I went to office on a Wednesday as usual, had a busy afternoon meeting with government officials from 2-6pm. Got home at 7pm super tired but was glad for a productive afternoon. Then I got a text, the group we met was in contact with someone who had a meeting with someone who was confirmed with covid-19 last week. OMG!!! Immediately, the office was announced to work from home the rest of the week.
I was still relatively calm as I thought the risk of 3rd or 4th exposure to someone who didn’t present any symptom is pretty low to negligible. I still went to office the next day to work but on Friday I worked from home.
More scary news came out, all cabinet members (highest government officials) were exposed to a confirmed case (who’s wife died), so the government shut down and ordered community quarantined of Metro Manila. Still people can move within Manila, just stop in and out, government offices closed and private sector encouraged to WFH.
Next day, night curfew was announced, all stores are closed from 8pm – 5am.
We had a relatively good weekend, actually happy for government’s swift decision to semi-lockdown, the first country in ASEAN after China. After seeing the outbreak in Europe and US due to government not taking it seriously, I was glad Philippine government is acting cautiously.
Friday was our first WFT and home schooling day. Sofia and I sit side by side, she doing her homemade/online class, while I worked
I encouraged her to make a daily schedule before we start
Just before the “lockdown” announcement, I hurried to groceries store to stock up
Girls are still calm and joyful despite not being able to go school. I am glad they are resilient and I hope I can still be calm to provide them with a safe place.
we still went to piano lesson but had to wear a mask
So glad to have a pool in our building to keep our sanity
My digital detox lasted until Friday when rapid development in the country “forced” me to have to keep up with the news as we are working nonstop to provide support to the government. Unfortunately it messed up with my mind again. I didn’t sleep well on the days that I read news until I went to bed, I became anxious again and less patient with the girls. So I need to get back to digital detox (or at least limited).
Now that all four of us are staying at home, we need some structure on our daily routine so we can still have a sense of normalcy. We follow this schedule (with flexibility):
6:30-8am: everyone is up. Girls eat breakfast, I exercise for an hour.
8:30am-12pm: work or home school
12pm-1:30pm: lunch break
1:30-3:30pm: work for adults and nap for the kids
3:30-5pm: work for adults and reading/playing for the kids
5-6pm: swimming and preparing dinner
7:30 or 8pm: bed time for the girls
8-9pm: reading and sleep for me
My digital goal:
– use phone only for communication
– read news during working time slot
– no phone after 6pm
Our New Journey 