Surviving the black swan of coronavirus

Coronavirus is a black swan event, unpredictable and unforeseen with extremely bad, consequences. Oh, some might have thought it could happen, but they were mostly ignored. And the black swan absolutely upsets everything, derailing our normal day-to-day existence.

Most of us are isolating at home now, wondering how to cope, and when and how it will end.

1. Welp, no one knows how and when it will end, or how many will be dead, and what the damage will be. So, as we say in recovery programs, one day at a time. Don’t spend time fretting about what will happen two months for now. Just concentrate on today.
2. I’ve been self-employed for years and am used to working at home. My advice: Get a regular schedule. Stick to it. Don’t spend all day in your bathrobe. When you wake up, put on street clothes.
3. A regular schedule could involve working at home (if you can.) Start at the regular time and end at the regular time.
4. If you are laid-off or lost your job, a lot of places like Walmart, Amazon, and grocery stores are hiring temp labor. Might not be the best of jobs but will pay the bills.
5. Use the internet to stay in touch. Social media, texting, and especially Zoom meetings can be essential to staying connected with people. Just because we may be physically isolated now doesn’t mean we have to be socially and mentally isolated too.
6. Eat healthy and exercise. Resist the temptation to say screw it and sit in front of Netflix for month eating junk food. Because then you’ll gain weight and won’t be eating what you need to stay healthy. And the healthier you are, the better your chance of not getting infected.
7. Yes, get exercise. Even if it’s just fifteen minutes a day walking. Do it. I use TRX training, dumbbells at home, and run as well. It makes me feel better.
8. This is probably not a good time to drink and smoke weed until you’re in a coma. It’s never a good time to do that, but it’s even less of a good time for that now because surviving this will be better if we are clear-headed.
9. And wash your hands. But you already knew that!