Western Bulldogs FC Premiership Captain and AFL Players' Association board member, Easton Wood provides Ladder with an exclusive insight in to his daily routine during the COVID-19 crisis. Easton provided Ladder program participants with some tips on how to stay emotionally and physically healthy during the physical isolation period. Watch him speak about how he is spending his day during this challenging period and read more about why it's important below. 

Why is it important to have a routine?
I believe that during a challenging time like this it is very important to keep your daily routine as normal as possible. This will help us:

-Maintain a sense of purpose and normality
-Keep our mind busy and reduce anxiety and stress
-Have structure in our daily life
-Have an anchor of predictability in an unpredictable time
-Eliminate distractions and stop us spending the day floating
-Improve time management skills and self-discipline
-Maintain focus and understand ourselves better
-Give us a healthy balance
-Normalize eating and sleeping patterns and behaviours

If you currently don’t have a daily routine – hopefully you can take something away from mine below, but its important to remember, everyone’s will be different, and it is up to you to create yours in line with your preferences and goals.

My personal daily checklist

Every day during this challenging time I like to make sure I tick these 5 things off to keep me healthy, safe and happy:

1) Exercise – Starting my day with energy

2) Self-care – Meditating or mindfulness

3) Connecting – Phone calls, messages and social media to family + friends – checking in on others

4) Creating or learning something new- Reading a new book, exploring the internet. Getting creative.

5) Fun (unwinding)- Unique to everyone –   Puzzles, board games and smiling

Creating your own personal daily routine or checklist can be a bit of an exploration, but that’s what makes it fun, and this journey allows you to explore what works best for you.

Good luck and keep smiling! - Easton Wood