Link Love - Resources to Help You Manage Life During the COVID Crisis

I don’t really know how to manage through a global pandemic, but thanks to the Internet and recommendations from friends, we’re learning about websites and other resources that are helping during this time. Below is a list of articles, websites, and apps that I’ve personally used or they are too cool not to share! I’ll update this post every few days as I discover new sites and tools or as our needs change.

While no one resource is a silver bullet, I hope you’ll find something to help you smile, manage stress, have fun with your family, develop a routine, or provide encouragement.

For You

• Some Good News - Who doesn’t love John Krasinski?! He’s highlighting good news from around the world and let’s just say it’s the perfect daily pick-me-up.

• Must read - “Stop Trying to Be Productive” in The New York Times. Need I say more?! Maybe you have moments where you feel motivated to tackle a big project, but it’s okay NOT to be productive during a global pandemic. I give you my permission.

• If you haven’t read Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies, I highly recommend it to learn about your personality profile (there are 4) and how to use it to your advantage to live a better life. She’s written an insightful blog about how the personality profiles show up in the context of social distancing. I don’t know about you, but I find personality profiles to be fascinating! P.S. You can take her free quiz to figure out if you’re a Rebel, Obliger, Upholder or Questioner. Have your partner take it too!

  • NEW: On April 13, Gretchen published a blog post “Trying to Manage Children’s Schoolwork During COVID-19? My “Four Tendencies” Personality Framework may help.” Interesting to think about your kids and what their personality type may need right now.

• The Creative Mornings community is hosting free virtual fieldtrips. FieldTrips are meetups to interact, learn and collaborate. Most are no more than 2 hours and you can sign up for things like House Plant Basics, You Can Draw, Virtual Sound Bath and How to Manifest.

• Feeling anxious or out of sorts since all this began? Totally normal, but there are tools that can ease some of your anxiety and help you focus your mind. Some of my favorite apps are Calm, Headspace and Insight Timer. Most are offering free resources right now as well.

For the Family

• Homegrown Traditions - Brittany is a mom of four and dedicates her blog to simplifying motherhood. If you sign-up for her Homegrown School email list, you’ll receive a pdf each week that focuses on a different life skill (things like laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc.) and breaks up the tasks by day. Let me just say my kid has never been so excited to do laundry. It’s magic!

• Stop your search for the best banana bread recipe! You can trust this one because it’s from Magnolia’s Joanna Gaines. Grab your ripe bananas and make this immediately!

• Moving our body as a family has been helping our sanity and burn some energy. Here is a round up of my favorites: Peloton app (they just added family workouts and dance, and it’s FREE for 90 days), Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube, and Go Noodle - a little wacky but entertains the kiddos. And don’t forget the tried and true family dance party. We let each kid make their own Spotify playlist and then take turns playing songs. They love it!

• With kids at home and two parents WFH, the dishes, laundry and cleaning are endless. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can get my kids more involved in helping since they are a little young for traditional chores (ages 3 and 6). After reading this 2018 NPR article for the second time, “How to get your kids to do chores (without resenting it),” I’m convinced I’ve been going about it all wrong. Time to make some changes and get the kids more involved!

For the Kids

• Mom’s Desk - This gem of a site serves as a directory of educational sites for kids. With it’s clean design and searchable categories, it’s easy to find what you’re looking for without the busyness of most websites. Thank you for the recco Coffee & Crumbs!

• Scholastic’s Day by Day Projects: By far one of my favorite educational sites! Each day has a different focus like baby animals, living things, and earth & space. The 4 weeks of lessons include read-along books, educational videos, activity pages, and reading comprehension games. I love the clean website and simple lessons, and James doesn’t realize he’s actually learning. Molly, my three-year-old, loves participating too!

• We’ve been loving Disney audio books on Spotify. They serve as the perfect background when we’re working on art projects.

• The Big Life Journal is one of my favorite websites and podcasts for kids because it’s focused on helping kids develop growth mindset - and in a fun, engaging way. The blog has tons of tips and downloads, for parents, teens and young children. I can’t think of a better time to help our kids work through their emotions and learn how to manage their thoughts.

• Audible is offering free story downloads while school is out! All stories can be streamed on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.

If there are websites, apps, and other resources that have been helpful to you or your family, please let me know at hello@allisonmoore.com.

P.S. I've also created two resources that can help you NOW:

• COVID SWOT Worksheet - Find out what your strengths and opportunities are, and threats you can't control and how they can shift your perspective during this crisis.

• Fill Your Bucket, Fill Your Life Template - Now more than ever it's important to identify key areas that are necessary for your health, sanity and happiness and what actions are needed to fill up each area ("bucket") in your life.