I live alone. I travel alone. I go to restaurants, bars, the beach, and movies alone. I’m used to living in self-isolation, but the COVID-19 worldwide quarantine is hitting everyone hard, even me. When you have the option to be alone, it’s a choice. When you are forced to be alone, it’s confining and suffocating. But there are ways to trick your mind to believe you still have that choice! Here are my tips for self-isolating during quarantine.
1. Create a Routine
Set your alarm and wake up. Brush your teeth. Make your bed. Get dressed (this is an important one – pants are still necessary!) Eat breakfast. Tell Alexa good morning. Check Google Flights for cheap travel deals when all this is over. Do an hour-long workout. Eat lunch. Do a puzzle. Go for a walk (with six-foot social distancing, don’t forget). Watch a movie. Shower. Eat dinner. Read or watch another movie. Go to bed at a set time each night.
Repeat.
It’s important to keep a routine during quarantine for your mental health. Routines can help prevent boredom, boost your mood, and keep a sense of normalcy.
2. Be Active
Part of that routine is working out and going outside. If you’re used to going to the gym at a certain time, remember to work out at that time! Stick to the routine.
If you’re not used to working out, now you have plenty of time to start a new routine. Start out slow and when what you’re doing becomes easy, add on to it. You can even find some virtual routines on apps like MindBody, Instagram, and TikTok.
Go outside! There is an adventure waiting around every corner, even during self-isolation. Click To TweetIf you live near a beach, go for a social-distanced walk and pretend you’re on an island in the Caribbean. If you live near a northern beach, dress a little more warmly: it’s still March. Sunrises over the east and sunsets over the west are perfect for your Instagram.
If you live near the mountains, go for a quarantine hike and see the beauty of nature without all the people around. Try to find a peak above the clouds!
If you live in the countryside, find some animals to have a conversation with. Grab your dog and go for a walk. Pick up a new hobby, like archery. Enjoy the sunrises and sunsets over the flat lands, where the clouds usually create some really incredible lighting patterns.
If you live in the woods, check out some TikTok inspirational videos for some beautiful photography sessions.
3. Plan for the Future
I don’t know about you, but having something to look forward to always helps me get through hard times. It helps to know that the hard times aren’t permanent and they will go away, and then something wonderful will be waiting for you!
Because of this, I always have a vacation planned to look forward to. Thanks to coronavirus, I had to cancel two trips and I have nothing planned. It feels like the world might end without something to look forward to! But summer is around the corner and flights are cheap. Time to start looking for my next trip (and hope it won’t be thwarted by the corona).
4. Start a New Hobby
Like I mentioned in #2, it’s great time to pick up a new hobby!
I picked up TikTok. Probably not the most productive use of my time, but WOW is it addicting. I learned three things:
- I am not athletic and fail miserably at all of the workout challenges
- I’m not a dancer but baggy clothes hide mistakes, and muscle memory is a real thing
- There are some great outlets for posting travel videos to seductive songs that make your travel videos that much more enticing, and I’m going to try that out next
Maybe you’ve been talking about starting a blog for a while. The hardest part is getting started. Since you have tons of free quarantine time on your hands now, check out some tutorials and bloggers that will help you get started. It’s not as hard as it looks!
(If you do start a blog, share it with me in the comments here so I can follow you – I want to hear your thoughts!)
Amazon is still delivering! Check out some beautiful travel puzzles to inspire you. Plus, once you finish them you can frame them and hang them up in your house as art! Hashtag coronaboredomart.
Who wants this puzzle hanging on their wall?!
5. QuarantineChat
The pandemic is worldwide (duh, I know you all know that by now). Ever wonder how people are doing in other parts of the world? I’m lucky enough to have made friends in other countries through my travels so I can check up on them and see how their countries are handling the pandemic.
But if you’re stuck at home bored wondering about #fakenews and want to chat with other people around the world for real info, something to do, or to practice another language, check out QuarantineChat.
QuarantineChat is a voice service that connects people in self-isolation around the world. Download Dialup, a voice chat app that lets you call others without using a phone number. You might even find people that share your own unique experiences.
Have you learned new skill, like cooking or reading the stars? Have you spoken with anyone in another country that is handling the pandemic in their own way? Have you booked any trips when you anticipate this will all be over, or are you waiting to see how it plays out? Tell me something in the comments below!
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P.S. You might also enjoy The Best Way to Challenge Yourself or Traveling Solo for the First Time