Hey, I’m Inola! I traveled to Switzerland from Dubai, which meant I had to quarantine for 10 days upon my arrival. Now, I know what you might think, “Wow, poor her, 10 days alone must be hard”. But what if I told you that it wasn’t as bad as everyone thinks? That, however, totally depends on what you make of it.
There may be multiple reasons as to why you are currently reading this blog, maybe you know you will have to quarantine soon or maybe you are currently quarantined and are trying to figure out how to survive the boredom. Whatever the reason, I’m here to give you my top 5 tips on how to survive quarantine!
1. Settle in
If you are about to move into your room/apartment and if you are able to quarantine in it, utilize this time to unpack, organize and decorate your space! If you are quarantining in a place you have already moved in to, use this time to redecorate!
I found an apartment off campus and was able to quarantine there so I spent the first three days unpacking, moving in, and decorating. This time allowed me to look at different ways to organize items like my clothes, food and kitchen gadgets, to see which was the most logical solution. Quarantine gave me the time I needed to simply settle in, unwind and decorate my living space to feel at home without any interruptions distracting me from finishing these tasks.
2. Get Creative
Now that you have unpacked and decorated, it’s time to get creative and work on projects! This tip, however, works best if you plan it prior to your quarantine. I knew that I would have to quarantine upon my arrival to Switzerland, so while I was back home, I looked at all the projects I wanted to do that I could also do during quarantine to keep myself occupied and decided to bring those with me to Switzerland.
This could be anything from editing photos and videos, to painting, to completing online courses. A little bonus: use this time to binge watch TV shows or movies you’ve been wanting to see! I binge watched Modern Family and a TV show called Ancient Aliens, which I definitely recommend checking out!
3. Don’t dread the shred
If you miss hitting the gym, then this tip is for you! I am personally someone who loves to work out to stay fit and healthy, but with the gyms closed I’ve had to improvise. While workout videos are great and motivating, I found creating and planning workouts tailored to my needs and abilities to be much more efficient. This allows you to control and manage the level and intensity of the workouts and create workouts that you genuinely like and are motivated to do.
In order to fulfill this, I decided what parts of my body I wanted to train, then researched specific exercises, and common mistakes, for those specific areas. To increase the intensity of the workouts and make them more comfortable, I bought a Pilates mat to make the workouts easier on my back and knees, special wrist gloves to protect my wrists, anti-slip resistance bands, stretching blocks, plastic dumbbells that you can fill with water or sand, and ankle weights.
4. Manifest Mindfulness
I know that keeping in contact with friends and family is so important for the soul and that it makes you feel less alone. But sometimes, tuning out from the world (as scary as it may sound) can be so rewarding. If you are scared to spend 10 days alone without human contact, don’t be!
Instead, use this precious time to practice mindfulness through meditation and/or yoga to help find inner peace, gratitude, and self-acceptance. Use this time to become more familiar with and accepting of your body and feel confident in your own skin, as this can be hard to do when constantly surrounded by people or negative energy on a daily basis.
I decided to unfollow every kind of person and page on social media that reflected a false image of a person’s body, to stop myself from comparing my body to theirs. I also listen to guided meditations (I personally recommend the ones from Boho Beautiful Yoga as they are very soothing and encouraging).
5. Find Your Groove
If your quarantine happens to be during a time where you have nothing to do, such as the semester break, then use this time to initiate a new routine. If it happens to be in the middle of the semester or your work life, manage the time to get back to a normal routine.
If you are similar to me in the sense where you tend to sleep super late because you’re out with friends or using the time to finish off work, you can begin the habit of sleeping early. My quarantine was during my semester break, so I used that time to sleep earlier, build a proper skin care routine, take time off to learn a new language and work on online courses.
I also used that time to work out, read, watch a Ted talk, listen to a Podcast, or watch any other kind of educational video every day to learn something new. I know quarantine is never great, and yes, it can get hard and lonely sometimes. But it is important to keep an optimistic attitude and use the time effectively with many things to do, rather than wasting it.
I hope you found these tips useful and that maybe one day they will help you, too, survive quarantine. And if you did find them useful or interesting, share them with your friends and family for when they may need them!
