Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Dear UCI Libraries,

Your HWWG team is working on finding some helpful information and healthy things to do while we are working from home. More details to come.

I know I’ve been feeling stressed. Not the kind of good stress from a productive hard working day, but a weary stress from so many changes and uncertainty. Here are some helpful tips and information to help guide us.

Go to this link for an info-graphic by the World Health Organization on reducing stress and maintaining a healthy lifestyle: coping-with-stress

Here are more action ideas for ways we can make a difference:

1. Set an intention – make a personal commitment to make a positive impact each day for yourself and those around you, even if it is something small.
2. Look after your body – move your body each day even if indoors dancing round the living room. Load up on healthy fruit & veg to support your immune system.
3. Nurture relationships – Reach out digitally by sending messages to friends; remind them of a memory or let them know something you’re grateful to them for.
4. Help others – make some extra food and drop a meal off on the doorstep for a friend who is unwell. And encourage friends to make wise & kind choices too.
5. Look for what’s good – take some time to notice the world around you and be grateful for the good things. What can you appreciate even in difficult times?
6. Make the most of it. If you end up self-isolating or have events cancelled, how can you make the most of that time? eg learning a new skill.

And remember to be willing to reach out and ask for help when you need it too.

Here is a great coping calendar that can be applied to any month/day that works for you:

 

Our emotions affect our long term well-being. Research shows that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones leads to a tipping point beyond which we naturally become more resilient to adversity and better able to achieve things.

 

 

If you would like more information on this and other ways to stay positive, you can go to Action for Happiness, or add the app to your mobile device for a daily dose.