Things are pretty sh*t right now in Melbourne. Here are a few strategies that might help.

It’s nighttime in Melbourne as I write this and thanks to our new 8pm curfew, the streets are bare (or at least I think they are - I wouldn’t know because I’m locked inside). If you, too, are in Melbourne, you’re probably feeling pretty crap. And if you’re not, you probably know someone who is. Here are ten things (backed by science, of course), that you and the people you know might find helpful right now.

Schedule time to worry. I know this sounds weird - why would you schedule time to worry? You’re dedicating all day to this right now, surely? Research suggests that if we actually take a note of all our worries, write them down, and then when your scheduled “worry time” arrives, go to town worrying - you’ll significantly reduce stress. Read more about Worry Time here.

Share news duty. One of my favourite tips from a podcast guest on How I Work in recent months comes from Jake Knapp (NYT best-selling author and co-creator of the Design Sprint at Google). To avoid hitting refresh every few minutes on his local news site and feeling constantly anxious and / or depressed, he shares news duty with his wife. They take it in turns each day to check the news and report the important headlines back to the other person. Pick a buddy to do this with so you can kick the bad news “refresh” cycle.

Distance yourself from your thoughts. Your mind is probably filled with lots of stressful thoughts right now. But remember, thoughts only have power over you if you let them. One of my favourite strategies (which comes from Acceptance Commitment Therapy) is Cognitive Diffusion. This is where you distance yourself from your thoughts. For example, instead of saying “I’m going to fail,” say to yourself, “I’m having the thought that I’m going to fail”. By doing so, you create some space between you and the thought.

Read The Happiness Trap. If you like the sound of the above strategy, you’ll love this book - it’s filled with other practical strategies similar to Cognitive Diffusion. I read The Happiness Trap many years ago and often come back to it. It’s also the book I have gifted most to people in the last few years.

Come back to the three building blocks of motivation: Autonomy, Mastery and Connection. Try to find ways to increase at least one of these three aspects in your life or your work. Autonomy relates to finding freedom in what you do - if you are lucky enough to have a job right now, think about how you can create more freedom around what you do and how you choose to do it. Whether you are working or not, learning and mastering a new skill is a surefire way to make you feel good. And finally: connection. Prioritise human connection - even if it’s only via phone or video calls right now.

Remember, this too shall pass. I’m not very good at remembering quotes, but this is one that I often come back to. Right now, six weeks seems like an eternity. (And weren’t we already three weeks into a six-week countdown??). But this too shall pass. And remember, this is equally true of good times too.

Show gratitude to others. Much has been written about the benefits of reflecting on what we are grateful for and keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to boost mood. But what has also been shown to boost happiness is telling others what they have done that made us grateful. Try to take a moment once a day to share with someone what they have done for you that you are grateful for. Not only will you feel great, but you’ll spark some joy for your gratitude maker too.

Stop trying to solve people’s problems and just listen. When people around you are anxious and sharing their stresses with you, it can be easy to go into fix-it mode. More often than not, this doesn’t actually help. As humans, what we really crave is someone to listen to us, understand us, and not judge us. So stop offering up solutions, and just listen.

Perfect is the enemy of good. Now is not the time to place high expectations on yourself (I know, easier said that done). Lower your standards. Don’t try to be perfect. One of the mums on my Year 1 WhatsApp group shared that if she can get her daughter to stay focused for just two hours in virtual school, it’s been a good day. And if they make it to lunchtime, brilliant. Cheers to that.

And if all else fails, send funny memes. I think we all intuitively know that humour reduces stress. We didn’t need researchers to prove this. Send your best ones to [email protected] for no other reason than for my own personal amusement.

Enough of my words. Here are a few links that my team sent around that you might find helpful.

MindSpot is a free service for Australian adults who are experiencing difficulties with anxiety, stress, depression and low mood. They provide assessment and treatment courses, or they can help you find local services that can help.

Wendy Suzuki at TEDWomen speaking about the brain-changing benefits of exercise.

Tips for helping your team heal, courtesy of HBR.

The Difference Between Worry, Stress and Anxiety, and tips to deal with all of them.

Inventium’s favourite Organisational Psychologist, Adam Grant, on how rekindling dormant ties can bring unexpected benefits to our lives.

Get into some virtual 80s dancing.

I hope this helped in some way. And if it did, please share it with someone else you think it could help.

Dr Amantha Imber is the founder of behavioural science consultancy Inventium and the host of How I Work, a podcast about the habits and rituals of the world’s most successful people.