The Importance of Maintaining Structure and Routine During Stressful Times

有些人喜欢拥有一个稳固的日常生活，而其他人则在思想中颤抖着有预测的时间表。然而，在压力很大，保持结构和常规可以帮助您感觉更具组织和控制。

常规可以随时有所帮助，特别是如果您正在努力建立健康的习惯，但是当您生活的各个方面感到不确定时，这些惯例可能尤为重要。

The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically altered many people’s normal routines, which makes it that much harder to cope with the stress that people are feeling.

突然缺乏结构

Many people are either working from home or faced with the prospect of an unknown period of unemployment. Those working at home may quickly discover that the constant isolation and lack of a normal schedule can be mentally taxing.

A lack of structure and routine can actually exacerbate feelings of distress and make you pay more attention to the source of your problems. As Goldman, a psychologist and clinical assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine, explains: “If people don't have structure and are sitting around with less to focus on, then they also probably will find themselves thinking about the stressful situation more, which can also lead to additional stress and anxiety."

摆脱这个循环的一种方法，促进在你的压力源上反思是在你的一天中保持一些结构和常规。

The Benefits of Having a Routine

Research has consistently shown that routines can play an important role in mental health.例如，一项研究发现，惯例可以帮助人们更好地管理压力和焦虑。

常规例程可以帮助您：

• Lower强调水平
• 形成良好的日常习惯
• Take better care of your health
• 帮助您更加富有成效
• Help you feel more focused

Getting necessary tasks out of the way can also help you find more time for healthy behaviors like exercise and leave you more time to enjoy fun activities and hobbies.

当您强调时，您可以做的一些事情将有助于您维护日常生活：

Focus on Things You Can Control

管理自己的行为可以帮助您对局势的控制。高盛建议将重点关注控制在您的权力范围内。

关键是要创建一个程序,添加结构and a sense of predictability to your day. Of course, your schedule may change somewhat depending on the day of the week, but sticking to a basic structure for when you will wake, eat, work, do activities, and sleep can help you feel less stressed out and more organized.

Structuring your day also ensures that you accomplish those basic tasks thatmust完成，这将在您想要或需要完成的其他事情中留下时间安排。

遵循支持您健康的例程

有一些事情你可以做的一部分your daily routine to help manage stress levels. These include:

• Staying active and getting regular daily exercise
• 确保你休息良好
• 定期吃健康的膳食
• Setting realistic goals
• Trying to stay positive
• Preparing for challenges but notruminating在你无法控制的事情上
• 与朋友和家人保持联系
• Setting aside time for activities that you enjoy

Of course, the situation you personally are coping with can also affect how easy or hard it is to stick to a daily routine. Stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19 have left many people with blank schedules, which can be a daunting prospect for many people. It’s important to find things to fill your time so you don’t end up engaging in unhelpful or unhealthy behaviors.

Make Your List

One helpful activity is to make a list of the things that you normally do during the day. Include everything from work to meal preparation to household chores. Once you have an idea of the basic tasks you need to accomplish, you can start creating a general outline for what you might need to accomplish each day to stay on track.

虽然重要的是要完成必备精神，但请务必找到您可以期待的事情，无论是观看最喜欢的电视节目还是呼唤朋友。让这些小奖励是您的一部分例程可以帮助您在您正在进行的任务时保持乐观，并专注于您可能不享受的任务。

Find What Works for You

有可能有结构化的每日时间表还是一天的一般性清单更好？有些人可能会茁壮成长的每日时间表，概述了特定的活动blocks of time，而其他人可能会很好地用一个宽松的东西清单，他们需要在当天完成完成。

你如何决定哪种方法适合您？考虑你的动机以及你需要完成的事情。“如果它是高度重要性，并且需要在特定日期完成的事情，那么将其安排到您的日常生活中并雕刻出来，可能需要确保它完成的时间，”Goldman建议。

In other words, deliberately schedule a specific time to take care of those high priority tasks. Knowing that you have that time set aside for those tasks will leave you free to focus on using the rest of your time effectively. Goldman also suggests that it may be helpful to schedule things that youmay not be motivatedto do.

Knowing that you need to do those tasks at a certain time on a certain day will help keep you on track and hopefully overcome the urge to just keep putting them off.

Remember It Takes Time and Practice

Just like trying to营造, starting and sticking to a new routine takes some time and effort. You know yourself best, so if something doesn't seem to be working, try tweaking your schedule to make it work for your needs.

Goldman recommends paying attention to how you feel throughout the day in order to determine what times of day you are the most productive. "If you feel like each day you feel unmotivated and lethargic at a certain time, then that is a sign that you may need a mental break at that time," she says.

When you find yourself in those moments, think about what you might need to feel better and get motivated. That might mean that you need to take a break, go for a walk, have a snack, or spend some time working on a hobby.

“计划并不总是如计划，所以记得对自己善待，”高盛说。“这不是时候对自己带来额外的压力和期望的时候。当我们的生活感到完全中断并颠倒时，创建新的例程，或者将结构添加到一天，这并不容易，因此可能需要一些时间才能习惯这种“新的”例程，并且能够感受到实现。“