Quarantining? What to do with all that time!

Alexis Rae Baker

Dear Lexis,

I’ve been told I need to quarantine for two weeks, but it’s not even Day One yet and I’m already going stir crazy. Do you have any suggestions about what I should do with my time?

Thanks,

          ~ Anxious

Dear Anxious,

I understand your struggle; it’s not easy to shift your life so dramatically, so quickly. As humans, we have our patterns of behavior and when those patterns are interrupted we often feel disoriented. We can usually get away with it when we take a vacation because we have a chance to prep beforehand, but in the event of a sudden change, it’s easy to feel off balance.

If the lack of work is causing specific anxiety (worry about money, lack of social interaction) I would recommend trying to compensate for the loss (looking into freelance work, having online communications with friends and family you haven’t talked with recently).  But if the anxiety you feel is more of general confusion, I have three suggestions that should be able to help ground you.

1. Set up a meditation practice

It truly is amazing how much meditation can change your life and it is excellent at bringing things back into balance. As your life has recently been thrown out of balance, it makes great sense to start a meditative practice now.

If you’re really struggling to fill your free time, this can help, and if you find that you hate it, you still haven’t lost anything in the attempt. At worst, you find yourself 15 minutes later, feeling just as anxious and lost as before, but you also could wind up with some awesome ideas about how you can improve your life and with motivation to get started.

2. Start a creative hobby

If you know how to draw, paint, work on cars, or do just about anything else, now is the time to take on a new project. Ideally, you won’t take on a project that you can’t complete within the time frame of your quarantine but ultimately that is your choice to make.

It’s a lot of fun to pick up an old hobby that you haven’t done in a while and you may discover a long-forgotten passion that inspires you more than you thought possible. Jewelry making falls into this category for me, it’s not something I do very often at this point but I find that I always enjoy it when I take the time to try creating something new.

We all have some hobby or skill that we don’t utilize very often but, since you have some free time, now is your chance to rediscover a long-forgotten love.

3. Learn something new

It’s always interesting to me to learn something new and over the years I’ve accumulated quite a list of Udemy courses that I hope to one day complete. It’s amazing just how much there is to learn and just how many courses there are to choose from.

One of the subjects I’ve been studying on and off is computer programming and, while I doubt I’m prepared to go to work in the field, I have managed to program a couple of video games. It may not seem like much, but even these kinds of unanticipated accomplishments can make you feel satisfied and happy with life.

So, if you’ve got some time, take this opportunity to learn something new. You may be surprised to discover a new talent or interest that can propel you forward, or possibly even help you at work once your return. You may even discover a potential stream of income.

I know it can be hard to restructure your life after a shocking shift, like quarantine, but with these suggestions, you can at least come out of the weirdness a little bit better off than you were before. Life has a tendency to throw curve balls every now and then, but when you have the tools to handle it, you can take these surprises in stride. And when you can respond effectively to a sudden change, that brings its own kind of satisfaction because you know that, no matter what, you are going to be okay.

And, remember, it's only two weeks. 

Best of luck,

          ~ Lexis

Alexis Baker writes from her home in Olympia.  Write to her at Lexis@theJOLTnews.com