Remember the lockdowns? I still remember March 4th, 2020, vividly, when Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a mandate for all Californians to stay at home. Every day started to feel like a blur as the mandate kept getting extended. I was incredibly fortunate that my family and I were mostly unaffected by the virus itself, but I slowly began feeling more negative as my days folded in on themselves.

I watched everything on Netflix. The turnip economy in my Animal Crossing town was a broken system. The DoorDash fees were growing at a healthier rate than my plants. My social feeds shifted from playful push-up challenges and bread-making to increasingly hot takes about everything.

To help keep my sanity, I started a few things to keep my mind clear.

1. Go on regular walks

Because of my dog, this wasn’t a new thing for me, but I started to see it as a break, not a chore, to take my dog potty.

I wrote more on this here!

Taking a walk without my AirPods

2. Wash your own hair as if you are giving someone a hairwash

I know this one sounds weird. I don’t remember where I learned this, but this shift in mindset has completely changed the seemingly mundane daily routine.

3. Always plate your takeouts

It started out as a joke. For our birthdays, we made takeout look super fancy. Ever since then, we’ve kept at this, and I swear the food tastes better.

4. Dress up to go out everyday

This simple act helped me compartmentalize the start and end of my workday. When you invite work into your home, it tends to blur the line of when to start and stop. A physical act helped me draw that line better.

5. Call & video chat your loved ones even if there’s nothing to talk about

It’s amazing how many things you end up learning about each other’s lives when there’s dead air. Brb, calling my parents.

Are there any positive things you started to do during the lockdowns that you still do today? Please share!

What are these IRL sounds I’m hearing?

I love consuming audio. I constantly have something playing in the background, whether music, radio shows, podcasts, audiobooks, or just someone playing a game on Twitch. I even helped start an audio-based company. I used to joke that I got tired of my inner dialog nagging at me, so I listened to audio to override it.

Yesterday, during my usual walk around the neighborhood, I left my AirPods at home. It was weird leaving them behind on purpose because they have become my favorite Apple product ever since they came out. They’ve been with me through many COVID meetings, walks around the park, travels, and late nights feeding a newborn.

When walking my usual path, I noticed how much my neighbor’s cactus had grown and noticed new flowers that had blossomed. Even though I walked by it everyday, I was so consumed by the podcast I was listening to, my eyes were virtually shut. I then started to notice my train of thought wander based on random things I was seeing and I started to reflect on my own memories. When I came back, I felt refreshed in a different way.

One of my favorite WFH advice is to take a walk regularly. Luckily, I have a dog that would remind me to go for it twice a day. But I did not realize that when I took my AirPods along for a walk, I was taking my mental state from work with me. I was still taking calls, I was still listening to the same podcast before I left, I was still listening to the same song while I was coding. I’d never left my desk at all.

I’m not going to stop loving the AirPods but I’ll be taking more walks without them.

Taking a walk without my AirPods was originally published in 🏡 wfh on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.