Self-quarantine. Stay at home. #flattenthecurve
People who can have the OPTION to stay at home are doing so (hopefully), but it doesn’t mean it gets easy, particularly if they are extroverted. Asking an extrovert to stay at home, be alone, and not go out for days is probably as scary as asking an introvert to party all night, for nights on end.
But since introverts do go out and make their existence known in extroverted circles, maybe during such unprecedented times, extroverts can take a few cues from the inside life of introverts, and make the necessary activity of self-quarantine, more bearable.
Being an INTJ and falling into one of the MBTI categories who need a LOT of ‘me-time’, here are a few things I do(have done) that you can do to keep cabin fever at bay:
Netflix & Chill
The obvious one. I could talk about Amazon Prime, Hotstar or more but I stick to Netflix for its quality. From crime documentaries to anime, there’s a good range of genres to explore. Recently, Netflix also added Studio Ghibli movies which are of course GREAT and can be enjoyed alone or with family. If none of these appeals, there shall always be cat videos.
To be done so responsibly, OTT players including Netflix are asked to cease HD content streaming to not burden infra when relaying important updates. Moving on to what else you can do.
Read & Explore
Bring out those books you have been meaning to read for a long time. If you don’t have books, read online. Explore publications on platforms like Medium on desktop or app. Charge your Kindle, and in case you don’t have one, read on the Juggernaut app.
Create or Consume Art
Doodle to exercise your neurons and reap the benefits. You don’t need a sketchbook, any stray paper would do. If you aren’t interested in creating art, you can always consume it.
Hit Instagram with art-related hashtags and discover a whole new side to it. Hashtags like #artistsofinstagram #poetsofinstagram and so on have millions of uploads contributed by artists worldwide.
And there’s always YouTube, brimming with videos on art WIPs, dance, music, DIYs and what not.
Cook or Learn To
How often have you blamed not having time for not eating well? This is the period when you can learn some easy recipes to use in the future when you will have to go to the office again.
A foodie friend started her cooking blog with similar intent. Check out Dancing Chef and make yourself something delicious and healthy.
Exercise or You Get Chonky
Netflix and food can get you chonky. Don’t get chonky. Exercise when you can. Yoga and meditations are known for stress relief and that’s something we all need in these stressful times.
Organize your cupboard and Mails
You can go complete Marie Kondo’s way or just organize enough to find your shirts. Either way the exercise of organizing takes away stress for many.
Also, consider this opportunity to rid yourself of online subscriptions you are not using anymore. Clean up your inbox, empty the trash and delete junk emails.
Play Board Games or Mobile ones
Board games are a great way to spend some family time and also have fun. They distract you and take a good long time to finish.
Remember the clash of clan days? Strategy games take longer to finish and installing a few can help you not get bored.
Learn a new skill
Complete an online course or get a certification. This will always come in handy.
On a personal note, I would like to think that the Coronavirus pandemic has grounded us to realize what really matters – our limited time on earth, resources we share, people we care about, the privileges many do not have.
I hope, and I believe that once this pandemic is under control, the curve is flattened and lowered, we, humanity as a whole would make choices, personally and professionally that makes us a part of the ecology, not above it.
Stay safe!
