Driftwood #14: Self-Care #3

February 25, 2021

Try Our Social Challenge

Grab your calendar (or should I say phone) and jot down this Social Challenge. Here are seven ideas for social challenges you could do. Start with the challenge you find the easiest and work your way up to the hardest one. Or you could start with the hardest challenge and work your way to the easiest one, so you can feel a relaxing accomplishment by the end of the week.

• Volunteer either in person or virtually. By volunteering, you are communicating with new people while also helping the community. ​To find opportunities, I would suggest visiting the Serve Wisconsin website. They also have volunteer guidelines to follow during COVID-19 and ideas of how you could still volunteer from the safety of your house.
• Look at future plans in your calendar. If there are any that you are dreading and aren’t something you really need to attend, then cancel. If you’re having Zoom fatigue, change the format of your Zoom meetings to phone calls or outdoor dates when possible. Getting rid of the negative events that you can should improve your mental health.
• Rebuild old relationships. Text a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Unplug from technology. This challenge may be harder due to Covid-19 but it’s possible if you make the right plans. You could do this by walking the trail with a friend or go sledding with family while keeping your phone put away.
• Delete people from your social media who do not make you happy.
• Connect with a classmate outside of class. It’s nice to have friends when you’re in class, and one way to do this is to make friends with students in your major classes. This is easier if you have in-person classes, but if most of your classes are online, you could ask your professor about setting up a study group on Blackboard (or do so yourself on Zoom), and get to know your classmates that way.
• Write a letter to a friend or family member. Being surprised by a nice, friendly letter in the mail can make some people so happy. Once they receive your letter, you will most likely receive a call or text. Maybe you can sit down and have a meaningful, long conversation with someone who cares about you by just sending a simple letter to start the communication.