This is gonna be a rough ride for us all.

Here's how to get through it without losing your sanity.

Dodgeball.

Med school insiders dot com In times like these, being either overly optimistic or overly pessimistic can wreak havoc.

We should instead aim to be realistic, based on current information.

In early April.

As I record this, things will likely get worse before they get better.

Friends and family will get sick, countless will lose their jobs or their business, and many will face mental health issues.

But being overly concerned about the long term economic, political and cultural ramifications is not where you should be focusing.

You should place your attention on what you can do now to be responsible, safe and get through this in the best way possible.

I've been practicing strict social distancing for over a month now, and in the first couple of weeks I had some swings with my mood ability to focus and productivity.

For the last couple weeks, however, I've been experimenting with various interventions, and I found some surprisingly helpful.

I hope they also serve you well.

At the beginning of social distancing, I found myself feeling like time was being wasted.

I wasn't very productive, but I also wasn't having much fun.

I was just existing and wasn't really loving life.

It became apparent that small non events from before the self quarantine, such as going to the gym or even to a restaurant, were enough to add some structure and routine because I knew I wanted to go to the gym at a certain time or get lunch before a restaurant closed or avoid traffic.

I followed a loose structure with my days.

But when staying at home, how I spent my time became an a morphosis mess, where one hour blended with another and it made me feel rudderless.

In mid March, I created a more structured routine, stuck with it, and I've been reaping the rewards ever since.

Now, on Week three, at minimum, you need to have a few things dialed in, such as your wake up time and sleep time.

This does wonders for your sleep quality and mental health.

You should also have set hours to be productive and do work set hours to be physically active and set hours for relax, ation or virtual social time.

My schedule looks like this.

I wake about 6 a.m. Do focus work from 7 30 to 11.

Breakfast slash lunch from 11 to 12.

Admin work 12 to to exercise 2 to 4 Samora Admin Work 4 to 5.

Dinner from 5 to 7, free time 7 to 9, and I wind down from 9 to 10.

Your daily schedule will certainly look different than mine, but I've given the schedule a great deal of thought.

Here's wide structured in this particular way and why it's been working well for me first and early.

Wake up time, I notice my mood is best when I wake up early around 6 a.m. plus or minus 30 minutes rather than waking up at eight or nine.

Since my mind is sharpest during this time, I do focus work in the morning until 11 a.m. I do time restricted feeding, meaning I eat for eight hours every day between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. I taken our for breakfast so I can cook, eat, clean up and not feel rushed after eating the food coma Israel.

So I do some less intense work, usually related to emails, finances or other tasks that are less demanding.

After a couple hours.

I'm likely not feeling to inspire with my work and pushing through is not fruitful, so I'll do a home workout.

I alternate strength training days using body weight and bands with cardio days on.

My wife, who kicker, smart trainer with swift set up warmup workout, take down and showering takes me usually 90 minutes or so.

Now that my mind is fresh after exercising, I'll do a bit more work by 5 p.m. I'll begin preparing dinner, which is exclusively home cook to these days.

And afterwards I have free time, which could be spent doing anything I want most commonly video chatting friends or working on new projects like my Sim racing rake in my bedroom that you may have seen on my Instagram.

Lastly, it's incredibly important for me to stick to a wind down routine before bed.

If I don't, I find myself tossing and turning with too much energy.

In short, I shower that my bedroom lights to a dem read, read my Kindle and set my bedroom thermostat to a cooler temperature.

During these times, your routine should be your North Star.

This is what will keep your sanity mawr than anything else.

It may be painful at times, but sticking to it will keep you happier and saner for far longer than going at it.

Based on what you feel like doing moment to moment, do not forget to optimize your systems that will facilitate your routine.

For me, that means not working in my bed, but rather at my standing desk or the dining table.

It also means scheduling my Philips you smart lights to simulate sunrise every day at 6 a.m. So I'm less likely to sleep in.

It means leaving my bike and smart trainer set up to reduce friction rather than setting it up and taking it down every other day.

Think about how you can make your routine and desired behaviors easier and more automatic.

When things are not going well, it's natural to slip up on your good habits.

Maybe you binge with Netflix and a pint of ice cream, or decide to skip exercise for the third day in a row.

But in times like this, ignoring self care can be disastrous for more than one reason.

Poor exercise and dietary habits have detrimental effects on your immune system.

Plus, the long term effects on your mood won't work in your favor.

So what do you do when you inevitably slip up?

The answer is not to be a hard ass on yourself, but rather to have compassion, get back up and develop consistency.

I recommend focusing on three main pillars of self care, which will help everything else fall in place.

First sleeping well, that means consistent sleep and wait times, cool temperature, pitch, black room and other good sleep hygiene.

For additional details, check out some of the videos on my sleep playlist.

Second physical exercise.

Even if we don't have access to a gym, there are great ways to stay active at home.

Whether body weight exercises bans going for a walk, cycling, dancing or something else, get creative and check out athlete X Jeff Nippert and Jeremy Ethier on YouTube for home workout ideas.

Third eating healthy regardless of what philosophy of nutrition you subscribe to, you should reduce processed foods with refined carbohydrates, put down the Doritos and try cooking.

I have been almost exclusively cooking for the last five weeks, and I'm even beginning to enjoy it, which is something I thought I would never say.

And that brings us to the next point finding the opportunity in this crisis.

As I mentioned on my weekly newsletter, which you can check out at med school insiders dot com forward slash newsletter I spoke about the importance of mindset during these challenging times.

It's too easy and automatic to be annoyed with the current situation of the world or to take on a victim mentality.

Why is this happening to me?

This is so unfair.

Instead, ask yourself, What can you learn from the situation?

How can you benefit?

How can you be stronger, smarter or better tomorrow or next month?

Compared to today, it's important to realize that any time a significant change or challenge or obstacle occurs in your life, you're being granted a rare opportunity to have the incentive and push to do things differently.

When life is good, it's very difficult tohave the impetus to actually enact change.

Maybe you've always wanted to learn how to program or improve your investing knowledge.

Maybe you've been pushing off doing a digital de clutter and organizing your computer files and photos.

Maybe you've always wanted to try meditating, but never seem to have the time.

I've wanted to improve my cooking seals for several years but never made that much deliberate effort with social distancing.

Now is the perfect opportunity by consistently cooking and experimenting.

For the last five weeks, I've seen huge improvements in my cooking chops.

The way I see it, this is a great opportunity to reflect and be introspective.

I've been spending even more time journaling every day and reflecting on my emotions or lessons learned or random pots.

I've learned that I tend to focus on what still needs to get done.

But by slowing down and celebrating the small winds, I instantly transport myself to a better mental state.

I'm also appreciating people that are close to me or that I've lost touch with.

I'm now given a fresh opportunity to reconnect with those that I haven't spoken to in some time, and now I'm regularly speaking with family and friends through phone calls or video chat.

Which brings us to the next point.

Social support.

Remember, social distancing does not mean social isolation.

Making a conscious effort to socialize virtually even if you are an introvert is going to keep you far happier for for longer than if you just hermit up without any contact.

If there's someone in your life that you lost, contact with, the virus is the best excuse to reconnect.

Is that the same as face to face interaction?

Obviously not, but it is better than nothing.

How you choose to do this is up to you.

You can schedule a recurrent call with your family or maybe a group.

Hang out with your friends every Wednesday evening over Zoom.

Maybe have a virtual group dinner and wine night.

Get creative and stay connected.

If you met someone on Bumble, try scheduling a virtual date rather than an in person date.

Even if it sounds weird in the midst of this chaos, understand that everyone is in the same boat.

We're all going through this together.

Whatever you are struggling with, countless others are probably experiencing the exact same thing.

Dont simply internalize and deny what you're feeling.

Talk to someone, whether a friend or a professional therapist.

This isn't supposed to be easy, but we can choose to find strength in it.

If anything, my journaling have.

It has put a great deal in perspective.

For me, life isn't easy right now, but looking back, it reminds me how good we have it.

The flu pandemic of 1918 killed 500,000 in the United States alone.

I've never been drafted into the military or had to deal with anything remotely close to a scary as World War two.

I'm grateful to be living in this day and age where dealing with the pandemic is so much easier.

I could just order groceries and have them delivered a couple hours later.

I can connect with anyone in the world and see their face and hear them in real time.

This is a bump in the road, but in the grand scheme of things, we are quite lucky and we must not forget that Best of luck Stay safe and much love.