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10 Things You Can Do During Quarantine to Keep Sane

We live in strange times, and certainly unprecedented ones. The world’s businesses have by and large closed their doors to patrons and over half of the world’s workforce moved to remote work. While there are far worse ways to spend a few months than in the comfort of your own home, humans are generally gregarious creatures by nature, and often find it tough to exist just one place without much of a change of scenery and interactions with others.

How can we stay sane strong active positive energetic during this crisis?

With such a long withdrawal from normal life and being integrated into our societal norm, this time can be truly taxing, frustrating, stressful, and at times, damaging to our mental health. The seeming lack of things to do, options to go anywhere, and lack of ability to socialize with friends and loved ones can take a significant toll on our mental health. To preserve it, we need to find methods to occupy our time with things that keep us busy, as well as mentally, physically, and emotionally stimulated.

10 Things You Can Do During the Quarantine

Here is a handy list of things to consider in order to help you keep grounded during this very strange time. You will find that the key components to most of these involve the maintenance of order in our daily lives, keeping our minds stimulated, and of course, interacting with other beings.

1. Maintain a routine

Part of what keeps us operating day-to-day is that we follow some sort of structured routine. Whatever you situation is, try to time your days in some form of consistency. If you are working from home, try to follow similar patterns during workdays and weekends. You might have undergone a radical change in how your days are structured and that’s ok. Keeping some type of regularity to our days helps our minds accept that we are following a routine that’s different than what we were used to before, while still having a semblance of order. This means getting up and going to bed at similar times every day, eating on a somewhat consistent schedule, and keeping up with personal hygiene.

2. Connect with loved ones

While we are unlucky to be facing these trying times, we are lucky to be doing so in an age where technology allows us to talk to, and more importantly, see our loved ones. You know that cell phone in your hand? The one so useful for texting and scrolling through social media? Aside from serving its primary function of making phone calls, it can also be your video gateway to visually see family and friends. Many group communication methods like Zoom and MSTeams allow whole groups of people to connect and interact at once, and they don’t need to just be used for work meetings. The visual interaction with important people in your life keeps your mind at ease, knowing that everyone is still out there.

3. Exercise

Always wanted to get more fit and have some extra time for exercising? Here is your chance. Consider using the time you are not using to commute to work as a time you can devote to some morning exercises. You may even consider going for a run around your neighborhood. You will have some mental clarity, and the fresh air is an added bonus. You accomplish a lot by doing so as you will get more energy, become healthier, and most importantly boost up your immunity (a key need in the current global state).

4. Declutter Your Home

How often did you tell yourself that there is a lot of stuff around your house you simply don’t need? But there has just never been a good time to take care of it, this might be your window. If you find that your home is cluttered, you can toss or even sell anything you do not need online. You can begin by going through your stuff and decide what you still need and what you don’t, then categorize the items accordingly. You can then decide which items to toss and which have potential value. Then you can use one of many reputable online mediums to offer up the items for sale. Most importantly, by doing so you are using the time to give your future, post-pandemic self, a cleaner, and more organized living space.

5. House projects

Something we often neglect because of our busy lives is the proper upkeep of our houses. Houses and even apartments have at least a few things that need updating, repair, or maintenance. Being in quarantine, it is certainly a great time to address those nagging fixes your home needs. You may not be a fan of yard work and may hire people to do it for you, but if they are not available, chances are that you have at least a few instruments to make your yard look presentable. Your mind will be occupied and you will feel good about getting some things that you have been putting off, finally accomplished. Not sure how to do something? You can rest assured that Google knows, just ask.

6. Learn something new

There might not be a better way to achieve mental stimulation than to learn something new. Think of something that you had always wished you knew how to do, but never could find the time for. The internet is your friend. Video content platforms like youtube are rife with tutorials about pretty much anything you want to learn. Whether it be some computer software, learning how to cook, fixing up something about your home or car, the list is endless. You will not only come out on the other side of this learning experience with a new skill or ability, but you will also be fulfilled that you finally learned something you always wished you knew.

7. Mitigate social media exposure

If this seems counterintuitive to staying in touch with friends and loved ones, it’s not. One of the biggest mental strains on people is the stress of not knowing what’s coming as well as seeing what is going on in the world. Social media is outright flooded with news of world devastation, and while it also offers healthy distractions and a dose of positivity as well, you are not going to be able to avoid the daily doom and gloom perspectives. While it is hard for people to be disconnected and completely understandable that people want to be “in-the-know,” some distance from the daily digest of bad is a welcome rest for our weary minds.

8. Netflix & Chill

Even if you are a regular binger of TV shows or movies, chances are there are many you have not seen. If certain shows felt like they weren’t your “style” and you never gave them a shot, why not give them a try? If you are a rare human who feels like that has watched Netflix shows from front to back, there is nearly a dozen other services that you can utilize to get any number of new shows to watch. It helps you pass the time and provides a welcome distraction into other strange worlds, aside from our own.

9. Reach out to mental health resources

If you are really feeling the weight and strain of uncertainty and stress from the world, do not put off contacting one of the many available mental health resources for help. There are many options out there, and they are an internet search away. There is no stigma to feeling stressed, certainly not anymore, and there are professionals who will lend you their expertise to give you some insight on how to cope with your stressful situation.

10. Engage in public assistance

As long as it is keeping you and your loved ones safe, there are many places that could use some voluntary help. If you have the time, consider contributing to helping others who may have issues they are unable or too strained to address. While keeping up social distancing, there is plenty that you can do to help. For example, you can help out an elderly neighbor with yard work (you don’t even have to get close to them to ask about it). Build something for the neighborhood if you are handy that will help everyone have an easier time or help them to achieve something while keeping up with social distancing.

Where to find more information

If you need more information on managing your mental health during this time, visit these links.

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