00:00Hi, I'm Annie George Greenberg, and I'm a producer at Refinery29.
00:04My favorite part about my job has always been that I get to travel to some seriously cool places.
00:12But now, not so much.
00:15I know how lucky I am to be healthy and to be able to work from home,
00:20especially when that's not the case for so many.
00:22But I'm still struggling to feel normal.
00:27So I figure if I'm going to be here in my living room,
00:31I might as well, with your help and with the help of some intelligent professionals,
00:35figure out how to be happy or at least slightly less miserable during a global pandemic.
00:43If you're anything like me, lately the mornings have been a struggle.
00:47I wake up, I check the news,
00:51and I immediately downward spiral.
00:58Luckily, I've been hard at work developing a foolproof coping system.
01:03Step one, just because you wake up doesn't mean you have to get up.
01:06So stay in bed.
01:08Just stay there.
01:09Stay in bed as long as you want.
01:11And while you're there, girl, let it the f*** out.
01:15Cry.
01:16Cry harder.
01:18Cry so hard you might throw up.
01:20Find a window.
01:21Look out the window.
01:23Remember human touch.
01:25What's everybody else doing?
01:26They're baking bread.
01:28Can you bake bread?
01:29Try to bake bread.
01:32Step 14.
01:34You know what?
01:35Baking's never really been your thing.
01:37Order some bread.
01:38Disinfect the bread.
01:39Watch TikTok.
01:40What is TikTok?
01:42Should you be on TikTok?
01:43Get back in bed.
01:45That's right.
01:46You're back in bed.
01:47And that's when you'll realize this isn't working.
01:51Who are you?
01:52I'm your inner strength.
01:54Isn't that, like, incredibly cheesy?
01:56Totally.
01:56But, sweetie, we're in a bit of a quarantine situation right now,
01:59and this is the best I got, so I'm just going to need you to go with it.
02:02Fine.
02:02Great.
02:03Time to call a professional.
02:05Hi, I'm Dr. Amy Prozworski.
02:07I'm an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University,
02:10and I specialize in anxiety and depression.
02:14Doc, you got to help me.
02:16I am freaking the bleep out.
02:20Please tell me what to do to maintain my sanity.
02:24So a lot of people are feeling exactly how you're feeling,
02:27and I think it's pretty normal to feel a level of anxiety right now.
02:31So the first thing is just to recognize it's okay,
02:34but there are still some things that you can do
02:37to try to kind of reduce some of that anxiety and worry
02:40just so that you feel happier right now.
02:43Hold up.
02:44Before we go further,
02:45I should just say that this advice is not therapy
02:46and should not take the place of actual therapy.
02:50Okay, continue.
02:51So have a schedule,
02:52but make sure that your schedule is something that's realistic.
02:54This can help with things like sleep.
02:56So good sleep hygiene means going to bed at the same time,
03:00waking up at the same time every day.
03:02Exercise is something that's very helpful.
03:05Meditation can be incredibly helpful,
03:07and we know that it's something that reduces anxiety and stress.
03:10Being altruistic is another thing, so helping others.
03:13And then you can also focus on things you're grateful for.
03:16So just focusing on one or two things a day
03:20that you're grateful for can really help you
03:22to focus on positive aspects of your current life
03:25as opposed to getting lost in all the negatives.
03:28I love what you're telling me,
03:29but I do have my doubts.
03:32How can writing in a journal really change who I am
03:35and how I'm thinking?
03:36So there's a lot of data that suggests
03:39that if you change your behaviors,
03:41it changes your mood and it changes your thoughts.
03:43So if I do it,
03:45I'll believe it eventually?
03:49Exactly.
03:49It's not going to be a sudden shift.
03:51It's something that's a habit
03:53that you kind of need to change.
03:55It's as good a time as any
03:57to practice, practice, practice.
04:00I'll keep my fingers crossed.
04:01Perfect.
04:02I will be doing them right along with you,
04:04and I will look forward to hearing
04:05how they work out for you.
04:07Okay.
04:07First things first,
04:08a realistic schedule.
04:14920, open emails, 922.
04:16Let's slack a coworker, see what's in it.
04:18In 2018, the Lancet Psychiatry published a study
04:21that linked having a daily routine
04:22to improved sleep,
04:24a better sense of well-being,
04:25and even better cognitive functioning.
04:28But just remember,
04:29these are not normal times,
04:31so you're going to want to set a reasonable bar
04:33and be more realistic.
04:35Oh, make it realistic.
04:41Better.
04:42Next up, mindfulness.
04:47The science is abundantly clear
04:49when it comes to meditation.
04:50There are hundreds of studies
04:52that show that it improves your mood,
04:54your general outlook,
04:55your sense of well-being,
04:56your cognitive functioning,
04:57and your memory,
04:58while decreasing stress, depression, and anxiety.
05:01It actually changes the makeup of your brain
05:03and can improve your physical health, too.
05:05If there was a pill that would do all that,
05:07you'd take it, right?
05:08Luckily for you,
05:09all you have to do is-
05:10Shh.
05:14That was easy.
05:15What's next?
05:16Gratitude journal.
05:17Okay.
05:18I'm grateful for my health
05:19and the health of my loved ones.
05:21I'm grateful for this apartment
05:22and the light through the windows.
05:24I'm grateful for the light everywhere.
05:26I'm grateful for the light in the park.
05:27I'm grateful for sunsets
05:29and the fact that they keep happening
05:30every single night.
05:32I'm grateful for space.
05:33I'm grateful for movies about space.
05:35Good to see you again.
05:37I'm grateful for gravity,
05:39so I'm not in space.
05:41And I'm here in my apartment.
05:42Doing this,
05:43writing down just a few things
05:44you're grateful for
05:45three to five times a week
05:46is clinically proven
05:47to boost your sense of well-being
05:48and your interconnectedness.
05:50It also could have physical improvements
05:52for your body.
05:54Speaking of body,
05:55time to move in.
05:56Everybody knows that working out
05:57is good for you.
05:58There are hundreds of studies
05:59that prove its benefits.
06:00But did you know
06:01that even just a 10-minute sweat sesh
06:04can give you the endorphins
06:05you need to feel good?
06:06Good.
06:07Because I'm over this.
06:09Okay, you can chill
06:10because next up is altruism.
06:14Being altruistic.
06:15No one's done more research
06:17on what doing acts of kindness
06:18can do for you
06:19than Dr. Sonia Lee of Mirsky.
06:21And to her,
06:22timing is everything.
06:23In her book,
06:24The How with Happiness,
06:25she suggests that you should
06:26challenge yourself
06:27to doing five acts of kindness
06:28on one day
06:29for the maximum feel-good boost.
06:31And just remember,
06:33no acts of kindness
06:33are too big or too small
06:34and you should mix them up
06:36so they don't become
06:36a monotonous chore.
06:37In that case,
06:39I'm going to donate
06:40to COVID relief.
06:43Try to talk to isolated seniors.
06:46Well, thank you for sharing
06:48those memories with me.
06:49Buy a present for my nephew.
06:54Bake for my neighbors.
07:01And write a thank you note
07:03to the staff of a local hospital.
07:07I just finished my five acts of kindness
07:10and I gotta say,
07:11it feels pretty good.
07:12So you're happy.
07:14I'm getting there.
07:15It's safe to say
07:16that I started this week
07:17with a spiral
07:18and I think that's okay.
07:19After talking to Amy,
07:21I felt better about having
07:22these crazy mood fluctuations
07:23and feeling weird
07:24about this weird situation
07:26that we're in.
07:26But I am dedicated to trying
07:29every day,
07:30every hour,
07:30every 30 minutes,
07:31little by little
07:32to hack my own happiness
07:33and get back on track
07:35to some semblance of normalcy.
07:37I'm also dedicated
07:38to doing five acts of kindness
07:39on one day every week
07:41for as long as we're in this thing.
07:42And that's where you come in.
07:43Show me,
07:44tell me in the comments below
07:45how you're giving back.
07:47Then maybe we'll all be
07:48slightly less miserable
07:49during this global pandemic.
07:51I'll see you next time.
