Go easy on the alcohol. It’s extremely tempting to hit the bottle to alleviate the anxiety and boredom, but we all know it’s a slippery slope. Sure, there might be temporary relief, but alcohol is a depressive and the cumulative effects can leave us feeling worse if it’s too frequent. Try to limit the amount consumed and set aside a few evenings a week that are alcohol free. Drinking really can be “happiness borrowed from tomorrow,” and you’ll thank yourself in the long run.
Keep your environment pleasant. Little things like making the bed as soon as you get up, keeping the place clean and tidy, maybe doing some overdue DIY jobs is way better for our mental state than letting the home environment slide. To steal an old advertising slogan, it says to your subconscious “I’m worth it.” And you are.
Get some real rest. We work hard when we’re on the road, so use this time to really recharge our batteries. Try to stick to a regular sleep pattern and consider listening to a guided relaxation (there are thousands of free ones on YouTube and also on my website, rocknrollyogi.com) that can help in dropping some tension.
Foster an animal. A lot of touring personnel can’t have an animal at home because we’re away so much, but foster care is the perfect way to share our life with a furry buddy without the long-term commitment. Most shelters pay for any veterinarian bills, and often food and bedding too, so it doesn’t have to cost much of anything. We get to do a little piece of good in the world and there’s nothing like a cat or dog in the house to lift our spirits for animal lovers.
Use tech with discernment. The internet is a huge bonus and used well it brings the world to us when we can’t go to the world. Most of us are spending more time on social media than usual, so be aware of how it’s making you feel, and remember that you can unfollow without unfriending on Facebook if there are people in your feed who bring you down. A well-curated feed is a tiny bit like hanging out on the tour bus after the show and can help you feel more connected. Messaging people each day who you haven’t seen in a while is a nice way to stay in touch too. Talk to a friend if you’re struggling and make yourself available to others for a chat if you have the capacity. Extroverts and introverts are handling the isolation differently, but we’re all in this together and we need to support one another on bad days as well as good.
Remember that uncertainty is the birthplace of possibility. It’s incredibly unsettling to have the rug pulled from beneath our feet and suddenly be faced with an empty diary. To be philosophical about it, while the plans we make are necessary to keep the wheels of normal life turning, they’re complete fiction until they happen, as this whole situation has demonstrated. None of us know what’s going to happen, but we never really did anyway. What we do have control over right now is our time and our attitude – be the master of both and uncertainty turns into possibility.
Finally, focus on how things will be when our road-life comes back. It may take a while, but the public is going to be so hungry for live entertainment – and artists so eager to perform – that we’ll all have more work than we know what to do with. One day in the near future we’ll all be back together – and the year when touring stopped will seem like a very long time ago.
Go here to read more from Becky Pell.