I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.
Today’s tip is to Immerse yourself in a new book, TV show, or podcast.
The idea is to give you something periodic or longer lived than a movie. I think that’s good, and escaping life is important. I know it matters to me.
Oscar Nominees
Not a book, but my wife enjoys watching all the Oscar nominated films each year. Last year we were too busy, so my wife, son, and sometimes the other kids have taken a few nights a week to work through the 2019 films, and then moved on to the 2020 films.
It’s good because many of them are films we wouldn’t otherwise have watched, or at least some of us wouldn’t have watched. It’s also a good time together where we escape.
Books
I loved reading. I usually go through 60-100 fictional books a year. Not so many non-fiction, but I do get through fictional ones. With my sabbatical, I went through almost 20 during that break. Since then, I continue to steal 5 or 10 minutes at times to read a few pages.
Lately I’ve been working through Evanovich’s Plum series. I read the first 9 or 10 a long time ago, but I started back through them because they’re light, funny, silly, and in no way related to the world. I like that.
So far this year I’m up to about 35 books, and with this pandemic, I bet I set a record.
Find Your Own Thing
Coping, cleaning, tackling projects, all good stuff. I need less stuff to cope, which means escapes are good for me. Maybe not for you, but it does help me.