Quarantine Thoughts

I was going to write about tips on how to stay positive during this quarantine/self-isolation period, but I physically and emotionally cannot.

Not only me, but I assume many are struggling to stay motivated or have any desire to do anything creative. Personally, it’s taking me much longer than anticipated to adapt to this lifestyle of not going to my full time job 5 days a week. I think it’s crazy that this whole time I would tell myself “Work is taking over all my time, I need a break to focus on my own projects/hobbies” But now that I have it, as greedy as this sounds, I wish my life could go back to normal again. It’s not the fact that I don’t want all this free time, I believe it’s taking a while to adapt because changes came almost overnight and I did not have the time to mentally prepare for what was coming. But that’s life I guess, constant surprises and obstacles.

On quarantine day one, I wrote a list of projects/activities to do during the lockdown. It is now day eleven, and I am having a hard time even looking at that list. I feel drained. I feel very insecure about myself. It’s interesting, really, how much my life revolves around work. I realized I haven’t had this much free time since spring break in Sophomore year. My life feels completely flipped, and I am very thrown off; mentally and physically. I believe this period of self-isolation is taking much more of a toll on people who deal with anxiety and depression; having too much time to overthink about every. little. thing.

Now the question is, how do we retrieve the motivation to make this self-isolation a positive experience for ourselves? I believe writing a list is the first step. Creating a strict schedule for each day can be step two. Being kind to yourself is third. To be more in depth, being kind means to accept that having days to do nothing is completely okay. Being a workaholic, I start feeling very negative towards myself if I am not doing anything work related/creative. But I need to understand that it is okay to lay down and do absolutely nothing (sometimes). Final step is to be grateful for what you currently have. Be grateful you still have a roof over your head. Appreciate that you are not sick, and by staying home you are helping others. I know it is hard, but we are all in this together.