Pandemic stress can be difficult to manage or relieve when it feels like so little has improved since the first surge in 2020. Maybe you’ve found yourself getting upset at something you never thought you’d lose your cool over. 

After years of social isolation and uncertainty fatigue, something that once seemed small can suddenly spark feelings of aggravation and despar you may not have felt before. When these strong feelings surge it can be difficult to feel in control of your emotions. In this article we’ll share some healthy ways to manage your pandemic stress as we enter 2022.

Managing Stress During the Omicron Surge

Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress and anxiety brought about by the uncertainty that comes with it has only gotten worse. With a record number of cases and hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant, it is easy to feel like we are reliving 2020…only this time everyone is worn out from years of new covid variants, fatigue, and forced adaptation. 

While it may be easy to get bogged down by the news and many stressors that are extenuated by our current circumstances, there are many things you can do to help relieve, or at the very least manage, your stress during the newest surge in the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are just a few of the things that you can work into your schedule to manage some of your pandemic stress:

Healthy ways to Manage Stress during the Pandemic:

• Exercise
• Maintaining a healthy diet
• Having a good sleep routine
• Allow for time to unwind and participate in activities that you enjoy
• Connect with others in Covid-safe manners
  

Exercise

Many of the stressors brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have led to people feeling burnt out and fatigued and getting aggravated by seemingly small things that may not have bothered them so much pre-Covid. It’s easy to let our aggravation get the better of us in the moment, but exercise and physical activity can be a great way to release the tension in a safe and healthy manner. 

Incorporating exercise into a busy schedule can be extremely daunting if you’ve never done it before or have fallen out of a previous exercise routine. It’s important to remember that physical activity doesn’t have to mean spending an hour at the gym three times a week or going on a run every morning. While both of these are great ways to be active, they can be difficult to introduce into a busy schedule, let alone stay with.

Exercise may be as simple as taking a phone call while you go on a walk, doing yoga in the evening before you wind down for bed, or doing an at home workout using YouTube or other virtual platforms. These simple steps can be great ways to start developing an exercise routine onto which you can build in the future. 

Maintaining a healthy diet

The foods we eat play a large role in how we feel on a daily basis. Many cheaper and easy to prepare meals tend to be highly processed with a high level of salt or sugar and despite being convenient in a tight work schedule, you wind up feeling worse overall. Buying larger quantities of proteins such as beans or peas and shopping for in-season vegetables and fruits can help to keep low-cost meals healthy and easy to prepare ahead of time. 

Cutting alcohol and other substances out of your diet or reducing the amount in which you are taking in can also be beneficial in reducing stress, especially when you are more isolated. If a glass of wine or a beer has been a way for you to relax from a stressful day, consider using non-alcoholic alternatives to keep the relaxation going without some of the negative side effects that come along with alcohol consumption.

That said, while keeping a healthy diet is important, it is even more important to be kind to yourself and your body. Eating balanced meals is important. Eat what makes you feel good, keeping in mind that fruits and vegetables are always a great accompaniment to any snacks or sweets you enjoy. 

Keep a Good Sleep Schedule

Sleep is one of the most important things that we can do to improve our health. While sleep can be heavily impacted by stress, it’s important to do your best to keep a regular sleep schedule. 

If your mind is one that becomes very active at night, as mine sometimes does, try journaling or writing down all your thoughts before you go to bed. It doesn’t have to be a coherent story or monologue, but clearing your thoughts out of your head and onto paper can help you fall asleep more easily. 

While afternoon naps can be enticing, especially when you’ve had a night (or nights) or poor sleep, it’s important to limit the amount of naps that you take during the day. If you do need to take a nap during the day, it is recommended that you only nap for 20 to 30 minutes. This keeps your sleeping mind in the shallow sleep stages and reduces the amount of sleepiness you feel when waking up from an afternoon nap. 

Connect With Others

It’s no doubt that one of the hardest parts about the Covid-19 pandemic is the isolation that many of us have felt for extended periods of time. As social creatures, our social wellness is one of the largest pillars of wellness that we have to take care of and when it is depleted, it is easy to sink into bouts of loneliness and depression. 

It is incredibly easy to turn inward in times of isolation, but often looking outward and reaching out to others to check in on them can be the best way to build connections and feel less lonely. Reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while (maybe not an ex partner though) and check in with them—call a grandparent or older mentor and see what they are up to, or set up a virtual game night with a group of friends that you usually only see once a year. 

Tired of being on a screen? Try writing letters or set up a time to get together at a local park to play a safe game such as frisbee or kickball. Form a walking group or do a weekly scavenger hunt to manage pandemic stress with neighbors or friends. Sometimes all it takes is a five minute conversation and thinking outside the box of your home. 

These strategies for managing pandemic stress can take time to implement into your life. It’s ok to take things slowly. Small steps towards a healthier lifestyle are still steps towards feeling better. If the most you can do right now is take ten seconds to focus on your breath, you’re on the right track. 

As we creep closer and closer to the three year mark of Covid-19 showing up in the United States, it’s easy to scream into the abyss “WE SHOULD BE DONE WITH THIS BY NOW!” With the exhaustion of watching covid numbers surge, fall, and surge again, anger and resentment and grief for all the things that we feel we have lost over these three years can feel suffocating at times.

It’s important to remember that we are all living through uncertain times and we are all dealing with them in the best ways that we as individuals know. The healthiest thing that we can do is acknowledge that there is little about the times we are living through are not easy or by any means nice, but there are still good things happening all the time.