Don't you know what day is today? There's a good reason it's hard for you to remember

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So you can avoid burnout at home 1:12

(CNN) - "Again, what day is today?"

This has become a common question during the coronavirus pandemic. It is a reflection of how every day seems to blur and how lately we find ourselves forgetting even the simplest details.

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Our internal clocks are off. Tuesdays are Thursdays, Thursdays are Wednesdays, and Wednesdays are Sundays. There are no weekdays or weekends. They only exist yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Along with these disoriented feelings, it may seem like it is getting harder and harder to focus and it takes extra time to complete tasks, as if our brains are working slower.

If you feel like your brain is becoming a meaningless mass, you are not alone. Experts say that everything has to do with how the pandemic affects our cognitive health. In other words, our ability to think, learn and remember clearly.

"It is a perfect storm between changes in the environment, the loss of social anchors and the increase in cognitive stress," explained Elissa Epel, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. "And on top of all that, most of us are not getting the quality sleep from before."

This is what is happening and what we can do.

Our routines have disappeared

Just as our bodies rely on environmental cues like sunlight to regulate their circadian rhythms, they also rely on physical and social cues, Epel noted.

These signs include certain routines such as our daily morning and afternoon transfers, meal times or weekly religious services that help us keep track of what day it is.

For those of us who are confined to our homes, those practices have largely disappeared. The days lost their usual structure, which means that the boundaries that were once clear are now blurred.

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"We have lost the whole routine of a typical week, and that means having weekends as a limit, as a separation or as something we long for," added Epel. "Now the weekend is the same as the rest of the days."

Since for many people work is at home - and home is at work - some may be spending more hours at their jobs or even on weekends. Gone are the exits to bars, concerts or sporting events that once separated the weekdays from Saturday to Sunday, making the days lengthen.

Losing the routine also means that we spend more mental energy to determine what each day will consist of.

"When we had our routines, we really didn't think about those things," said Lynn Bufka, associate executive director for practical and policy research at the American Psychological Association. "So even though your transfers could be exhausting, there was not a second dialogue in your head trying to figure out what has to happen this day," he added.

Now for those who still have to go to work, routines can be very different, too. And there is the added mental strain of remembering social detachment, masks, and not touching surfaces. All of this can contribute to a sense of disorientation.

We do multitasking activities much more than before

Is there another reason why we can't know what day it is?

Yes. We are doing several tasks at the same time - what is called "multitasking" in English - much more than before. There are more than a few people who must balance multiple responsibilities, such as keeping an eye on children's learning or caring for an older adult in the family, while also keeping their full-time job or dealing with the stress of a layoff.

Since all of those things now happen in the same place - and usually at the same time - we may find ourselves constantly jumping from one activity to another. Or we can also have excess stimulation for using multiple screens or consuming news too many times a day. All this, Epel argued, increases our cognitive load: in other words, it consumes more of our mental resources.

• READ: Tips from a teacher: this way you can educate your children at home in the middle of the coronavirus emergency

"Our functional memory is a limited resource," said Epel. "We can easily challenge it by trying to do too many activities simultaneously or by multitasking in our minds."

That's why it might be difficult to remember basic information or perform any task as effectively as before.

"When (people) try to multitask, it makes it harder to code the information in front of them," said Inger Burnett-Zeigler, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Northwestern University. "So the information is not stored and they cannot remember what they were doing or saying just now," he added.

Those disturbances cause stress

Not being able to remember what day it is can also be a symptom of stress, Burnett-Zeigler explained.

The pandemic is becoming a source of chronic stress because it has been happening for weeks or even months for some people, the expert said. High levels of stress impair our concentration and attention, and can affect short-term memory.

Another effect of stress? It can worsen our quality of sleep.

"Usually, if you feel stressed or anxious, those thoughts and feelings can appear and make it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep," said Burnett-Zeigler.

• READ: Work. Children. A pandemic. Six expert tips for managing it all

Now, that lack of sleep, in turn, can increase cognitive decline, attention and concentration problems, as well as short-term memory loss, he said.

Again, time is relative

So what can we do about it?

The psychiatrists and psychologists we spoke with recommended trying to maintain a sense of structure, as much as possible. Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day is a strategy.

They also recommended taking frequent breaks, exercising, eating healthy, and limiting news consumption.

And, if it makes you feel better, nobody knows what day it is. Time is an illusion.

Confinement Covid-19 Quarantine Pandemic Routine