Tips on adjusting to Quarantine Life

I wanted to write a few words on how I'm coping with being in quarantine. I truly thought I would absolutely crumble, that all the work I'd spent on keeping busy and healthy would be undone by the coming weeks of being stuck in the house. Feeling that naturally, I would go back to my unhealthy habits of staying in bed all day, sleeping in all day and staying up all night, surviving mostly off of ridiculous quantities of tea and never brushing my hair.
But we're on day 7 now, and I'm coping pretty damn well.

So I thought I'd talk about how I'm keeping my head above water, and actually enjoying the time I have at home at the moment.

The turning point for me, realising quarantine was going to be okay, was when I came across some information on how we, as human beings, have the ability to adapt to new circumstances. It's one of our scientific advantages that brought us to the top of the food chain, for our physical ability to adapt to different climates through time, we survived ice ages and deserts and plagues and wars. Not just physically, but mentally.
And we have all, ourselves, gone through our own adaptions. Going through the situations we never thought we'd be able to.
For example, breakups, moving house, new jobs, big changes in your life which may have been difficult to adjust to at first, before we learnt to adapt.
I came to the realisation that after the first hurdle and struggle of this new quarantine life, we would just adapt and live like normal because this would become our new normal. Staying in the house and having relationships through video calls would just become part of our everyday routine, and eventually we'll stop hating it so much.

That aside though, the only other thing really getting me through this is my "daily exercise allowance" I almost feel guilty leaving the house for a walk or run everyday but I would absolutely lose my mind if I didn't. I live in a relatively quiet cluster of villages in the country so it's not like I'm walking the streets of a city past hundreds of faces everyday. Therefore long walks are getting me through the days, that and being in my garden. Obviously not all are as lucky as me in that sense but opening windows and just breathing fresh air or letting the sun on your face makes a difference - my ideology is that I need to get as much Vitamin D as possible because it makes you happy.

Also, you don't have to be filling your time up !!!!!!
I thought I'd have to fill every second of my day up with things to keep me from being bored or from my mental health creeping in and I was terrified of running out of things to do. I've honestly done nothing so far, I've took a real chill approach to it all, focusing mostly on my daily run, or finishing a book I'd been reading and keeping in touch with people.

I've got lots to do, the house needs a top to bottom clean, there are things to cook, art to be done, writing to be wrote, but I'm trying not to overwhelm myself with keeping entertained. To the point I've not even really been on Netflix...

I've also consistently been telling myself "mind over matter" which is a saying I almost always have spinning around my head. It's all about perception, yeah quarantine really bloody sucks, missing friends suck and oh my GOD I've never needed a costa more in my entire life, but it really isn't so bad. Everyone I know who has gone into quarantine with a bad attitude is suffering, and those who have tried to keep a positive mindset are doing okay. I know it's much easier to be negative about the situation than it is to be positive, when there really isn't much to be positive about right now, but shifting the mindset and telling yourself it's going to be okay tricks yourself into thinking so.

Avoiding Netflix binges has worked wonders on me I think, especially bedroom Netflix binges. I've watched a few Disney films but aside from that, I'm trying not to get caught up in the binge watching of TV shows because that's where I'll stop leaving my room at all and quite literally rot away.

Mindfulness has been helping a lot, obviously tension is high at the moment and something as simple as taking a few deeps breaths a day just reminds me to take time out and be calm, I use my long walks as head space time where I let my head wander to the weirdest of places, and when I work out I finish my stretches with a 5 or 10 minute meditation just to cool off. I've also found mindfulness changes the pace of your day, which, when stuck in the house seeing the same things and doing the same things all the time, a change of pace, even 5 minutes long, just spruces up your day a bit.

Also, I've said in my previous posts, keep in touch with people. I know I'm personally really struggling differentiating between "physical isolation" and "emotional isolation" a massive part of me feels like I need to cut off from the world and isolate entirely, but keeping in contact with friends keeps me emotionally grounded, socialising with people makes me feel human in a world where I feel alienated without my nails done or makeup on or costa in hand. Because apparently I really am that superficial.

So that's how I've been dealing with my mental health in quarantine, in short, remember that humans adapt to change, get some Vitamin D and breathe some fresh air, be chill and don't fill every second of your day up, keep a positive mindset, avoid binging TV, practice mindfulness and keep texting your friends.
Stay safe, and sane and for the most part, indoors.


Shan x

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