This year has been one for the books, I mean I’ve had my share of years that I didn’t want to look back on and I was always excited for New Year’s Eve. It was like pressing the reset button, new year and new beginnings, just like all the previous New Years, I was super excited for this one. I had just turned 23 and apparently that’s the glow up age (6 months in and still waiting) so imagine my surprise when we were hit by a pandemic? Then all of a sudden, we were in quarantine? Alas! In the beginning, I welcomed the idea of not having to get up early to go to work, catching up on series that I have been meaning to complete and finally catching up on all the movies on my watchlist. It was like a long awaited holiday, families were reunited, busy schedules were put on pause and for the first time in a long time our buzzing lives weren’t really buzzing.
Then a month turned into two and now we’re pushing almost four months? I was caught up on all my shows, I finally read all the books I’ve been meaning to read and I had cooked almost everything my favourite chef -Chef Ali Mandhry- had posted and now I was starting to feel suffocated. Too much of something is poison eh? So when the President extended the lockdown I had to shake off the ‘here for a good time not a long time mentality’.
I was struggling to see the glass half full as opposed to not half empty . It was time to make a routine. Months of staying in was no longer the holiday I thought it was. It had stretched out for too long and I started missing all the small things I took for granted like going to work every morning, catching up over lunch with the girls and even just going to a mall to window shop. I mean Corona has been one huge humble pie.
Somehow I still managed to get it together and make that lemonade, for one I started with a routine that I made an effort to follow everyday. Then I started keeping myself busy and working from home as I follow through with the projects I’ve always wanted to dive into and we can all agree once your mind is engaged in all the right things, you will start feeling positive and your spirit will be higher and you’ll leave the war path and spread joy like confetti. Normally your mood might not be a household conversation but in quarantine it’s a big thing and if you’re an introvert and enjoy your space then being cooped up with people all the time can easily push you off the edge. Being stuck at home isn’t so bad if you have stuff to do.
So here are a few ways I have found to make quarantine more tolerable;
1) ROUTINE – A routine really sets the mood for the day. Getting up and taking a shower and getting dressed up has a big impact on your mood and if you’re anything like me it makes you more productive and you’re bound to complete so much more.
2) PLAN YOUR DAY – Planning your day helps you put everything in perspective and also helps in managing your time, so you don’t find yourself wasting an entire day.
3) READ SOMETHING NEW – Reading something is always a good way to keep busy and it doesn’t have to be a long read. It could be a self help book, a blog post, fiction, romance or even just the newspaper.
4) EXERCISE – Relaxing on the couch or bed can be fun but at some point it will make you restless, I could list so many ways you can exercise at home but it’s ultimately what works for you and your lifestyle. Get what works for you and incorporate it in your day routine.
5) DIY PROJECTS – If ever there was a time, this is it! You have all the time to see it through with materials you have at home. It could be candle making, decorating your bedroom walls or making a vision board. Pinterest got you!
6) RESEARCH – You probably have been thinking about starting a business and this is the time to extensively research about it or a job you have been wanting to apply for. This is also the time to research about it.
7) MEDITATE – Take at least 10-15 minutes in a day to close your eyes while your palms are up and focus on your breathing. For me, repeating words of affirmation in my head makes me relax more. It’s a faster way you could try to relax you.
8) DONATE – The pandemic has hit the county hard and if you have food on your table be thankful and look up people who don’t and help where you can.
9) LEARN NEW RECIPES – Cooking is such an amazing and fun thing to do during these times. It really does take your mind off of things. You can make brownies, cakes, biscuits/cookies, anything you like really.
10) INSTAGRAM LIVE – Before the pandemic I was not into joining Instagram lives but I must say I have learned to really appreciate them. It feels like we are all connected and depending on the main point of the live, they are very educational and informative ones as well.
For all of the things that have been cancelled and all of our past procrastination, we finally have an unexpected opportunity to work on ourselves; to do more of the things that make us happy. Time and desire are the only things you need to get started. The whole world is going through the same thing at the same time, joined together in a state of isolation.
Student Ambassador Candelaria Surur says, ‘now is the time to turn a difficult situation into an opportunity‘.
We ARE all in this together, and we WILL get out of it together.
-Fatma Nassir