If you haven’t felt unsettled or bored out of your mind during this quarantine, congratulations. You have the attention span of someone from a previous century. For the rest who aren’t so lucky, finding ways to stay productive and balanced amid all the COVID-19 anxiety might already be a huge issue.
Stop yourself from spiraling into dullness and negativity. Instead, challenge your mind (and body) with the activities below. They’re great for giving you a break from the stress of our current situation.
- Clean your home—thoroughly
As likely evidenced from the past two weeks, working from home opens up a realm of freedom and possibility you might not have felt since high school or college. Days seem to stretch forever, and you’re neither stuck in traffic nor meticulously timing your lunch break.
Make full use of this time. Get your broom, mop, and cleaning rags and chase away clutter and dirt from every surface of your home. Yes, watching Netflix is more fun, but cleaning literally makes you feel better.
- Work out
Just because you can’t hit the local gym, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your gains. Working out at home is very doable with a little creativity.
Not a huge fan of exercise in the first place? Try Popsugar Fitness’s no-equipment cardio workout here. It’s a quick 15 minutes with loads of modifications, so you can ease yourself into a consistent routine.
Always searching for the next burn? Forge your body into steel with tough-as-nails bodyweight exercises from Nerd Fitness (detailed outlines and approach included).
- Soak up the sun
While we don’t recommend loitering in public to get your vitamin D fix, embrace the sun’s rays if you have access to private outdoor areas like a balcony or garden. Vitamin D primes your body to fight sickness and also lowers the risk of depression. Just make sure not to overexpose yourself. If your skin is stinging, you’ve gone past your limit.
- Do a bit of gardening
One good thing about gardening now is that you don’t need a sizeable plot of land to have plants. While it may sound like a hobby best left to your parents and grandparents, hear us out for a minute.
The New York Times already said it 38 years ago: There’s no such thing as being born with a green thumb; plus, there’s pride in being able to turn seeds into plants. Go ahead. Keep a cactus on your sunny window. Plant sweet-smelling row of sampaguitas along your driveway.
Want to flex your survival skills? Start growing food using supplies from your next grocery run.
- Catch up on on-pause projects
Whatever the reasons that kept you from projects before—too many social commitments, no time after work, busy with kids—you’re no longer hampered by them. Get up to speed on the on what you’ve planned or started but never finished. Drawing a blank? Here are some examples of paused projects to restart now:
- starting an online course on coding
- reading the dozen or so books you bought but never opened
- building a storage cabinet
- completing the 100 burpee challenge
- brushing up on your Dothraki for a Game of Thrones marathon
- Spend time with your family
Use this unique opportunity to form tighter bonds. We wish the circumstances were less grim, but the decision is out of our hands. In spite of it all that’s happening in the outside world, plan movie nights, check in with each other, and talk about anything from who keeps hogging the bathroom? to what’s for dinner?. The more positive your interactions are, the less sucky being quarantined feels.
If financial issues are contributing to your worries, reach peace of mind through our services. Perajet is still accepting and processing loan applications, so you can feel financially stable and focus on other urgent matters like your family’s health.