Tips on coping with self-isolation

Dear Editor:

Let’s assume you don’t have COVID 19, but you’re self-isolating at home for an indeterminate period. People in self-isolation have a problem: They don’t know what to think. Without conscious direction, thoughts go sideways. Your aim is to fill the blank spaces between your thoughts. The best way is to occupy your hands and eyes.

The virus is strange, incomprehensible. You’re edgy, the world feels weird.

Accept your feelings: The weirdness is a wordless message from your body, warning you of the threat.

Connect with your eyes and hands: Try doing whatever you’re doing with full attention — the opposite of being lost in thought. Notice if your muscles loosen up.

Set daily can’t-fail goals: In late afternoon, set a few easy goals for tomorrow. For example, do a load of laundry, clean the bathroom, pray twice daily, phone a friend. Make out a schedule. If a task seems emotionally too difficult, do a small slice of it — or save it for another day. If you live alone, try to contact one friend every day.

Set a few bigger goals: Find a few larger goals, either social or practical, that fit who you are. Work at them one day at a time. For example, keep helping a disabled neighbour, do carpentry at home, read all of War and Peace, walk a mile every day without fail, catch up on knitting, study ways to improve your sleep. Keep a daily journal that notes your progress and records your feelings.

Celebrate your mission: You are joining many millions of others to protect each other and the planet. Feel the pride.

— Dr. Gary Willis, Kelowna (Editor’s note: Gary Willis is a retired psychologist residing in

Kelowna.)