Social distancing and stay at home guidelines have created a new normal that many find themselves still adjusting to. We’re closing in on a month now and some people are probably still figuring out how it all should work. If you find yourself stressed out, overwhelmed, or even hiding in the bathroom with your laptop trying to get some work done, we’ve got a few tips to help you survive these unchartered times.

#1 Structure Your Day

If you thought working from home was easy, you thought wrong. Taking the time to structure your days is the best path toward productivity – for both you and your family. Have everyone in the family set a routine to follow during each day and stick to it as closely as possible. Block out set times during the day for work, exercise, education, and entertainment. Many people use to-do lists at work to keep them on track, but the new “stay at home” lifestyle needs structure, too, so it will take a new style of to-do list to keep track of it all and help you stay focused and productive.

It’s all around us, but with non-stop news reports, emails, social media and old-fashioned gossip inundating us with random facts and figures every minute, it’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to sort through all the information about what coronavirus COVID-19 really is and how it affects each of us. In an effort to slow down and simplify, we’re sharing a few basic facts from trusted sources to help readers get a better understanding of this new disease that is changing our world.

Coronavirus basic facts

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Most people infected with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

We’ve grown up hearing about the dangers of secondhand smoke, but did you know there’s such a thing as secondhand screen time? Yes, it’s a thing, and it’s dangerous too. Research has shown that how much parents use their technology within sight of children might be setting them up for screen addiction later in life.

Studies have shown that American adults touch their phones between 2,500 and 5,000 times a day and they spend between 2.5 to 4 hours on the phone each day. According to the American Psychiatric Association, that fits the definition of addiction: “A condition in which a person engages in the use of a substance or in a behavior for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to repeatedly pursue the behavior despite detrimental consequences.” More studies are in motion as we speak, but the scientific consensus is that phone addiction is real.