Top 10 Ways to Stay Sane During A Quarantine | with Pictures
NO Social Contact, NO Touching Your Face, NO Outside Activities = APOCALYPTIC BOREDOM.
It’s enough to drive the sanest person to the brink of a meltdown! So, what can we do to ensure that we are sane after a quarantine?
Don’t fret! We have got you covered. The following tips are designed to keep you sound and happy while under quarantine. Let’s make the best out of this situation, and let’s do it together!
Top 10 Tips to Keeping Your Mind & Body Active
1. Learn A New Skill
Learning a New Skill is a great way to pass the time and have fun while doing it. There are tons of resources online like Youtube with helpful tutorials for your chosen new skill.
Need help choosing a skill? Take this Online Quiz to help you decide.
Picking the right skill for you doesn’t require science, but it does require a good bit of trial and error. You’ll know you’ve found the right skill because you’ll be great at it. If it’s the wrong one, then you’ll suck no matter how hard you try. So choose wisely. The good news is, you’re on quarantine, you have plenty of free time to pick that new skill.
Just imagine, when all of this is over and you can go back to being social again, you’ll have learned a new skill to impress people with. Well done you!
To help you out, here are some top tips to ensure your success in learning a new skill:
Your Best Learning Method - Are you a visual learner? Is your learning style kinesthetic or auditory? Here’s a secret: none of these apply.
In an intriguing talk at TEDxUWLaCrosse, Dr. Tesia Marshik shares a startling fact: 40 years of research on learning styles has found that matching teaching styles to learning styles makes no difference at all.
*Which takes us to the next point!
- Stop Believing In the Talent Myth - There’s a wide-known belief that talent is innate — the ability to play a musical instrument, to draw, and so on. That is, you either have it, or you don’t. However, in recent years scientists have adopted a different view. Studies show that talent is determined far less by our genes and far more by our actions. Sure, you can be more prone to acquiring certain attributes and mastering specific skills, but execution and persistence will always prevail over talent.
- Make It More Meaningful for Yourself - Why are you learning this skill? Will it be useful — if not, are you still interested in learning it? What's the driving force behind it? One main reason why “learning styles” don’t work is that things are learnt in terms of meaning.
- Watch from the PROs, and Then Practice - Why? Because studying the crafts of great experts will always be more beneficial, than perhaps taking a course on it. For me with writing, this has completely played out to be true.
- Learn by doing - The best way to learn is to do! Regardless of how unprepared you feel, just do it… Also, make sure that the environment you are in is perfect for rapid-learning progress. That means ditching any social media, and the temptation to check any email. As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” Before you sit down to execute on learning, make sure whatever potential distractions is far from sight. Aside from coffee of course… That’s always welcome and needed!
- Be Curious - Though the pursuit of knowledge does not guarantee you will find an answer; nonetheless it will enrich you. Instead of letting a textbook guide learning, take the lead! Seek answers from many sources. Don’t merely memorise theories and techniques — question them at every step while executing my learning.
If you would rather have someone teaching you, you can hire an expert online! There are plenty of platforms for that in the U.S. like TaskRabbit. In Puerto Rico, there is HALLÒ.
Of course, all will need to be done via video call. You are still under quarantine.
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can view available virtual services HERE
2. Catch Up on Social Media
I know, normally this advice would be counterintuitive to the whole “disconnect” movement. However, under quarantine circumstances, it’s perfectly appropriate!
So, go ahead. Take that quiz on Facebook, like that kitty photo on instagram, watch funny videos on TikTok, and Pin those Pinterest inspirations. No one is going to tell you NO here.
In this case, and this case only, staying in and burying yourself in social media is a good thing. It will help to keep your mind stimulated and prevent killer boredom from setting in. Ever heard of cabin fever?
To help you get started in this new found unrestricted social media freedom, here are a few time-wasting, shareable quizzes for you to try.
Have fun!
Quiz - “How Successful Are You?”
Quiz - “We’ll Guess Your Hair & Eye Color based on your dog preferences”
If You're in Puerto Rico, learn how to craft the best social media content from social media experts HERE
3. Make a To-Do Bucket List
It just seems an appropriate thing to do in the midst of a pandemic.
Now that you’ve got time on your hands and unaware of when you’ll actually be able to do outside things again, why not make a bucket list.
But before you go crazy on that list, you should know…
A bucket should not be full of impulsive stuff that we pick up as we go along through life. It shouldn’t be like grabbing a chocolate bar off the display rack. Nor should it be filled with stuff that other people talk and dream about unless it truly resonates with your aspirations. Chasing other people’s dreams would be like having a hole in your bucket.
The most satisfying things to go into the bucket for most of us are those that are part of a larger context. For example, visiting the Great Wall as part of supporting a family member. Developing that larger context or framework is something that can and should take careful and thoughtful consideration. It often takes hard thought and hard work to develop.
Here are our suggestions for creating and managing your Bucket List:
Make sure you get satisfaction and joy from your day to day stuff. Don’t suffer the 99% to get to the 1% you enjoy. Make the whole experience an enjoyable one.
Don’t buy into your ideas and turn them into goals right away. Mull them over. If you weigh them carefully, you’ll probably find you can improve, replace or cancel them while enhancing your overall life experience.
Make a plan and enjoy the process. Planning is not optional. It is generally accepted as being a requirement by most of the experts in the field of setting and achieving goals.
Review list items often to make sure you still want to do it. The bucket list should be open-ended. Maintain enough flexibility that you don’t become a slave to your own list. Make sure you keep working on adding new items while completing others.
Find ways to make each goal more meaningful. Include dimensions of quality within the items on your list. If you involve like-minded people in group activities, you’ll likely get much more from the experience than if you don’t. For solitary pursuits, take steps to ensure you get the most from the experience.
Don’t get obsessed with big “retail” goals. You are not required to share your secret fetish goals, or any goals for that matter, with others if you don’t want to. One strategy is to identify public and private goals and only share the public ones. Keep quiet about the private ones. Financial goals are often ones that are wise to keep private. But do celebrate your private accomplishments as you would your public ones. Don’t worry about it if they aren’t big or flashy.
Ensure your goals are consistent with who you are. Or reshape them to suit your style and preferences. For example, introverts and extroverts alike can enjoy a certain travel destination like say the Eiffel Tower, yet experience it quite differently.
The bottom line here is that you should find meaning and happiness in everything you do.
You’re probably thinking this is way too much effort. Well, of course, it is! That’s the whole point of it. The more energy you expend doing this means you’ve got less energy to expend into thinking about this quarantine you’re in.
Here’s our 7 Best recommendations for bucket list items you can start checking off easily:
Take control of your finances
Perfect your Social Media Posts game
Get Your Perfect Dream Body
Polish Your Personal Brand - (get your signature cocktail created)
Be more Creative (learn express your inner artist)
Learn to Have more Patience (become the best you)
Plan Your Dream Vacation
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can get available virtual services HERE
4. Learn A Language
How many times have you thought to yourself, “I would like to learn this language, but I just don’t have the time.” Now you do! Finally, you get a chance to learn more languages and be über impressive. Isn’t being in quarantine great?!
According to EtoInstitute.com, learning a language gives you a whole bunch of benefits. It’s been shown to boost your brainpower, memory, and sharpness. Additionally, learning a language may help you improve your multitasking skills.
Not to mention the ultimate benefit of being “that person” who knows more than one language. We all know that person, he or she or they are just on a different level. I want to be that person, don’t you?
Now that you’re all fired up to learn a new language, let’s discuss which one you should choose. Learning a language is never easy, especially if you've tried to learn a language in the past and failed. Choosing the right language for you is the first step to succeeding. Here’s a link for tips to help you decide on your new language.
Buenas Suerte! (that means good luck in Spanish) and have fun learning!
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can get available virtual language tutors HERE
5. Hangout with Friends and Family via Video Call
Quarantine got you feeling the withdrawal symptoms of no social contact? A great way to combat that is by video calling your friends and family!
Unlike Pandemics in the past, we have the modern-day convenience of Technology. Yes, despite everything, we’ve come up with some pretty awesome things. Here are some of the best Platforms that are free for anyone to use:
Get the people you’re missing in a video call and keep them on while you (and they) go on with your #quarantinelife. Pop open that beer, pour that glass of wine, and just hangout.
If you’re missing more than one person, make it a group video call. You can even add more people in during your call. Better yet, plan something ahead of time and invite people just as you would in a regular hangout.
6. Teach Your Pet A New Trick (For Pet Owners)
If you have a pet of any kind, this quarantine period can be a blast for you and them.
Getting your pet to learn a new trick is a great way to keep them active when the outdoors aren’t safe for them to explore. Additionally, it is mutually beneficial for keeping your mind engaged and entertained.
Choosing a trick can be tricky, and It’s ultimately decided by what your pet wants to do. There are a lot of pet tricks ranging from easy to difficult for you to choose from. Here’s a link with a list for Pet Tricks:
Rather than spending too much time on deciding which pet trick to choose, we suggest going down a list of them and try them all. The fun lies in the process, not the outcome. Remember, the goal is to make quarantine enjoyable.
Even if your pet doesn’t learn anything new, you still get to experience something together. Who knows, your pet might just surprise you!
7. Teach Your Child Something New (For Parents)
Similarly, if you have a child or children, this quarantine period can be a blast for you and them.
Getting your child to learn something new is a great way for them to expend their energy when the outdoors aren’t safe for them to explore. Additionally, it is mutually beneficial for keeping your mind engaged and entertained.
Choosing what new thing to learn can be tricky, and It’s ultimately decided by what your child feels like doing in the moment. The options for you to choose from are endless. So, we’ve taken the liberty to list a few for you. Here’s a list with links:
Rather than spending too much time on deciding what to do, we suggest going down a list of them and try them all. The fun lies in the process, not the outcome. Remember, the goal is to make quarantine enjoyable.
Even if your child doesn’t learn anything new, you still get to experience something together. Who knows, you might discover your child’s hidden genius.
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can get available virtual tutors and more for kids HERE
8. Meditate or At Least Learn How To
Yoga or Meditation, when done properly, has the ability to clear your mind and restore balance to your psyche. For those of us who can’t seem to sit still long enough to do it successfully, it’s at least something to do while in isolation. From experience, I’ve found that the trying and gloriously failing can provide hilarious entertainment. So whether you’re a yogi or an unbalanced novice, now is the perfect time to add this onto your “what can I do” list!
According to Osteopathic.org, “Yoga… meditation and breathing can help improve a person's mental well-being. Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness; increases body awareness; relieves chronic stress patterns; relaxes the mind; centers attention; sharpens concentration…“ Doesn’t that sound perfect in days like these?
The basics of yoga and meditation center around breathing. Bringing your attention to your breath engages your mind to your body as it functions. By controlling the pace of your breathing, you are turning an automatic bodily function into a task that occupies your mind. When your mind is occupied, boredom can’t creep in.
If you fail, and frankly most probably will, don’t take it seriously! Have fun with it. Keep on trying and failing. You can even record your fails and make a Tiktok Video out of it. It’s a welcome amusement considering the circumstance you're in, and who knows you might even go viral.
Namaste and Happy Failing!
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can get available virtual personal trainers and yoga instructors HERE
9. Turn Ordinary Day-to-Day Tasks into Something Special
When in a situation such as a quarantine happens, one of the biggest challenges is overcoming boredom.
According to the BBC, “Boredom is such a large part of day-to-day existence… But perhaps because of its prevalence in our lives, scientists had been slow to explore the sensation.” Today, we know that boredom affects us all from time to time. It typically sets in when we are under stimulated, like when we’re doing chores, or listening to a monotonous lecture. But did you know that boredom is contagious just like a virus?
Yes, it is! According to an article on Forbes. “Boredom is contagious, and leads to performance and retention problems galore. You should eradicate it like a bad case of bed bugs.” During prolonged isolation, it is inevitable. However, it is easily remedied.
Turning day to day things into something more special is a great way of counteracting boredom. For instance, dinner at home is something you do everyday, so you probably don’t even make a big fuss out of it. Most dinners probably feel more of the same and automated.
What if you did make a fuss out of it. Don’t be afraid to get creative and turn your everyday boring meal into an event. You don’t need to go overboard on it. Simply changing simple things like setting the table, pairing it with a bottle of wine, or adding candles to the table can make it feel extra special. Sit at the dinner table with your partner and make it date night or sit out in your outdoor space (i.e. yard, balcony, porch). Switching things up breaks the routine effect and makes even the most mundane tasks interesting.
By following this rule, you’ll be able to keep your mind engaged in what you are currently doing. When your mind is stimulated, boredom can’t creep in.
Here are some daily home tasks tips you should try:
Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch - add a little something extra, make it more engaging. For families, try cooking together.
Watching TV - add popcorn or your choice of snack, opt to watch what you normally wouldn’t.
Exercising - try new workouts, set goals and reward yourself!
Personal Care -
Take a nice long bath. Go even further, set up the scene with candles, a good book, music, and a glass of wine. #Fancy
Explore Styles for your Hair. Since you’ve got time on your hands, why not? (blowdry, apply products, etc.)
Even just dressing up for a meal can help.
If You're in Puerto Rico, You can get available virtual cooking classes and more HERE
10. Enjoy the Isolation Together! Play the Games you have in storage.
Remember how much fun it was playing games as a kid? Well now is the perfect time to bring that back! Find those board games hidden in storage and dust off those playing cards. You and your household can play your way through this quarantine.
If you need a little help remembering fun games to play, here are some of them:
You can be as creative with this as you want. Come up with a game yourself. The goal is to just have fun!
If any of these didn’t work for you, perhaps just get yourself some beer, wine, vodka, tequila, etc. and drink up.
Cheers and happy quarantining!