Surviving Through a Lockdown – Making the Best Use of Your Time Indoors
The coronavirus pandemic has everyone staying indoors more. More than half the world's population is currently under some form of lockdown. Which means everyone knows the inside of their home a little more than a few months ago.
If you are like most people, staying indoors for 24 hours straight is a very new concept, somewhat abnormal. Add to that the fact that humans are social beings who thrive mentally and emotionally by being around other humans. And now you feel depression knocking hard on the door.
You don't want that. No one wants to be mentally ill by the time this nightmare is over. You want to be able to jump right back to your routine, even better! You'd like to achieve more than you did before coronavirus.
That's why we have put together a few activities you can perform to remain active, productive and healthy.
Play Indoor Games
An online search reveals that until now, indoor games have largely been left for parties or for keeping children engaged during winter. Now, though, it's time to take advantage of the numerous indoor games. What better way is there to remain physically and mentally active indoors than to play a game?
Games like pictionary, card games and mirror mirror are perfect examples of indoor games.
If you are in lockdown with your kids, here is a nicely done article on games you can play with them during this time.
What if you are alone in your house? Aren't you forever grateful to whoever discovered the internet?
It's possible to play games like Two Truths and a Lie on a video chat. Skype and zoom came to save you from boredom and loneliness. So, call your friends or family members on skype or invite them to a meeting on zoom and have fun playing this and many other games.
Work from Home
Is the type of work you do something that can be done from home?
Look:
Everyone knows that you don't want to always be working. You look forward to some time off work. You want to relax and have a good time. But these are different times.
There's the relaxation you get after you've been working the whole day, and there's idling because you can't go anywhere and there's nothing much to do. You can't go on a holiday, you can't work. And you feel like you run the risk of dying from mental inactivity. That doesn't have to be the case.
Do you have a backlog at work that you can clear while at home? Is it updating your client's mailing list? Is it sorting and replying to emails that you haven't gotten to do because there was too much to be done? Now's the time to clear that to-do list.
Working from home will not only save you time during this unprecedented period, but it will also give you something meaningful to do with the seemingly unending free time you have in your hands right now.
Learn a New Skill
What a good time to acquire a new skill? With all the time in your hands, there is no excuse.
How is your typing speed? Can you improve that? Typing is a very necessary skill for everyone in this age. So, if your typing technique or speed isn't up to date, work on it. Numerous sites offer free typing lessons online. Other sites allow you to take a free test to gauge your speed and accuracy. Take advantage of these right now.
How about becoming a musician? Some YouTube channels are claiming that you can become a good singer in just 30 days. That may be possible. But the point is this: If you have ever wanted to be a singer, this is your time. Don't spend all your time watching and re-watching good singers on The Voice, learn how to be a pro yourself. There's everything you need on the internet; from voice lessons to piano lessons, guitar lessons to reading music. The choice is yours.
Whatever skill you decide to learn, be it singing, playing the piano, typing, painting or anything else, start now. This time in lockdown might eventually not be that much if you start using it wisely.
Write a Book
"Me? Write a book?" Yes, you! And not just any book. A best seller.
People who write books are super special people with gigantic brains. Right? WRONG. The truth is, people who write books are ordinary people who have something to share with the world, and they go ahead and share it, period.
But what can you write about? Your life. Your experiences are unique to you. You may feel that your life is boring and that no one would want to read about it. But here's one truth most writers will not tell you. Their lives are just as ordinary as yours. But they are willing to share it with you and other people out there. You would be surprised how many people would find your life story interesting, even encouraging to read.
What if you haven't gotten to a place where you want to write about your entire life? Well, there are several topics you can pick from. You can choose to write about a health condition you or someone in your family has or is successfully dealing with. You may just encourage another person going through the same situation.
If you are still wondering what to write about, just google "write a book". The ideas will overwhelm you.
Psst, you don't have to be a good writer. There's a ton of editors for hire online to do the grammar and punctuation for you.
Keep in Touch
More important than anything you need to do right now, maintain contact with other people. Contact is not only good for the people you are checking on. It's good for you too. Talk about how your day went or how it's going on, the anxiety that you are experiencing because of the disease, comfort people you know who have been affected most by the spread of the disease and so on.
By the time this horrific pandemic is over, you will be happy you kept in touch with other people. Reconnecting will not seem like such an uphill task. And you won't have a lot of mental health issues to be dealing with.
In the End…
This may be a blessing in disguise for you. So many people have been saying that the coronavirus pandemic and its effects is a reset button for humanity. Well, that may be true in certain ways. People have slowed down a little, it's a little quieter out there, the air smells fresher, money doesn't seem to be the most cared about thing anymore. The question is, will you use the quieter fresher smelling environment wisely.
If you focus on the positive, this may be the time you have been wishing for. It may not have come packaged as the gift you were expecting, unwrap it anyway. Find yourself, now. There may never be a time like this when you will have more time than you need.
So, keep yourself active and sane by playing indoor games and working from home. Discover your talent; write a book or learn to sing. And more importantly, keep in touch.
Cheers.
Leave a comment