It’s been 34 days underneath one roof. We’re all at home, practising social-distancing.

The pandemic has forced us to face the same walls, the same people and, most importantly, make decisions that will help to flatten the curve/spread of Covid-19.

Three weeks ago I mentioned this being the perfect time to focus on your fitness and wellness, and I stand by that.

I’ve seen posts asking us to be kind to ourselves, to not pressure ourselves to take up a new skill or master a life skill; others suggested that we “come out of this crisis having learnt something”, that we stop using the excuse of “having little time” when in actual fact it is “discipline we lack”.

It may sound harsh, it may be an unpopular stance, but I now agree with the latter statement. A few weeks back I didn’t.

“Social-distancing” and “shelter in place” were then such new concepts.

I felt that the mentality that we should be trying to advance ourselves, whilst simultaneously trying to balance working from home with school-aged children and their work loads, and while also struggling to digest that the world was changing, such that it was dangerous to simply breathe near another person, it was all too much to place on people.

Under such circumstances it seemed that simply ending each day with less stress and a better understanding of our new norm, was enough of an accomplishment.

Fast forward to now, when we’ve spent nearly a month sheltering in place.

I believe that most of us have established a new routine in this new norm and are ready to make the most of the time we have.

I truly believe we can all find at least 15 minutes to do something for ourselves, so that when this is all over we can say: “This is what I accomplished under Covid-19.”

Our goals can be as simple as enjoying a home-cooked meal every night with our family.

Having lived such a fast-paced lifestyle before Covid-19, that tabled meal is an accomplishment in itself — boast worthy even. So why not try that?

If that still doesn’t suit your new norm, find something else that you can commit to while you shelter in place.

Commit to reading more, completing a morning walk, working out virtually with your trainer, eating a hearty salad every day, enjoying a video call with your ace girls/ace boys — pick something.

There is no reason why we can’t put ourselves first, if only for a minute — in fact, it’s especially important for mental health when you’re “stuck inside” all day.

Of course, our physical health is very important and I would love to encourage everyone to find time to move more.

Fitness is my lifestyle and, of course, I find it much “easier” to commit to it. I love it and absolutely need to work out for my own sanity and pleasure.

However, I know being at home bored and close to your kitchen, can encourage unhealthy eating habits.

Therefore, moving more is even more important.

This is where I say pick some form of movement that you can commit to daily and, even more, improve on, so that you end this crisis having accomplished something.

I’ve picked perfecting my push-up. Since my post-partum wrist injury and surgery my push-ups are weak!

I had the above conversation with myself on Monday.

Why not end this crisis having committed to push-up training, working on quality versus quantity?

So yes, I’ll work out daily and train my clients virtually, but for 15 minutes a day I’ll commit to push-up training.

I do have non fitness-related goals on top of that: to enjoy a device-free home-cooked meal every night with my family that’s not in front of the TV, to have a big Zoom party with my ace girls once a week, and pick back up art.

Whether I spend five minutes on these goals or five hours, I will know by the end of every week, I’ve done some things for myself.

As I stated before, this new norm is just that, new — and we are all trying to figure it out.

Whilst it isn’t a competition to see who accomplishes the most during this time, it is in fact a time to re-evaluate our lives, figure out what is and isn’t important and improve on some aspect of it.

So I ask you again, will you take on this challenge with me?

• Dre Hinds is a retired track and field athlete who is now a personal trainer, aerobic and yoga instructor and fitness “addict”. Contact her on: absbydre@gmail.com, 599-0412 or @Absbydre on Facebook and Instagram