Movement While Doing Other Things

In addition to your workouts, you can also increase your activity every day simply by
combining movements with other things. For example, if you are brushing your teeth,
you are usually just standing there. You can be squatting or walking in place during this
time, and it won’t affect your teeth brushing.

Some other options include walking back and forth or doing lunges while on the phone,
standing or walking while playing fetch with your dogs instead of sitting, or doing some
movement in the kitchen while your food is cooking.

More Chores Means More Movement

Another great way to get more exercise at home is by choosing chores around the
house that get your body moving. Now is a great time to clean out your closet, which
can actually burn quite a few calories and work up a sweat. Maybe you want to clean
out the garage or the refrigerator, organize your cabinets, do some deep cleaning, or
just more physical chores in general.

Sneak in 5-10 Minutes in the Morning and Evening

When you start and finish your day, sneak in about 5-10 minutes of extra exercise.
Something gentle that is easy to do and doesn’t require equipment or turning on your
computer. Maybe this is a gentle stretch in the morning, and some nighttime yoga,
squats or lunges, walking for a few minutes, or doing something active with your kids.

Isolation is the Time for Journaling

As people spend more time in isolation or while quarantined, it is the ideal time to self-
reflect with things like a journal. Journaling might have been something you always
thought of doing but never had the time or motivation, so why not take advantage and
start your journal right now?

You Have More Time to Yourself

When you are in isolation or having to spend more time at home, you probably have
more time to yourself than you typically would. Maybe you work outside the home, so
during this time you find that you have more space to fill up with other things. Even if
you don’t live alone, you probably have periods of time at home where you are alone,
but before your life was so busy outside the home, that you didn’t have much time.

It is a great time to take advantage and get some journaling done. Remember that it
only requires a few minutes a day, which you can definitely find time for.

You Can Self-Reflect While in a Different Environment

Another reason this is a good time for journaling is because your schedule and
environment is likely much different than it was before. Your schedule and habits are
different, you have a new routine, and it can feel like you are out of sorts. This might
seem like a bad thing, but it gives you a new experience. A new way to look at life and
your priorities and really look inward.

You are able to do more self-reflecting when you aren’t on autopilot, as your life right
now is probably vastly different than it was before you had to quarantine at home.

Journaling Will Help Keep You Sane

Being in isolation or alone for long periods of time can be really hard on your mental
health. Much more so than you might have imagined. Even for people who were already
working from home and have more introverted personalities can find that their stress is
heightened when their routine is disrupted so much and they can’t get any type of
physical contact with other people.

With journaling, it can help you to de-stress, identify what causes panic or anxiety, and
really help to improve your mental health during this time.

Tips for Starting a New Journal

If you are brand new to journaling, don’t worry! It is very easy to get started. Grab a
notebook, journal, or just any piece of paper and a pen. That’s all you need. It can
sometimes be hard to start your first page, so here are a few ways to get started the
very first time you write in a journal:

Dear Diary. Write in your journal as if you are writing in a diary. Like you are telling
someone a story about your life, how your day is going, or how you’re feeling.

Use a Journaling Prompt. There are also some great journaling prompts, which give
you one subject to write about, which often helps you get started with writing.

Set a Timer. This is going to require you to do more stream of consciousness
journaling, which is when you write about whatever comes to your mind. There are no
designated topics – you just write with the flow of your thoughts until the timer goes off.