Blog: Planning for The Unknowns with the Covid-19 Omicron Surge

The current Covid-19 surge due to the Omicron variant has led many of us to be worried about the unknowns. Will school stay open? Will it close without warning? If it closes, how long will my child be attending school online? How will I balance work if my kids need help with distance learning school? Regardless of your views on whether schools should close or not, there are a few things that you can do to help mitigate anxiety about managing the impact of the latest Covid-19 surge.

1. Plan for how you will handle things based on the most likely scenarios (i.e., schools closing later this week, being closed at some point this month, your child needs to stay home to quarantine). While you cannot plan for every possibility of what could occur, making tentative plans now will make it easier to shift into action when accommodating last-minute changes in schedule and routine.
2. General things to make a plan for:
   1. If my child has to do school remotely, how can I adjust my work schedule as much as possible to navigate this?
      1. Will I be able to work from home? Again, talking with your boss or employer ahead of the actual need for this could be beneficial.
      2. Could I schedule meetings during times of the day when they are less likely to need my assistance?
      3. If you are a two-parent household or have other people available to help, could you pick days of the week where you will take off work or be available as needed? For example, if feasible, you could schedule most of your central meetings on days that another parent or caregiver can be available to help, so you are readjusting things fewer days of the week.
         1. You could even start scheduling things now for the next few weeks around this schedule in case your child has to be home sometime in the next month or two until the surge dissipates.
   2. Workspace. If you do not work from home regularly right now, think about where an ideal workspace would be, especially if you will simultaneously have to help your kids with remote school.

Again, you cannot plan for every possible scenario of what could occur. However, identifying the most common ones and developing a plan will likely make it easier and potentially less stressful if you have to adjust your routine or schedule based on how the Omicron Covid-19 surge impacts you and your family.

Warm wishes for a healthy and happy New Year! Stay safe, everyone!

Copyright 2022 Carey A. Heller, Psy.D.