Peace of Mind Organizing

My quarantine sanity savers

26 March 2020

In these strange times of COVID-19, gratitude feels important now more than ever. For me, the stay-at-home order means that I cannot work in clients’ homes. And I have lots of time to do the stuff I’ve been waiting to do when I have time. But actually getting myself to do that stuff is another matter.

So I’m thinking a lot about personal productivity and when I come up with some amazing solutions, I’ll be sure and let you know. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few things that I’m really grateful for as I seek to keep my time at home as pleasant and productive as possible.

• The stay-at-home order issued by St. Louis City and County. Our state has not issued an order, but I’m grateful our local leaders were brave enough to order people to stay home. It gives me hope that we can slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

• Spotify. I love that I can pull up playlists that meet my needs at any moment. This morning, it’s 70s ballads. Last week, it was 80s dance music that kept me energized as I filed a backlog of papers. (I’m showing my age, aren’t I?) A while back I sprang for the $9.99 per month subscription so I don’t have to listen to commercials.

• Social media (with limits). Social media has been a great source of entertainment and inspiration. But it can also be a source of stress, since the news is so distressing. I’m trying to set limits on my consumption. A timer helps.

• Streaming services. I don’t have cable TV but boy do I have options in things to watch on TV! I created a list in Trello of shows and movies to stream, in an effort to keep from getting overwhelmed. (In case you’re interested I made that Trello board public.) I binged The Morning Show on Apple TV+ last weekend (wow!) and, in addition to the shows I watch weekly on Hulu, I’m just starting a planned binge of Justify. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love Hulu without commercials? In my opinion, it’s absolutely worth $11.99 a month!)

• My yarn stash and knitting works in progress. Last fall, I decluttered my abandoned knitting projects, so now I have plenty of knitting to work on—and I can easily access them without feeling overwhelmed. My main focus is the Tempestry project I’m working on in honor of the 30th wedding anniversary my husband and I are about to celebrate. (I’m creating wall hangings for 1990 and 2020.) But I have plenty of other projects in the hopper!

• The Libby app that allows me to borrow Kindle and audio books, free of charge. It’s connected to both my library cards at St. Louis City and St. Louis County libraries. I’m now reading two books at a time, one on my Kindle and one audio book. And I’m not paying a dime. Something tells me I’ll make my goal of reading 50 books this year without a problem.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. I’ve always felt lucky that I grew up in a small community with not a lot to do, so I don’t bore easily. I’m not anywhere near feeling bored or frustrated by the stay-at-home order. But I am grateful that I don’t have to leave the house to be productive and entertained!

Tagged with: coronavirus, covid-19, productivity, self care, social distancing, yarn

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