How to Come Out of The Pandemic a Hunk!

We’re about two weeks into the pandemic. Some of you thought it was going to be over, didn’t you? Well it isn’t over, and it may not be over for a while. With the disruption that has swept the world, we have been severely knocked off our regular routine. The structures of life that we once had kept us in routine. Our jobs gave us the structure that required us to use our time wisely. Things like training, meal prepping, making time for our significant others, and family had to be planned accordingly.

With COVID-19 taking over the world, we are left with so much extra time to the point that we don’t even know what to do with it. We all thought we were on vacation for the past two weeks. Drinking beers at 10am, binging watching the Tiger King, and sitting in pajamas all day. It’s okay, we have all done it.

Now that COVID-19 is here to stay, it’s time to get back into our routines. One of my mentors and friends, Ryan Humphries (read his blog: ), said that we can come of this pandemic in three ways. We will all out of this in one of the following ways: A chunk, a drunk, or a hunk! Some of us will use this free time to drink away all the worries and party like its 1999. Others will eat away the boredom and run out of their rations fast. Lastly, some of us will come of this situation hunks. Now when I say hunk, I don’t necessarily just mean getting lean and jacked (although that could be one). What I mean by that is, we can come out of this pandemic stronger, fitter, smarter, and more skilled. We have a tremendous opportunity at our hands in this unique time in history. COVID-19 has given us the reset button. The button to reset our routines, our eating habits, to make time for something we always wanted to learn.

Now if you have decided that you want to be one of those “hunks” that comes out of this pandemic a better version of yourself, the key to making the most out of it is creating STRUCTURE in your day. You have a clean slate to make the structure from scratch. You get to create and design it the way YOU want it to be. I am going to give some guidelines on creating structure that will empower you to be consistent every day. As we all know, consistency over time is the key to success.

Rise and Snooze at the Same Time Everyday

Setting a time to wake up and go to bed at the same time everyday will set your circadian rhythm. Not only will your body be more likely to naturally wake up and go to sleep on its own, you will have a start and end to your day that you can create structure around.

Create Rituals

Make a routine in the morning and evening. Start with one thing that signals a great start to the day. This can be anything from meditating, reading for set amount of time, going out for a run, and to taking a cold shower (I know a bunch of you just cringed). Do this for long enough and you will shift into the mode you created. This can go both ways including bad habits. Snoozing for an hour after you wake up sets the tone for a slow day. Choose your habits wisely.

Set Non-negotiables Into Your Day
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These used to be things like work, appointments, dropping off your kids to school, etc. With a lot of those things gone, it’s now entirely up to you what YOUR non-negotiables are. For me personally, it’s training and coaching classes. Those are things I do no matter what. With those things set in place and waking up at the same time every day, I can structure my day around it. Put in what is important to you and what you want to accomplish. With the clean slate today, you get to create it however you want to. Want to learn a new language? Set a time for that. Want time to train that new Coronial puppy you got during the quarantine, set time for that (now is the best time to have the best trained dog you ever had!). There are endless things you can do and learn. Do whatever you always wanted to do. Also, don’t forget family time!
 
Block Out Time to Do Nothing

That’s right. I said block out time to do nothing. Most of us think that in order to have structure that everything must be planned out. That is partially true. You are structuring time where you don’t have anything planned. This allows you to be in the moment and do whatever comes to your heart. This is an opportunity to be creative and have fun with those around you, even if that’s virtually (good on you for practicing social distancing)!
Hopefully, this will give you some structure to create some structure! Remember, this is an opportunity to create your day to be become a better version of yourself. You, and only you, get to decide how you handle this crazy time in history. Will you be the one who comes out of this a drunk or a chunk? Or will you come out of this a hunk?