Stay at home and take time for yourself!
Setting up a routine for yourself is important. Recreating a sense of structure that you might have had before the quarantine will save you from feeling unproductive. This might mean waking up at a set time every day, cooking a healthy breakfast, listening to podcasts while getting ready… This is the time to set up good habits you’ve wanted to take up for a while.
That being said, give yourself time to process. The first few days of quarantine might seem overwhelming. When being overloaded with information, it can be best to lay low, and let yourself grasp what is happening. So maybe take some downtime. Watch your favourite movies or some new and interesting documentaries you’ve been meaning to watch. We recommend watching “Babies” for some adorable insight on the world of newborns and toddlers, but if you’d rather binge-watch your favourite series, anything works! If you are alone and want to watch Netflix with someone else, you can now use “Netflix Party” to watch movies at the same time as loved ones, so that the experience is shared.
During this time, you might want to pamper yourself – make face masks, paint your nails, exfoliate your skin. Anything to make you feel comfortable and calm.
From day 4 or 5, you might have watched all the movies and documentaries that were on your list. Time to get productive!
Staying at home limits the activities you would have normally done. But so many things can be done from the comfort of your home. Youtube is the gold mine for at-home workouts, yoga classes and dance classes. Some of our favourite yoga teachers for beginners are “Yoga with Adrienne“, Celest Pereira and Brett Larkin… Moving and staying active is a great way to stay calm and grounded. When you do so, open your windows and ventilate your living space, to make sure you get all the benefits of working out. If structured workouts aren’t your thing, you can organise dance parties – either with the people you live with or via skype with your loved ones. Nothing is better than moving like crazy to let out all the frustration and stress.
During these days, while the structure is being created and put in place, you can explore hobbies you’ve lost touch with or that you haven’t dedicated as much time as you could have before. Playing an instrument, embroidering, knitting… The possibilities are endless. There are so many tutorials on how to sew and macrame online, and now is the time to watch them! If your hobby is cooking, then take some time to innovate and test out some new recipes without time constraints!
After a week, you might feel as though you’ve done everything that needs to be done. You are clearing your mind through activities, and rekindling your hobbies. Now is the time to clear out your living space. Decluttering is a great way to make space in your life. Look through your workspace, and put to the side everything you haven’t used in the past 3 months. Then you can either give them away, throw them out, or put them away in storage if you think you will need them one day. This will help you make space for other things you might be working on, like your new hobbies and activities.
After clearing out your space, you could move on to your wardrobe. What better time than now to have a big spring cleaning? Figure out what clothes you are no longer wearing, and why that is. Mend them, upcycle them and create pieces you love. All the tutorials you need to do so are online and accessible for all! You can also donate them or sell them online. The Save Your Wardrobe app could help you make sense of the many options you have when it comes to your clothes. Clearing out your living spaces will help you clear your head, and realise what is important to you.
During this whole time, remember to stay in contact with loved ones. We are so lucky to have tools like Skype, WhatsApp or Video Messenger that allow us to stay in contact remotely. So stay on the phone for hours, and call friends you haven’t talked to for a while. Staying at home doesn’t mean you cannot socialise or continue relationships and friendships. Write letters or emails to your friends, send each other videos and share your struggles and laughs.
Amidst all this uncertainty, thinking of our furry friends is also important. Because most businesses are closing down, so are shelters. Fostering some cats and dogs might be their only chance at survival. This would also give you a lot to do and would help you cope with these hard times.
We hope that you find your rhythm to cope with everything that is going on. Remember to take care of yourself and of the people around you. The best advice we can give you is to stay at home to stop the spread. Stay at home and take time for yourself!