Column: Trying to be productive during this time

After about a week of working from home and not seeing any of the coworkers, coaches or players that I’m so accustomed to interacting with every day, I had an idea.

I wanted to see what everyone else was doing during this period of self-isolation, self-quarantine, social distancing, whatever you want to call it.

During the spring, my typical “routine” is having no semblance whatsoever of a routine. April and May feel like a mad scramble from one game, one tournament, one championship event to the next. And it’s one of my favorite times of the year.

However, once we were forced to begin working from home and sports across the world were cancelled, the days became somewhat monotonous. Only a daily walk around the neighborhood stood in between a day of working at the kitchen table and binge-watching a TV show the rest of the evening.

I was struggling to figure out how to navigate this time.

So I reached out to several local spring sport athletes (many of them softball players, of course), asking for pictures and videos of things they were doing without the normalcy of daily practices and games. I received over 50 responses.

Katelyn Murphy and Jenna Lord from Hewitt-Trussville went on a hike. Chelsea’s Tyler Erwin took up painting as a hobby and Carly Taylor worked on a puzzle. Spain Park’s Lindsay Parker went on a long walk.

Hoover’s Brookelyn Cannon and Campbell Hecklinski made Taco Bell runs just to get out of the house. Abby Fortner and Katie Norris spent time with their dogs, while Jordan Moore went fishing. Mountain Brook’s Sara Frances Berte went to the lake. Annie Kate Parks from Vestavia Hills just sat at the pool, while Kayla Franklin played Fortnite. John Carroll’s Charlotte Phillips, Macey Ogle and Mallory Ogle searched for turtles. Abi Brown and Olivia Woodruff baked a cake.

All of this unexpected free time forced these student-athletes to get creative. After binge-watching everything that I wanted to catch up on, I was forced to do the same.

I enlisted the help of a few different people to teach me how to cook a few dishes (since my culinary knowledge was virtually nonexistent). I’ve gotten back to reading like I once did. I’ve been much more consistent in staying active and going outside each day.

I’m hopeful that I will be able to continue to build upon these things, even as life returns to a sense of normalcy over the coming months.

Beyond the random activities, I’ve also been impressed with the athletes I’ve seen remain committed to honing their craft. There are no practices or games and the workouts don’t look the same, but the number of players continuing to work to better themselves has been inspiring.

Whether you are an athlete or not, I hope you’ve used some of this time in a productive manner. As life has slowed down for nearly all of us, “I don’t have time” has no longer been a viable excuse.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of restoring each of our routines. May we look back and realize that we used this time for good.