I understand that quarantine pushes us into a passive life. We cannot go anywhere, or even just to the market without fear. We spend the whole time in a room or a house, feel so bored and have nothing to do. We don’t even have someone else to talk, party or do movie nights together. Life never feels so isolating like that.
However, after more than twenty days staying inside my dorm room without my friends, I have discovered a lot of things that you can do to make your daily day more interesting under quarantines.
Firstly, remember that you are not alone. Most people in the whole US are suffering the life as you, no friends, no face-to-face communication, fear and always remind themselves to be careful. In this case, you can take advantage of technology and social media to keep in touch with people around you without going outside. Using technology can help ensure that while we have to be physically distant from our loved ones, we don’t have to be socially distant from them. However, this way increases some issues about the impact of social media to our life, and I will tell you about it later.
The next thing you can do under quarantine is to take a look at all your relationships recently. How are the people that you haven’t met for a while? How is your friend who just has a puppy? How is your aunt with her three-year-old daughter? All the things I am trying to say here is to take the time to reach out to call, text, or email with someone you care about every day. This type of communication can make your overall health and well-being better. Staying connected with someone you haven’t seen or communicated with in a while and checking in on friends or loved ones are the best ways to be updated and reduce the isolated feeling. All of us want to connect, and even just a text to say hello can bring not only yourself but others a simple happiness.
Thirdly, don’t think that going out for a little bit is not dangerous. An image from social media that makes me really emotional is the photos of nurses and doctors after a long time being with coronavirus at the hospital. Therefore, raise your awareness about it. They come to work because of protecting and helping us to fight with coronavirus, so stay at home for them. If you are inspired by these doctors and nurses, let’s do something to encourage them, such as drawing some pictures, following the song about washing hands, or simply sharing many meaningful messages. You can be both creative and supportive while staying at home.
Finally, spend your time reading as many books as possible. Normal life with the rush rhythm may not let you sit down, drink a cup of coffee and enjoy your favorite books or magazines, but now you have plenty of time to do that. Therefore, you should take advantage of it, finish your books and if you can, write down your thoughts about them. These thoughts will be very interesting for you to read besides reading books.
Now, I will tell you about the impact of social media like I said above. I know that social media is more necessary for us on these quarantine days, because it is the only way to stay connecting with the world outside. But the issue raised here is that people are becoming too dependent on social media, as they feel bored and unproductive. Their life is now narrow in a phone screen, and if the quarantine lasts longer, social media will be a harm resource for our both mental and physical health.
So, what should we do to balance the way we use social media while social distancing? I will give you some of my tips.
Before you get into bed, you should escort your devices out of your bedroom. Our phones are repositories of our anxieties and fears, especially in times of crisis and constant news updates. Disconnecting will help you sleep better, recharge, and reconnect to your most resilient self.
Setting a news cut-off time at the end of the day is a good choice. While being informed can help us feel more prepared amid a public health crisis, setting healthy limits to our media consumption, especially before we get ready for bed, can help us have a restorative night’s sleep, which in turn will help us and put the stressful news into perspective.
When you wake up, don’t start your day by looking at your phone. Take at least one minute to focus on your intentions for the day, what you’re grateful for or simply taking some conscious breaths instead of checking the latest coronavirus headlines before you are even fully conscious.
Quarantine is a thing that no one wants, but now following it is our responsibility towards the community. Let yourself take a deep breath and then take advantage of quarantine to do what you never tried before, your life will be more interesting.