From time and again, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Disease and Control (CDC) have insisted on the importance of washing our hands and avoiding to touch our faces. This will help a great deal in flattening the coronavirus curve.

If you have tried it, you know how hard it is to just stop touching your face. One time you will be touching your nose, and the next time you will be trying to deal with your itchy eyes. And don’t even forget about the struggle of trying not to bite your nails.

To stop touching your face, try these tips:

1. Know your triggers

Biting Nails leaves room for infection
Biting Nails leaves room for infection

What triggers you to touch your face? Is it anxiety, anger or stress? Once you have identified your triggers, you can now try to manage them.

For instance, if dust makes your eyes itchy or gives you a running nose, avoid exposing yourself to it. If you are struggling with nail-biting, closely monitor yourself to note what’s triggering it and avoid it. Also, consider trying these tips to stop biting your nails.

Important things you should be stocking up on at these crucial times

2. Create new responses

Clench fist gif (Giphy)
Clench fist gif (Giphy)

Whenever you want to touch your face, redirect your hands to doing something else. Stretch them, clench your fists, or, simply make your hands busy with another response that doesn’t involve touching your face.

3. Create reminders

Reminder gif (Giphy)
Reminder gif (Giphy)

Sometimes we don’t even notice that we are touching our faces. Other times we forget that there is a dangerous virus killing people and it requires us to keep our hands from touching our faces. Create hourly phone reminders, sticky notes on your laptop, or stick some notes at your work station reminding you that you should not touch your face. This way, the idea of not touching your face will finally stick in your mind.

4. Make sure your hands are always clean

Washing hands(oureverydaylife)
Washing hands(oureverydaylife)

If you have tried all the above tips but still can’t get rid of the habit of touching your face, your next best option is to make sure that your hands are always clean. That way, even if you were to touch your face, you won’t be spreading coronavirus from your hands to your face. This is a tall order though since it means washing your hands every now and then and sanitizing them from time to time when water and soap are not available.