You don’t have to be saturated with news in order to be informed. It may be tempting to check for COVID-19 updates or following pivotal social issues throughout the day, but over-focusing on problems rarely lead to solutions. Your thoughts are powerful. Setting limits for yourself is a good place to start.

You may feel that there is much outside of your control during the pandemic, but there are things still inside your control. Try starting the day with a few simple tasks like making your bed or washing a load of laundry. Accomplishing small tasks will set you up for success and provide momentum for the day ahead.

Rather than getting on your phone first thing in the morning and checking the news or social media try starting your day with a mindfulness exercise. Studies show that engaging in mindfulness activities can reduce stress and result in you feeling more relaxed and centered. Some examples of useful techniques are the raisin exercise and mindful listening.

Expect for some things to go wrong and practice acceptance. One of the things that causes distress is when our expectations and realty are divergent. Counter this by recognizing that there will be times that things are not going well and that this is to be expected. You will handle these types of situations better if you recognize that not everything will go according to plan. You will be able to adapt to difficulties quicker and more effectively if you anticipate that this will be a part of the experience.

Don’t forget to eat well. One of the things we know about people is that we are prone to take the easy route when faced with options. In terms of food this means convenient, but often less healthy, choices that require less effort to prepare. To improve your well-being take time to make yourself healthy food. This has the dual benefit of giving you a meaningful task to accomplish and providing nutrients your body can use to promote wellness.

Although it will be tempting to spend all day on social media or watching television, exercise is still a key component of mental wellness. Find time each day, ideally 30-minutes, where you can get your heart rate up and increase the blood flow to your brain. This has the effect of providing more oxygen to your brain, which will help with concentration, memory, and mental acuity, all of which are needed when people are facing challenges.

Try to stick to a routine. One of the reasons that orders to shelter-in-place or self-isolate are so difficult is because there is a major disruption to our routine. Human beings thrive on predictability and patterns of behavior. Because of this it’s important to find a way to establish new patterns of behavior that become predictable. It takes a little while for the neurons in our brain to adapt to the changes we’re facing but having a routine will speed up the process.

Don’t forget about normal and regular self-care. Specifically, be sure to follow the same dress and grooming patterns you have in the past. Just because you are not going out and socializing like you may have in the past doesn’t mean that it’s no longer important to take time to do the normal things. For example, brushing teeth, washing your face, doing your hair, putting on the kind of clothes you would normally wear, etc. There is value in sticking to these routines even when the reasons for doing so have changed.

Human behavior is goal driven and intended to meet our basic needs. When we can’t do things like we’ve always done them it makes it more difficult to get those needs met. However, it’s important to remember there is more than one way to meet the same need. For example, if you get your need for connection met though sitting down for coffee with a few friends each week, arrange a time when those friends can all video conference to talk and catch up over a cup of joe. Maybe even spruce up the place where you make the call from to look more like a coffee shop. While this won’t be the same as meeting in person, it can create a similar feeling and help you to meet your basic needs. Be creative with this and you’ll find yourself adapting to the new normal.