How My Lovet Planner Helped Me During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Editor’s Note: This blog post is a little different and written in first person by a Lovet Planners team member whose name has been removed for privacy.

I’m kind of a social butterfly. I say “kind of” because my personality type is really that of an introvert, but I do get comfort from seeing my close friends and family. That obviously changed when the COVID-19 pandemic touched down in the United States.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself though. 

In August 2019, I drove 30+ hours to move to a different state. While I would be closer to family, I was leaving behind solid circles of friends I’ve made in the nearly 10 years I was there. I was ready for a change though; I was ready to put a bad relationship behind me and work on any residual trauma that came with it and focus on my dreams and goals. 

“I am allowing more good to flow into my life.”

What I didn’t anticipate was how hard it is to make friends as an adult in an entirely new location. So leading up to the initial quarantine and the pandemic, I thought I was all set to deal with continued solitude. I thought I had the “training” for it, you know?

Nope. 

A few weeks into quarantine, it hit me pretty heavy and life didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. I thought to myself why even bother?

That spiraled into so many naps I didn’t really need, staying up until 4 AM but still waking up at 8 AM, slow progress on tasks, etc. That’s when I realized...I’m living during a crisis and I’m lucky to have work during this time. 

I decided to reframe my approach and way of thinking. First word that came to mind? 

PLAN.

I dusted off my Lovet Planner which I had not touched since before COVID-19 really put a damper on 2020 and decided to give my quarantine life the structure it needed. 

Month at a Glance 

The Lovet Planner’s month at a glance pages are for the important dates, and with the pandemic making days blur together, I realized I was missing (and bound to miss more) birthdays and other important holidays and celebrations. Even if it’s just sending a message, I want to make sure my friends and family know I’m thinking of them so I opened up my Facebook, found the birthdays and events section, and wrote down as many important dates as I could for the year.

Week at a Glance

This is the part of the Lovet Planner where most of the heavy-lifting happened for me because my days were a mess. Here’s how I organized:

• DO: For this column, I wrote/write down my morning plans and work projects for the day. For any larger projects, I give the project a title but do my planning for those in my Project Planner. 
• CALL: This column, I dedicate to any phone calls or Zoom calls that are anticipated, but every other day, I’ll add a personal call to a family member or my best friend to keep my sanity in check. 
• GO: Because there’s not much “going” anywhere these days, I use this column to mix things up so I’m not restless at home. For example, I’ll add 30-minute walks, essential errands, basically any excuse I can get to step outside of my house even if it’s as simple as sunbathing. 

Habit Tracker

Each month, I’ll focus on a new habit to tackle. It’s well-known with our team that you shouldn’t try to cram more than one healthy habit to stick with each month. It’s like slowly introducing new healthy habits so that it becomes a natural habit before going for another one. 

For my healthy habits, I examined things that were tanking my mental and physical health in quarantine. So I started with the main thing that can make or break my days: getting enough sleep. The goal was to make sure I went to bed before midnight every night for 30 days which was HUGE for me. Once I got 30 days of sufficient sleep locked down, I rewarded myself with an epic movie night.

I won’t lie. It took at least a week to get back into...well, a new groove of things. That’s why it’s really important to stick with planners once you start, because the consistency is what shows positive results. 

I hope that when you read this, you know that you’re not alone and that there are ways to turn things around and back on track. 

-----

If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to reach out to us! We’re here to help. For more tips, make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter at lovetplanners.com and check out our other pro-tips and planner walkthroughs at the blog section of our site! Questions or comments? Drop a line below!