What Day Is It Again? – Why No One Knows What Day It Is During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Have you found yourself wondering what day is it more than normal? You aren’t alone. Both Internet searches and requests to voice assistants like Alexa and Siri have seen huge spikes during the Coronavirus pandemic. Why? Humans typically measure the passage of time by remembering events.

Things like vacations, weddings, concerts, and parties all help create tent pole memories that we use to measure the amount of time that has passed in between events. Even smaller events, like going out to dinner or to the movies can contribute to these marker memories. However, while most of us are in quarantine, we’re no longer creating these major tent pole memories.

At a larger level, major business, entertainment, and social anchors, like March Madness, CES, the Sundance Film Festival have all come and gone, either transformed into a virtual event or canceled altogether.

Every Day Is Exactly The Same (At Least That’s What It Feels Like)

People who work from home are more likely to feel like every day is exactly the same. Why? They have less change in their daily routine. While many of us are working from our kitchens or couches, and our kids are taking virtual classes, we’ve lost our daily rhythms. The Coronavirus pandemic has stripped away our normal work, school, and leisure routines. The end result is a distorted feeling of time.

Ask yourself the following questions?

• Are your daily interactions mostly Zoom or Microsoft Teams calls?
• Are you washing more pajamas than work clothes lately?
• Has your work schedule time-shifted so much that you find yourself working sporadically all the time, even on evenings and weekends?
• Will you go 2 or more days without leaving your home?
• Do you go to bed earlier or get more sleep than you did pre-COVID?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, then every day is probably starting to feel exactly the same.

What Day Is It Again? Welcome To The Never-Ending COVID Month of Jantembuary.

So where does that leave us? We’re all stuck at home with nowhere to go and not making tent pole memories anymore. What day is it? No one knows and does it even matter? Welcome to the never-ending month of Jantembuary in the year 20201.

So the next time that you find yourself asking Alexa, “What day is it again?” find some comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone.