This is a quite an unnerving time. There is so much uncertainty. There are so many outlets putting forth directives for how to respond to the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control, the local health department, the eye doctor, lenders, and Amazon. They want to keep us up to date on how this going to impact or affect your work, appointments or your family situation. Just about the time that we adjust to an update we get another one. We are forced to sort it all out, filter the information, and then to process it.

Processing information and taking it into our daily practice is the work of integrating it. We have to integrate information so that we can make use of it. We forget we are not supposed to shake hands with some one because we haven’t integrated fully the need to refrain from this habit. Integrating some new information or some new way of doing things takes time and energy. Both of which are taxed as we strive to keep up with all the changes and requirements of life in the time of coronavirus.

So strive to remember to give yourself some time to adjust to what you have heard. One of the things that you can do to open up time to adjust, to make it available to use for integration, is to limit your intake of information. Choose one or two sources you trust to provide you with updates. then turn off the notifications from the others. Limiting your intake can support your response in more ways than one. When we are overwhelmed we don’t process material very well. Stress shuts down the processing sections of the brain. The less we take in, the more resources we have to use in productive responses.

So for right now, extend yourself some self-care:

limiting a what sources you follow;

make them trustworthy;

build confidence in your response to the situation;

all while not overloading yourself.