Hello lovely folks! Most of us are now deep in lockdown 2.0. Since writing about the six-month wall, many people asked me about how to take a “mental shore leave”. Here’s my plan, which might help you think creatively about yours. Good luck! THREAD

Most of us cannot take an actual leave from our pandemic-stressed work and family lives. But to get through this six-month wall & emerge happy, it is imperative to take a break. So, how am I going create a psychic retreat for the next 4 weeks to recharge my batteries? /1

Well, I have come up with 2 parallel mental shore leave strategies: daily reprieves & weekly retreats. First, I need more rest & quiet time each DAY. Second, I need a full day off once a WEEK. In my crazy busy life, this sounds impossible. But here’s how I am doing it. /2

First and foremost, recommit to my core wellness practices. Morning meditation/prayer, daily exercise, & a walk in the park are priorities. So are weekly online services with my spiritual community. No matter how busy I get, these need to be inviolable. /3

Next, my first major goal is to get DAILY downtime. Ideally, I would like to find at least an hour a day where I turn off all my tech, put up my feet, drink a cup of tea, and read a novel... as if I was on vacation. Here is how I am going to find that time in each workday. /3

Work smarter, not longer. Research shows in an 8 hr workday, most people do 3 hrs of work. The rest is wasted. Yikes! But even if you’re 2x as efficient as the avg person, that’s still only 6 hr. Check out this cool piece from Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/12/the-case-for-the-6-hour-workday

If I can do 8 hrs of work in 6 focused hrs, I save 2 hrs a day. I tried this last week & it worked. How? I turned off all social media & sometimes I even turned off my internet connection. Answering emails was cordoned off to a set time. /5

Most important, I did my super-focused workdays with my best friend to keep up momentum. Every morning, we set our respective goals & then had team “power hours” to achieve them. Each hour, we reported back on our successes & then powered through the next round. /6

Double up on easy tasks. For example, I have a regular online meeting that does not require me to have my camera on. I mostly need to listen. So, it’s a perfect time to do the laundry. Or wipe down the kitchen. Or bake a quiche. /7

Adopt easy, fast new recipes. My classic recipes are delish, but they take hours in the kitchen. This month, I’m doing easy one pan oven bakes. Spice it up & toss it in. That way, I can have my feet up with that novel while also putting food on the table. Tasty AND easy. /8

Set an unplug time in the early evening, so that all tech is off. I cannot stress enough how much psychic relief I have experienced just by turning off the digital noise. Also, a total moratorium on doom scrolling & 24 hr news. Read Reuters once a day. Done. /9

Now, for the WEEKLY retreat. For me, weekends get eaten up with chores & work. Unless protected, they disappear. Leave the phone at home & play outside for 3-4 hours. If rainy, wear a raincoat. Being unplugged & outdoors has been a mental health gamechanger for my family. /10

After being outdoors for several hours, don’t come home & start answering emails or texts. Keep the tech off for another 2 hours & read a sci-fi or fantasy novel. Top this off with a 20 minute Epson salt bath with a candle from the dollar store is as good as a spa day. /11

Most important, share the time saved. I’m lucky to be able to finesse my work life this way at home. But my husband is an emergency worker & has much less time for self-care. So, if I save 2 hrs, I can use half that time to support him, so that we both get an hr of care. /12

This applies to all our loved ones, neighbours, & community. Everyone needs a break these days. Teachers, nurses, parents, emergency workers. How can we take a little, and give a little? The rest & respite we all crave is much easier to find when we work as a team. /13

Finally, the best retreat is an imperfect one! It doesn’t need to be a 5-star spa vacation. Any solid effort at self-care pays dividends. Read Dune. Laugh when your pets or kids ruin your candlelit bath. Enjoy a rainy park day. Have a happy, creative mental shore leave!