3 Tips to Make the Most of Your Time While Quarantined
I get it.
Right now, a majority of us are stuck at home because of the outbreak of COVID-19. And as a result, a lot of us have also become lazy. Having all this unstructured time on your hands can actually be overwhelming, especially if you’re unsure what to do with it.
Of course, there’s always the good ol’ Netflix and YouTube to keep you entertained for a couple of hours. But even those, after watching the same shows and videos over and over again, eventually become boring.
So what do you do?
There’s so much more you can do to make the most of your time at home. If you’re reading this, you have access to the internet and the vast majority of resources out there that you can use to expand your knowledge and develop new skills.
Now is the perfect time to not just catch up on all the work that was seemingly piling on your desk, but also dust off that old guitar you gave up on learning a while ago.
But just having “things” to do won’t help you fully take advantage of this time. First, you have to get yourself to do them in the first place — and, second, you need to be consistent. Learning to play the guitar for 30 minutes one day and then never again won’t be very helpful for you.
And that’s why this article exists. I will provide 3 tips for making the most of your quarantine time:
- Utilize the Internet to learn new things
- Try new skills
- Develop discipline to accomplish more every day
Use Your Access to the Internet to Your Advantage
And by this, I don’t mean sit down and binge-watch Netflix and YouTube or scroll through social media for hours on end. Of course, you could always do that. But if your goal is to avoid boredom, these won’t serve you for very long.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Internet is vast, and there’s a wide variety of options to occupy yourself. You just have to make sure to choose the right ones. To keep boredom at bay and do something valuable, I recommend trying to expand your knowledge.
Nowadays, you can learn anything from the comfort of your own home. And, most of the time, it’s even free! It could be literally anything from educating yourself on COVID-19 to how sickle cell disease can be cured with gene editing.
(If you’re curious about that last one, you’re in luck! Check out my article on it here.)
Right now, there is so much time and opportunity to learn anything you didn’t have time for while you were still out and about.
Some good sites to learn things from include:
- Skillshare
- Coursera
- YouTube (but be careful with this one!)
I recommend picking 1 specific area of knowledge to learn about over quarantine and delve deep into it.
Okay, but why..?
If you want a scientific reason to start learning new things, it’s that every time you learn something new, your brain starts forming new neuropathway connections. Just by trying to learn, you are stimulating neurons in your brain. Research shows that these will not just help you learn better, but also help you learn faster in the future.
My answer is that taking this opportunity to expand your knowledge will ultimately help you look at a lot of problems you have at work or at school differently, and may even help you solve them faster.
Also, you’ve most likely got nothing else to do. So why not?
Master New Skills
This can be virtually anything. There are so many skills that you can learn over quarantine that can help you become more well rounded. You can improve your communication by working on things such as public speaking and learning a new language. Or set yourself up for success at school by learning how to learn better. Or even just develop a new hobby like playing the guitar or dancing.
The best part about this is that with the kind of Internet access we have in this day and age, learning new skills is easier than ever. You can probably find extremely talented guitar players or dancers on YouTube to help you with your endeavors.
Even though we’re all locked in our homes because of the outbreak, we’re still connected virtually. So really use this opportunity to your advantage and try something new.
Bonus: If you really suck at it, you’re in luck! No one’s around to see you.
And Finally, Develop Discipline to Get the Most Out of Your Day
After a brief search on the Internet to see what others are doing over the quarantine, I saw what seems to be a surge of teenagers wanting to “glow up” before school starts.
But that won’t happen for most of them.
Why?
Because a lot of them don’t have the discipline to make themselves do the work that it takes to change.
Like I mentioned earlier, trying to learn a new skill for one day won’t help you very much. You need to be consistent. That’s how you get better at things and truly expand your skillset. This is where self-discipline comes in.
When you have self-discipline, you have the ability to do what you know is right whether or not you want to do it.
Let’s say you do decide to go on a glow-up journey one day. Great! But you’re not going to change very much if you don’t exercise, eat, and sleep right consistently every single day. Train yourself to do these by one: forming good habits, and two: developing a routine.
And if you’re wondering how to do that too, don’t worry. I gotchu.
Forming Good Habits 101
I’d say that there are two main things to focus on when you’re first trying to develop new habits: start small and be intentional about what you’re trying to accomplish.
Going back to the glow up example, if you’re trying to go back to work or school looking and feeling healthier, you’re probably going to need to stay fit by exercising. But if you’re new to exercising (especially now that everything is being done from home), there’s most likely no way you’re going to be able to stay consistent if you decide to work out for 3 hours every day.
You need to start small. Ridiculously small.
I personally started by walking around my house for 5 minutes, and now I have built up the ability to do high-intensity workouts for an hour.
But if 5 minutes is too much to commit to, you can start with 1. It’s all about starting small so you can develop the habit slowly.
Throughout this process, you need to be intentional. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? What is your end goal? Once you have established this, you can form habits in accordance with this.
Restructure Your Time With a Routine
When you don’t have school or work telling you what to do and when, it’s easy to become undisciplined. But remember: you can always develop your own schedule.
It’s easier to accomplish things that you do at the same time every day. So set up your own routine that you can do every day to make yourself get everything you want done.
You will be naturally inclined to get things done that are included in your routine because you’re used to doing the events. That way, if you skip a part of your routine, you’ll feel off and get it done.
Here’s a brief example of a morning routine:
- Wake up: 7:00 am
- Meditate: 7 to 7:10 am
- Workout: 7:10 to 8:00 am
Some good apps for developing discipline include Habitica and StickK.
Breathe, Refresh, and Don’t Lose Hope
Being stuck inside your house for days on end may not be the most fun thing to do. But if you really think about all the resources we have around us, you’ll realize that there’s so much you can still accomplish inside your house.
You have the opportunity to totally turn this situation around and make it a more positive event.
Take advantage of your resources to make this time a period of growth, rather than a time of boredom and sorrow. Learn new skills, expand your knowledge, and don’t lose hope. We’ll get through this together!
But That’s Not All!
Did you enjoy this article? Would you like to see more from me?
