Self-Management Strategies for Increasing Regularity of Daily Routines
• Set up a routine for yourself while you are in quarantine or working from home; routines help stabilize body clocks
• Get up at the same time every day: a regular wake time is the most important input for stabilizing your body clock
• Make sure you spend some time outdoors every day, especially in the early morning; your body clock is regulated by the light – dark cycle
• If you can’t go outside try to spend at least 2 hours by a window, looking into the daylight, and focusing on being calm
• Set times for a few regular activities each day such as home tutoring, telephone calls with a friend, or cooking; do these activities at the same time each day
• Exercise every day, ideally at the same time each day
• Eat meals at the same time every day; if you’re not hungry, at least eat a small snack
• Social interactions are important, even during social distancing; seek out “back and forth” social interactions where you share thoughts and feelings with another person in real time; videoconferencing, telephone, or real-time text-messaging is preferred to scrolling through messages; schedule these interactions at the same time every day
• Avoid naps during daylight hours, especially later in the day; if you must nap, restrict the nap to 30 minutes—napping can make it hard to fall asleep at night
• Avoid bright light (especially blue light) in the evening (eg, computer screens, smartphones); blue spectrum light suppresses the hormone that helps us sleep
• Stick to a consistent sleep and wake time that fits your natural rhythms; if you are a night owl, it’s ok to stay up a little bit later and get up a little bit later than others in the household, but make sure you go to sleep and get up at the same time every day.
