Since the world began losing its marbles over the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have had similar feelings. In order to maintain your mental well being while participating in social distancing, living back home with your parents, and watching as much of “That 70’s Show” episode that you can endure, you will need to make some small improvements in your daily schedule. These adjustments will ensure that you stay sane during the lockdown.
Free Time Activities
- You are probably experiencing a lot more free time in your day compared to your regular at-school schedule and you may have come to the point of getting sick of your usual pastimes. So, instead of binge-watching movies or TV series for three days straight, until you can no longer stand the sight of another Rom-Com, replace it with playing board and/or card games or completing an art project. Not only will the break from the TV be healthier for your eyes, you will also be using your brain a lot more than trying to comprehend why Ross and Rachel broke up for a second time.
Quality Time
- The previous idea works perfectly with this next one. You should spend more time with your parents and/or siblings that are home with you. While you may not view them as much fun as your friends back at school, it is still nice to nurture relationships while you have the time. You do not have to spend all day hanging out with them, but making a point to play a game, watch a movie or do any activity together can go a long way in showing your effort towards the relationship. All in all, try not to isolate yourself in your room so much that your family is unsure if you are still alive.
Meals
- Make an effort to cook and/or consume healthy and well-balanced meals throughout your day. I know that it is much easier to eat snacks all day long, but preparing nutritious meals not only will make you feel more productive but it will also positively affect your health. Wow, who would have thought?
Sleep Schedule
- I know that your sleep schedule back at school was probably pretty messed up, but now is a perfect time to fix that and implement at least a decent sleep pattern. I am not saying you should get exactly 10 hours every night and go to bed no later than 10:30 pm, but you should try to implement some sort of routine that balances catching up on the hours of sleep you missed back at college. Don’t sleep your entire day away.
Nature
- While the lockdown is an important rule to follow, that does not mean you need to stay inside, with the windows shut and blinds closed. It’s a virus, not the ‘Purge’. I am also not saying that you have to go outside, just let the fresh air and warmth from the sun through your window. This will do wonders in distracting you from the fact that you are stuck back in your home, in your childhood bedroom for the next few months.
Declutter
- It is likely that you have not lived back at home for quite some time since entering college, which means your bedroom at home is exactly how you left it after high school and/or it is a bunch of scattered things that you left behind when moving. Since it has been confirmed by NEC that we will continue school remotely from the remainder of the semester, you may want to make some changes to your room to make living in it more bearable for a longer period of time. These changes can entail moving furniture around in the room, adding and/or taking down décor, organizing all of your items, as well as getting rid of clothes, books, and other miscellaneous items that you forgot you had or no longer care for.
Declutter with No Physical Activity Needed
- While the previous idea requires some sort of physical activity, and I understand that sometimes that amount of effort is not reachable, unsubscribing to spam accounts on your email is another way to declutter your life with little physical movement. Even though just deleting the emails can seem easier and faster at the moment, instead take an extra minute to unsubscribe to the email accounts that are filling your inbox before deleting them.
Alone Time
- Designate some alone time. This does not mean locking yourself in your room for the entire day; this just means having a planned-out activity or time that you spend with yourself. This could entail journaling, reading a book, or painting. While watching Netflix does fit the criteria of alone time, this alone time should be an activity that is not already an element of your regular routine that you feel will positively affect your mental well-being.
Add a Twist
- Sometimes basic activities just get so boring and overdone. So, in order to make them more interesting and entertaining, you can add a twist. This twist could be implementing a theme for a dinner or movie night, build a fort and have dinner in it, or host your own Paint and Sip. By adding something different to a common activity, it can lead to an increased amount of entertainment and enjoyment to the previously dull activity.
Routine
- Even though I put this last, this is probably the most important to maintaining your sanity. You should create and start a daily routine. It does not have to be an hour-to-hour schedule; that would just be asking for failure. Instead, choose to include daily tasks/activities that you accomplish, such as making your bed every morning, working out, reading at least three chapters of a secular book, or having a more balanced meal for breakfast than just coffee. The added daily tasks can be as big or small as you would like. However, by adding too many of these tasks at once, you are just asking to fall short.
