You’ve hear it a thousand times — “put on deodorant before you leave the house.”

Most of us aren’t going out much these days. We’re at home either without a job, or working on a cramped coffee table surrounded by the ever present danger from the projectiles of playful children.

If you’re in one of these camps, you might be temped to skip some basic personal care steps, as I have, like oh, let’s say; putting on deodorant.

“I’m not leaving the house and my meeting or social gathering is online today. I don’t care if I smell great or not.” — Everyone

In the moment, I tend to agree. But we might be in this situation for a long time, so implications of not doing it could come into play?

One would be that we’d start to forget our obligations to ourselves. I’m not suggesting the world is going to fall apart from a pair of moist armpits.

That’s not the point.

I’m saying that any good habit can fall apart and cause disruptions down the line.

Let’s take this example further. You go out for the first time in days or weeks. You get to the store, or to your friend’s house for a low occupancy play-date for the kids. Suddenly you catch wind of something and it hits you like a plastic train from the end of the arm of a toddler.

“OMG… I’m not wearing deodorant. I smell REPULSIVE. Oh no, can my friends smell me? What am I saying, of course they can. I’m so embarrassed.” — Everyone

Don’t let this be you. Maintaining your basic habits in lock-down times will be more important now than ever before.

It’s true that most people won’t know if you start to skip your basic personal care habits. But you will know. And that WILL affect your confidence. Even on a web call or chat. You’ll know you’re not you best self and it will effect your interactions, particularly if you’re doing a job interview over zoom.

So remember, not being smelly, even when you’re alone, will help you keep your confidence and routines in check.

Two things we can all stand to have a stay stable these days.