Nevertheless, I find myself avoiding situations where I’m not doing anything productive. I am finding projects that keep my mind active, and lately online work has picked up substantially, so I am actually making a little money again after a long stretch of financial worries. Anything to not allow myself to feel lonely, because I have been there in the past and I know where it leads.

This whole setup does lead to another issue altogether: Being constantly busy means that you are not taking care of yourself properly. Of course, there are ways of deriving pleasure from a job well done, but to find proper balance you also need time to regenerate your mind, to be creative in unproductive ways, to just bumble along without a particular goal in mind.

I usually do that by taking long walks in nature or bringing my bicycle out and spending time on my own with the sun and the wind. Unfortunately, after 12 months of this situation, I have become sick and tired of the same old paths, the same old areas, and the throngs of people populating every single spot that I used to be able to get to and spend time with my own thoughts. I find myself busy avoiding people, to the point where I prefer not going out at all.

So how can I take care of myself in this situation? Some tips that I have used to stay mentally healthy:

• Use the pomodoro technique to create regular interruptions in whatever activity you are engrossing yourself in. Personally, I aim to spend about half as long on regeneration after a period of work/activity: 30 min active followed by 15 min (drinking tea and watching people outside, listening to music, doing yoga or jumping rope for a while and crashing).
  
• Make sure you schedule time to do something creative and ‘unproductive’ (meaning no work or activity you are obliged to do). Something you truly love to do and care about. Once it’s scheduled in: stick with it! It’s as important as a business meeting, believe me. Ask yourself: if I had some time for myself, what would I like to do?
  
• Keep in mind that ‘doing your best’ does not mean working yourself to a nervous breakdown. In these times of uncertainty and constant change of parameters, it is important to remain realistic. We have been conditioned for a good number of years that ‘doing your best’ in the work sphere means ‘pushing yourself to the limits’. Maybe this is an opportunity to reset that gauge from ‘to the limits’ to something like ‘going as far as is necessary’?

As I said, these are unprecedented times, but more than ever we have to look out for our own mental health, much more so than usual. Many of you will be you on their own, working from home and lacking in social interaction, while others are overwhelmed by the constant interaction with family members because everything happens at home.

A good while ago I have started to count my blessings: I have a home to live in, I have the means to feed myself, I have been able to shift a good part of my business online and, in addition, I have found new lines of work I had never considered before. Yes, I am busy, but the good kind of busy. I have left worries about the past and the future behind and stay firmly focused on the present.

Ask yourself: wouldn’t it be simpler and more helpful to focus on what IS rather than what COULD BE?