What was considered a luxury and an opportunity to leverage while you 'caught the seasonal bug,' is now a dire necessity. With COVID-19 unleashing its wrath and causing havoc on a global consensus, it is only a matter of time that uncertainty of the future will begin to creep in along with fear and stress.
Considering you are home and safe amidst the quarantine is a pretty lucky situation as compared to the war waging at the frontlines of every hospital out there. Many people are taking the quarantine as an excuse to stay back with their loved ones - but spending twenty-four hours at home with nowhere to go can be a downer. As if disinfecting your vinyl flooring thrice a day was not enough, what else is there to do other than listening to dormant news on the television and sleeping for twelve hours straight every day?
Since we are caught up in the same situation, we thought you would like to know about how you, too, can make the most of your time during this quarantine. We dug up 5 tips that can help you spend your time more productively while you are caged inside your safe homes!
1. Start With a Healthy Morning Routine
How many times did you rush out of your home without having the most important meal of the day? Yes, uncountable, we believe so! Relying on a glass of juice or a cup of black coffee will keep you hungry until you can have your lunch at work. The first step to becoming more productive every day is to become organized with a healthy morning routine. What better start can anyone have other than adjusting a morning routine gone bad?
If you are a sound sleeper, try to set your alarm an hour early for every day! Depriving yourself of your sleep is a big no-no, so try to sleep an hour early to adjust your circadian rhythm for the next day.
Once you hear your alarm go off, motivate yourself to get up after hitting the third snooze. Remember - going cold turkey is never a good option!
Start with a basic cardio workout. If you are more of a jogging person, you can either walk to and from your balcony a couple of times or in your garden for ten minutes. Nobody is telling you to go pro and follow Kayla's workout sessions instantly. A couple of crunches and flying jacks will do just fine to get your blood up and pumping!
Treat yourself to a healthy breakfast every morning, but make sure you learn how to minimize your time in making one. You surely do not want to go back to square one once you resume going to work, do you?
If you have not showered yet, you can enjoy a warm bath or tend to your chores for the day before you get all sweaty for another round.
Maintain a To-do List and divide your chores for the rest of the week. In this way, you will be tending to a comfortable load every day and avoid being lazy at the same time. Download Todoist (any other app will do too) or maintain a journal for prioritizing your daily chores.
2. Read the Books Collecting Dust on Your Shelves!
Watching Netflix for hours on end can be a big bore - and it also causes huge stress on your eyes. How about relaxing by reading a great non-fiction book for a couple of hours? Non-fiction is not everybody's cup of tea. There are facts and figures thrown at you by the second, and the moment you turn the page, you forget what you read just a moment ago!
Download a free e-book reading app such as AnyBooks or any other copyrighted source you can get your hands on. Ask your friends and colleagues - they might have a library filled with accessible e-books and audiobooks that you will never know of if you do not ask.
Join online reading clubs and writing forums (e.g., Wattpad) to discover the latest non-fiction reads. You might even indulge in healthy discussions with people around the globe!
If you already have big fictional reads on your shelves, you can begin by finishing all of them one by one. Make a list and begin with the one that you had been waiting to crack the moment it was released!
Go through the best fictional reads online and discover e-books or download PDF versions of those that you should read at least once in your lifetime!
Read Self-Help books by your favorite entrepreneurs or productivity gurus to learn a new skill or hack! If you are new into self-help books, Mark Ronson might help to get you hooked (a lot of swearing going on). You can then go to the big guns and, perhaps, come out of the quarantine with a positive mindset!
3. Learn a New Language!
You can take up the opportunity to learn a couple of new languages during the quarantine! If you plan on moving to a different country, you can learn their language or take online courses to polish your mother tongue as well! From Apps such as Duolingo to online learning websites offering free certificated courses during the Corona times, learn a language that you always wanted to!
Who knows? You might even get hired based on a new language! P.S: You can also offer your services as a translator or transcriber once you have mastered the language.
4. Learn a New Course!
Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, and Content Marketing are three of the most lucrative fields out there, currently. If you want to beat the 9 to 5 boredom and start a business of your own, you need to first discover your true potential. Do you want to be a customer service representative for the rest of your life or provide marketing services for offshore brands for a better rate but less time?
Coursera is currently offering free courses with certifications for a limited time, which you can grab to make most of your quarantine period. From Korean and Chinese language courses to strategies on content marketing as well as basics regarding machine learning, the internet is too generous nowadays!
P.S: Udemy launched a new code that allows you to avail of its paid courses for a price that is 95% off the original!
5) Learn a New Recipe Every day!
Cooking is a basic survival skill - even those who rely on take-outs and frozen or canned food should know how to make the most of the ingredients you have. Since everybody is hoarding food as if this pandemic is an apocalypse, what do you intend to eat once the supermarket is out of groceries? It is already out of toilet paper, so...
Stock your pantry with basic ingredients such as bread, eggs, butter, cheese, dried herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, grains, and pulses and anything that you need to be a master chef in the kitchen! Our suggestion is to start with a brand new pasta dish every day as cooking spaghetti, lasagna, or any pasta is unremarkably easy than any gourmet food!
6. Bonus: Give your Home a Make-over!
We have saved the best for the last!
If you are too bored to do anything else, you can unleash your inner creativity and give your entire home a makeover! Start from the bottom and work your way to the top, that is, take a crack at your flooring (pun intended). You can begin with DIY home renovations and order from Quickstep.co.uk if you are looking for quick-to-install, scratch-and-stain-resistant, and easy-to-clean flooring options.
Next, you can bombard your wardrobes and cupboards so that you can get rid of anything that you consider overly consuming or excessive. You can give your walls a new paint makeover and rearrange the furniture to complement the new finishing touches. You can also take your chance at handy crafts or tie 'n' dye art, and make something new from the things lying around your home!
Social distancing was once considered as an excuse to stay back home for the introvert in every family - all you needed was a good book and a fireplace to roast your marshmallows. But, due to the pandemic at hand, nationwide lockdowns and curfews are requesting people to 'avoid human contact' and 'stay at home' as much as possible - till further updates. With these tips at hand, we hope you will make the most of the quarantine and come out as a better, stronger, and more positive person, indeed!
