Week 1: The First of Many

Monday, March 23, 2020
by Sam Vandekerckhove

Week 1: The First of Many

Well here we are. The first week of the remote Winter 2020 term! I'm sure last week was a whirlwind for a lot of you (it sure was for me!). There is so much uncertainty about the situation we all find ourselves in, and the ongoing cycle of 'breaking news' hasn't made me feel any better about it either. For those of you who have yet to lift up the rocks you've been hiding under, most (like 98%) of UW staff and faculty have been mandated to work from home until further notice. As someone who derives a significant amount of joy from interacting and meeting with people, this has been quite the adjustment on my end. I shouldn't be selfish - this has been an adjustment for all of us! Oddly enough, I do find solace in the fact that we are all in this together.

"If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

African Proverb

Renate and I have been doing our best to parse through the sea of digital information to provide some useful tidbits for you all. The intention is to provide weekly posts with topics relevant to the circumstances these days. Themes such as; motivationhabit and routine settingexercise and movementwellness supports (both on and off campus)ongoing information regarding COVID-19, and some E-ntertainment (that's like entertainment, but electronic - clever, huh?) will be regularly explored. We're also hoping to gather more relevant topics from you, our community (email: engwellness@uwaterloo.ca with any ideas you have or topics you would like to see covered). 

Check out the drop-downs below for this week's tidbits. If you ever need to chat, EngWellness is still here for you!

Idling in Isolation - Tips for Keeping Active

With the latest developments in Canada necessitating the need for our community to practice self-isolation and/or social distancing, preventing a sedentary lifestyle is absolutely important for maintaining your health and wellbeing (not to mention keeping your immune system primed). Despite not being the most ideal environment, your home, apartment, garage, condo, (or in my case during my UG years - dingy 2-star basement rental), can actually make for a half-decent exercise space. Again, I stress that this already isn't ideal, but we do what we can to adapt to the circumstances, don't we?

Below are some useful articles outlining some suggestions for how to keep active in isolation:

Your EngWellness Team has also created a Keep Moving Facebook group as well. Lots of useful videos and exercises and plenty of suggestions from students and your peers! All are welcome to join: EngWellness Keep Moving Facebook Group

Inciting your Incentive - Tips for Self-Motivation

I think it's reasonable to assume that most of us were not as productive as we would have liked to be last week. World-wide pandemics of this scale tend to throw people off their game from time to time. I wouldn't beat yourself up too much about it. However, now that we've had a moment to process this new reality of ours, we need to see what we can do to keep motivated and engaged in this more digitized world. For you Matrix fans, funny enough I don't recall having the option to take the blue pill...

Keep to your routine (or most of it)

With the inability for us to engage in our usual status-quo, we need to make some modifications to our everyday routines. Full disclosure, it isn't easy to modify a habit as it's been routinized, automated, and reinforced for so long (sorry, smokers). The key is to make modest adjustments and build on them each day. You might need to change the location of where you do your morning exercises, you might need to adjust the time based on when you will be remotely engaged with course content or lectures. Remember, small changes are easy for our brains to digest and the best way to guard against the dreaded mechanism known as procrastination. Combine these modest changes with the element of time (consistent practice, ideally daily), and you'll be amazed at your new normal!

Here are some useful tips for staying motivated and engaged with your newfound abundance of autonomy:

Coping with COVID-19 - Tips for Maintaining Sanity

I'm going to make a wild assumption by stating that some of us are maybe, sorta, kinda, somewhat concerned about this 'global pandemic'. I can honestly say that I have never witnessed something so globally enveloping as this in my lifetime (sorry, myspace). Amidst all the breaking news, broadcasts, ministerial addresses, and all around calamity, what can we do to keep a straight head about this?

The following are some strategies for navigating the uncertain waters we now tread: 

Your EngWellness Team also has a number of different tools in their toolboxes for working through these unprecedented times. If you want some more suggestions, connect with us at: engwellness@uwaterloo.ca!

University of Waterloo Support Services / Resources

Despite not being 'here' physically, a number of UW supports and resources have migrated to remote formats. Below are some bookmarkable links that you'll want to keep tabs on re: everything UW and COVID-19:

EngWellness also has a series of videos that we're uploading to YouTube to help support you all. Here's the first listing:

Don't forget that EngWellness is here to support you! You can always book a remote meeting with your Student Wellness Coordinator! (shameless plug)

E-ntertainment

Another important aspect of maintaining mental health is taking breaks - and that includes breaks from the bright red banner that we now see over every news broadcast and webpage we visit. Maybe even consider taking a break from reading those emails you're getting from every company you've ever provided your email address to (it's so nice to see them all doing their part!).

Here's a list of some fun e-things to e-do while we're all e-working from our e-homes: 

If you have any cool digital things you would like to share, email us at: engwellness@uwaterloo.ca and we'll include it in a future post!

Thanks to you all for taking the time to read, and please let us know if you have anything you would like to see covered or anything you would like us to share in a future post! Connect with us at: engwellness@uwaterloo.ca.

Stay safe and healthy!

-- Sam and Renate
 

Week 1 Bonus Pic: Stay Pawsitive!

Week 1: Pup