Quarantine Routine: Some ways to spend days of social distancing
As of late, many people have been staying in quarantine with their families, friends or even alone. It's easy to fall into a lazy routine or lose hope of ever being able to leave your house. Being back at home is not necessarily ideal for most people — students need to take all their classes online and most working people need to stay home.
For the most part, I believe I have a good routine down to keep my mind and body in check during quarantine.
I typically start my days off at the same time as I would if I were still at school. The extra sleep is great and all, but with classes online and a pile of assignments to complete, I can’t afford to sleep the day away. Plus, I can get in a healthy breakfast to start my day off just right. I'm dead set on not procrastinating my work, considering there's really nothing better for me to do trapped inside my house.
After I get most of my work done, I like to make sure I'm taking time to stay active since I’m sitting for most of the days now. I find that working out in my backyard feels especially good for my well-being. Personally, I feel that the bright and warm sun improves my workouts significantly. I can sweat more and be able to breathe in the fresh air as opposed to being indoors all day.
Although keeping up with classes is extremely important as a college student, I think taking care of your mental and physical health during these times takes precedence overall. I make sure to spend a minimum of half an hour outside every day to make sure my skin is being exposed to the sun and fresh air. This helps to keep me from going cabin-fever crazy, which I assume most people must be feeling as well.
Eating healthy in quarantine has become a huge thing for me. Although I maintained a fairly healthy diet while I was living at school, moving back home made me realize how much I snack when I don’t need to, so I’ve been watching my food intake to avoid overeating.
Every morning I make sure to have some type of grain and fruits like bananas or oranges. For lunch and dinner, I incorporate vegetables and proteins to have a balanced meal. I typically snack between meals with more fruits or rice cakes with peanut butter on top. I love cooking and trying out new recipes so being at home gives me a great opportunity to expand my range of cooking.
I have also realized that I did not drink as much water as I should have when I was at school, so now I consistently attempt to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. It keeps me hydrated and maintains my overall health.
Being in quarantine doesn’t need to be so boring — I take all this free time as an opportunity to take up old and new hobbies. At school, I didn’t have much time to read or watch all the movies on my bucket list. Now that I’m home, I can finish the novel I never got around to finishing and watch great films that are just waiting to be viewed.
As cringe-worthy as this may be, I'm trying to learn one new TikTok dance a week. It honestly keeps my spirits up and I think dancing is a great way to cope with boredom. Most importantly, I make sure to spend plenty of time with my family. It's very easy to go crazy being stuck under the same roof with the same people for so long, but I’d like to cherish time spent with my mom, dad and brother. I don’t get to see them too often while I’m at school so it's good to slow down and appreciate them.
Obviously, nobody needs to do exactly what I’m doing to cope with being in quarantine. I believe that as long as you're staying healthy in your own way and are maintaining a healthy and happy state of mind then that's more than enough. I hope that everyone stays safe during these times.
