When thinking about your free time you can identify the tasks that you have been putting off. (We don’t know, of course, how long we will need to do this.) But this is your time to do what you want to do. But try to think of this as a sabbatical-you are on your own to do what you choose to do for a couple of weeks. Of course, realistically you won’t be able to do a lot of things that you have enjoyed in the past. You probably are familiar with the feeling that you never have enough time to do what you want to do. The more you do, the more you keep busy, the better you will feel. This is a classic CBT technique called Activity Scheduling and Behavioral Activation. Make a list for the next week, month, and two months. If there are items you missed, put them on the list for tomorrow. At the end of the day look at your TO DO list and check off what you did and what it feels like to have done it. My TO DO LIST FOR TODAY is phone and video sessions with patients, talking with colleagues, writing a blog, reading some articles, calling some friends, organizing my tax information, eating lunch, making dinner, watching a video, getting some exercise and spending time with my wife. This will give you an hourly purpose, a sense of being effective, and will help distract you from your worries. The great thing about a list for the next day is that you wake up and you know that there are things that you will do. The night before the next day, make a list of things that you can do during the next day. I am probably like you that there are a lot of things that I have procrastinated on. Just because you are at home doesn’t mean there is nothing to do. Keep track of your experience and how it feels after. Use Skype or Zoom or other free services to actually see each other. So, think about taking that step and call some people. In fact, has it occurred to you that your smartphone is actually a phone? I know I seldom call people on the phone, but this “novel” experience can really be uplifting. Then begin to email or text some of them that you would like to touch base with and check in. Think about family members-list them as well. Just because you are “shut in” doesn’t mean you are “shut off." Make a list of friends-even people you haven’t had contact with in the past several years. So, let’s work on what we can control-and realize that we cannot control what we do not know. But you are also entitled to do what you can to feel less bad-even to feel better at times. We are all fearful of horrible things happening to people we know and to ourselves. But it is normal to feel anxious, afraid, helpless and overwhelmed when dealing with a trauma. This is like feeling bad about feeling bad. We often feel we cannot tolerate our unpleasant emotions-that we should be coping better.
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