O is for Obligations #AtoZChallenge

I’m glad I still have things to do.

My biggest obligation right now is, of course, my job, which will get its own letter. But besides actual teaching, I’m actually a little grateful for the meetings. Go figure.

See, the thing is that meetings and scheduled calls give my day some structure. And sometimes, they force me to get out of bed when I may be more inclined to just…not. In the Before, I always had places to be or people to hang out with and the loss of structure hasn’t been great for me. I often spend my days wondering what exactly I did all day–and that’s even when I do have work. Like, I know I did things, but I often used my calendar to SEE what I did and have a record of that. With nowhere to physically go, I don’t have times to physically be places, so I don’t have activities on my calendar and therefore don’t know what’s happened in my day.

(I am realizing now that I can just enter my daily activities on a calendar.)

In the Before, my motto was “If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist.”

But here’s the other thing: I am terrible at certain activities (like working out, surprise) that aren’t at a time set by others. This is why I enjoy going to classes at the gym. I know when to be there, and I know how long the time will last.

I guess I should probably also check out online class offerings for gyms, maybe? I mean, I don’t want to, but I have been doing a fair to middling job going beyond a short daily walks for workouts, so this is me telling myself to at least try a class once. I guess. (Hahaha, the enthusiasm.)

Right, so, scheduled calls and meetings are very helpful to me in this regard. Not only do I know what day and time it is, but it also gives me a sense of normalcy. If someone asks if I’m free on Saturday, and I already have another call scheduled, I get to say, “I can’t do Saturday. How about Sunday at 4?”

It’s a small bit of something in an otherwise gnawing cavern of nothing, so I’ll take it.

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have decided that I’m going to focus on my survival/coping strategies while practicing social distancing. What are the things that make it bearable? What helps alleviate my stress and fear–or at least what distracts me from both? Tune in tomorrow to see what I choose for P!