Maintaining Our Health With Routines During the Pandemic

Our hunger, sleep, thirst, and even heartbeats are regulated through different timetables set by our bodies, and if these timetables are disrupted or thrown off course, our health and performance suffer. Now, more than ever, people are seeing the detrimental effects of a loss of routine and structure in their day-to-day lives.

One of the most important, and most fragile, schedules in our lives is the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is the internal clock that regulates our sleep schedules and eating patterns. It is a delicate balance of hormones, body systems, and environmental influences that allow our bodies to function at its peak and help maintain our immune systems. Disrupting the circadian rhythm has been correlated with increased susceptibility to mood disorders¹, heart disease, hypertension, obesity², and decreased immune response³.

As many of us are spending our days at home following safer-at-home orders, it becomes increasingly common to experience difficulties in maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm. The disruption of daily life, anxiety for our health, fear for the health of our loved ones, employment stress, and increased screen time are all contributing to a decrease in healthy circadian rhythms during the pandemic⁴.

Another defining schedule in our lives has also been disturbed: our work and professional lives. With unemployment rates surging and countless companies transitioning their employees to remote working, we no longer have the standard weekday routines that kept us in check. Without rigid hours, structured workdays, and social demands, there is not much left to maintain a healthy, productive schedule.

Studies have shown non-standard work schedules being detrimental for sleep, correlated with increased substance use, greater rates of obesity and depression, and poor dietary choices⁵. However, that’s not to say we need an ironclad work schedule to be healthy. In fact, research has also shown that employees working jobs with more flexible hours report positive lifestyle behaviors and feeling contentment⁶. It’s clear that in order to create an optimal schedule for ourselves, we need to strike the right balance between flexibility and structure.

With so much of our lives changing drastically in accordance to the pandemic, it becomes even more critical to maintain some order in our routines. As many of us face new challenges of quarantining at home and coping with the pandemic, we should be conscious of how our lifestyles are affecting our mental and physical health. Here are a few tips to help you create and maintain routines to stay healthy.

1. Sleep well: We know how much our circadian rhythm can affect our health, so keeping it in check is crucial. Sleeping and waking at around the same time every day is essential in creating a healthy circadian rhythm. The National Sleep Foundation recommends going to bed somewhere between 8 PM and midnight, and sleeping for between 7 and 9 hours per night. Find what sleep schedule makes you feel the best during the day and stick to it.
2. Limit screen time: The increased free time many of us are experiencing has translated into increased time in front of screens and electronics. We’ve all been guilty of binge-watching Netflix or swiping for hours on end on our phones, and that can contribute to a disrupted circadian rhythm and increase strain on our eyes. Limiting screen time in the hour leading up to bedtime can help improve sleep quality and restfulness. Using screen time managing apps or programs can also be useful to remind yourself when you’ve spent too many hours staring at your device.
3. Eat right: Eating nutritious foods and maintaining a proper eating schedule is extremely important for our bodies. When we are constantly at home and surrounded by snacks and junk food, many of us tend to forgo set meals and choose to graze throughout the day. While there are metabolic benefits to grazing, research has found that grazers tend to eat later into the night, which can negatively affect sleep⁷. Eating set meals allows your body to recognize and adjust to the set pattern of food and digestion, helping to regulate blood glucose levels, and can contribute to feeling more structured.
4. Practicing self-care: When we are no longer meeting friends or seeing coworkers, the pressure to look presentable fades, and with that comes a decrease in self-care. Maintaining daily hygiene routines can be a huge boost for productivity and help reduce stress levels over time. If your pre-quarantine routine was to wake up, shower, brush your teeth, do a skincare routine, and get dressed, maintain that even if you have no reason to look presentable. That doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a three-piece suit or heels, but even just changing out of pajamas into different clothes can get your day started off right.

Remember that we want to create schedules adapted to our new lifestyles and those new routines don’t necessarily need to look like our pre-pandemic lives. Our worlds have changed drastically, but maintaining a relatively stable schedule allows our bodies and minds to operate at their optimal levels.

Endnotes

1. Lyall, L.M., Wyse, C. A., Graham, N., Ferguson, A., Lyall, D. M. et al. (2018). Association of disrupted circadian rhythmicity with mood disorders, subjective wellbeing, and cognitive function: a cross-sectional study of 91 105 participants from the UK Biobank. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(6), 507–514, doi.org/10.1016/S2215–0366(18)30139–1.
2. Brainard, J., Gobel, M., Scott, B., Koeppen, M., & Eckle, T. (2015). Health implications of disrupted circadian rhythms and the potential for daylight as therapy. Anesthesiology, 122(5), 1170–1175. doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000000596.
3. Orozco-Solis, R. & Aguilar-Arnal, L., (2020). Circadian Regulation of Immunity Through Epigenetic Mechanisms. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00096.
4. Sleep Guidelines During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sleep Foundation. www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-guidelines-covid-19-isolation.
5. Winkler, M. R., Mason, S., Laska, M. N., Christoph, M. J., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2018). Does non-standard work mean non-standard health? Exploring links between non-standard work schedules, health behavior, and well-being. Science Direct Population Health, 4, 135–143, doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.12.003.
6. Grzywacz, J. G., Casey, P. R., & Jones, F. A., (2007). The Effects of Workplace Flexibility on Health Behaviors: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 49(12), 1302–1309, doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31815ae9bc.
7. Paoli, A., Tinsley, G., Bianco, A., & Moro, T. (2019). The Influence of Meal Frequency and Timing on Health in Humans: The Role of Fasting. Nutrients, 11(4), 719. doi.org/10.3390/nu11040719.