More than anything else, my habits are what’s keeping me going right now. There’s no reason to wake up at a certain time… unless my writing is waiting for me. There’s no reason to eat healthily… unless I’m paying attention to my body through exercise. Habits anchor me to the present day and keep me from spiraling down a well of grief and fear.

The best habits are ones that grow naturally: patterns that I notice, like, and cultivate. Others are harder to maintain, but I’ve learned that they’re necessary for my well-being. Today I’m going to share the 10 habits that have been most important to my mental and physical health during this summer of quarantine. I’ll start with the earliest habits of the day and list from there.

1. Start the day alone. I (almost) always wake up before my family so I can have quiet time. I spend my first half hour writing in my journal, planning the day, and starting my writing projects. It’s so much easier to write later in the day when I’ve already jumped back in for a few minutes.
2. Exercise from 6:30-7:00. That’s AM and PM. I save time to work out twice a day, though I don’t use both time slots every day (14 times a week would be a bit much). I usually do a more vigorous exercise in the morning with a MOSSA video (more on that later) and in the evening, I walk a circuit on my street (a steep hill) or go on the elliptical if it’s raining. Exercise is keeping my body feeling good and helping with extra sweets I’m occasionally eating. A note about MOSSA Move: I HIGHLY recommend this program. They are the classes offered by my gym, and when it closed in March they offered the MOSSA app free until June. I started it right away and happily paid the yearly subscription when it expired. It has everything: kickboxing, step classes, strength and core, dance. Nothing longer than a half hour, but man do you SWEAT. I love them all.
3. Put on a dress. I know it sounds weird– most people are living in yoga pants right now, and that’s awesome. You do you. But I have found that I get a mood boost from wearing a cute, comfy sundress and flip flops every day. And I do put on my makeup even if I won’t be seeing anyone.
4. Do “Sowul Camp” with my kids. We’re not doing full-on school, but I’m very conscious that my soon-to-be third grader did not receive his full dose of learning this past spring, and my preschooler missed out on her amazing daycare teachers. So we’re doing a little language arts, a little math, a little social studies, music (of course) and physical exercise every day. My favorite is the social studies project I’m doing with my son. We’re making a slide for each U.S. state, based on the idea that we’d like to visit each state someday. We’re researching places to go, regional foods, and the best bookstores to visit. It’s interesting and gives us something to look forward to.
5. Play some music. I’m not practicing for anything in particular, but every day I aim to play piano or flute, or even sing something using Apple TV karaoke. I just learned “In the Mood” on piano! I’m also thinking of teaching myself ukulele later in the summer.
6. Take a nap. I take a nap right after lunch. It is so necessary. At this point I don’t even need to set an alarm. I go to sleep, wake up in 15-20 minutes, and I feel a lot better.
7. Read and write. I fill the metaphorical bucket with great content; I empty it into my own writing. Fill, empty, repeat.
8. Avoid bubble-poppers. This is my only habit DON’T. A “bubble popper” is anything that takes me away from focusing on my family, my work, and my own mental health. That includes social media scrolling (I have a 15-minute daily lock on Facebook) and news articles. I can easily spiral into anxiety if I read articles about the state of the world. I stay informed through podcasts, my daily email briefing (I recommend the Skimm for its pragmatism and humor) and my county’s coronavirus dashboard, which is facts only.
9. Talk on the phone. I couldn’t get through the week without calling the people I love and having deep conversations. I feel especially uplifted after talking to my sister or my friends Laura and Cristen. I text with a lot of other friends too, and that’s great, but there’s nothing like a good conversation.
10. Watch awesome TV with my husband (complete with foot rubs). It’s astonishing, but we’ve actually found some things to watch together lately: Schitt’s Creek, the Hillary documentary on Hulu (so good) and of course John Oliver. We’re also re-watching Scrubs because I’ve been listening to the Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast with Zach Braff and Donald Faison. YOU GUYS. It’s SO fun and so good. And I just have to add (though my husband hasn’t watched this with me) that I breezed through the new Babysitter’s Club series on Netflix. I loved how they’ve updated it and made it even more socially relevant! And how amazing is the girl who plays Karen Brewer? And Mallory? And Mary Anne? And Dawn? And… yeah, they’re all awesome.

What habits have you cultivated during this strange period of our collective lives?