Staying Calm During COVID-19

When’s the last time you reached out to a friend?

One of the ways the CDC suggests coping with stress is to “connect with others.”

That seems like somewhat frustrating advice in a time when a lot of us are social distancing, sheltering in place, or downright quarantining.

But thankfully we’re in the digital age, and it’s never been easier to reach out virtually. Zoom is getting a lot of attention as a teleconferencing tool you can use to connect with multiple friends or family members from afar. There are plenty of other tools, too — Facetime, Google Hangouts, and Skype among them. My team uses UberConference because it doesn’t require dowloading an app and integrates seamlessly with our phone system, DialPad.

Let me add one caveat: recruitment work involves a lot of video calls already. At the end of the day, I’m not that keen to add another video session.

Which is why the CDC’s other piece of advice hits home, especially for me. Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media…and, I would add, screens in general.

We’re all finding our way in these crazy times. Stay balanced friends.