22 Really (Really) Easy Ways To A Splendid Quarantine

This might come as brand.new.information, but this Coronavirus crisis really sucks.

For the big things: job uncertainty, recession, inability to see loved ones, the collapse of long and short term plans.

For the small things: boredom, reduced fun, inability to get good sushi. We hear you. It all blows.

However, as the saying goes… you should never waste a good crisis! Here are 22 really, TRULY, easy prompts to having a good day that don’t require you joining a three-week advanced Yogalates course on IG #BabySteps

1. Wake up at a non-embarrassing hour. If you can hear echos of your mother scoffing in your head, you’re an hour late. Pro tip: waking up early might even make you feel a little more accomplished and empowered.
2. Clean yourself. Go the whole way, shower, hair, teeth. Heck, throw some flossing in there.
3. Wear some fresh clothes. Gently step out of your pyjamas, away from your month-old sweat pants, and into something new. You didn’t spend half your salary on asos.com just to let it mould in your closet, right?
4. Eat like your health depends on it. Spoiler: quarantine life is NOT airport life. Beers at 11 am? Frowned upon. Pizza every single day? Delicious, but put it down.
5. Do you have a body? Excellent. Move it. Exercise. You don’t need to be good at it. You don’t even need to be average. You just have to leave your couch and move the parts of your body that move. Pro tip: studies have shown that recording your workout on Instagram helps with calorie burn and better circulation
6. Take a walk. Use your one hour of fresh air a day and get that Vitamin D & Endorphin cocktail your body craves. Keep away from fellow humans. Don’t be coughing on anyone. Just go on your walk and mind your business.
7. Drink your water. Did you drink your water today? Oh yeah? Was it enough for you to get up and pee at least eight times? Shame on you. Drink your water. Pro tip: contrary to popular belief, beer is NOT water.
8. Make your work space a WORK space. What, you don’t have a dedicated study wing in your mansion? Tragic. You still can’t work from bed though. Get up. Find a hard surface. Pimp it out with your computer, mouse, favourite mug and dying plant. Feels just like work ay?
9. Say yes to that Zoom quiz. Is it your 74th this week? Cool. Do one more. Your friends need you. You need them. The capital of Australia is not Sydney.
10. Call your family. They will have absolutely no updates from the last time you called, nor will you, but they did have a few meals in between, so you can talk about those.
11. Organise. If you own things, anything, anything at all, this could be the time you use to organise and declutter. Some ideas include: throwing away spices you’ve had since 2004, clearing out shoes from under the bed, putting away winter clothes, organising books in alphabetical order, repotting plants.
12. Upskill yourself. OK, you don’t need to learn coding or neuroscience (although you can on Udemy and Coursera), but you could learn something easier, like how to make pasta from scratch or how to become a sudoku whiz.
13. Create something from scratch. Does it have to be good? No. But it does have to entertain you. Pro tips: go hard on the time consuming stuff. Think puzzles, pork dumplings, squirrel playgrounds, colour-in books, gnocchi. Write a short story from scratch. Make a patchwork quilt. Create a quiz on Kahoots!.
14. Maintain your appearance. Home alone? Cool. You still have mirrors, and to quote MJ: I‘m starting with the man in the mirror. It might seem time-consuming, but do it for yourself (even if you have a partner) Colour your roots, trim your tash, paint your nails, take care of your bikini line. It’s a quarantine, not jail.
15. Discover. It could be something new on Netflix (have you heard of a certain Tiger King?), a new Pinterest page for vegetarian meals, a new album on Spotify, a ‘little known facts’ site. Will it benefit you in the future? Meh, probably not. But you could become a pub-quiz-whiz!
16. Disappear. If you live with people, take some proper time for yourself. People can suck it for a bit. Pro tips: go sit in your car and listen to a podcast. Do your exercises alone. Go do your weekly shopping solo. Sit on the loo and lock the door for an hour.
17. Help out. Entertain your friends on your InstaStories, volunteer for your borough, bake something for the NHS, train someone on something your know how to do. Make yourself useful.
18. Keep a schedule. Unless all your time-keeping devices have caught the Rona, lunchtime is AT lunchtime.
19. Talk your shitty thoughts out. Feeling anxious and lost? Feeling depressed? Talk it out. Text a friend, a relative, a charity service. Ask for help. These are crazy times, it’s OK now (and ALWAYS) to ask for help.
20. Get into reading. Want to never feel alone again? Learn to enjoy reading. Start with some page turners from Ken Follet or Michael Connelly. Upgrade to classics from Joyce Carol Oates or John Steinbeck. Change it up with biographies or history books. The choices are literally endless.
21. Go to bed at BED time. Look outside. Is it dark? Do you see stars sparkling in the sky? Oh good! Then it’s time to tuck in. Turn your laptop off. Listen to that good ASMR video. Take your CBD. You can do more stuff tomorrow.
22. Smile first thing in the morning. The simple act of smiling triggers your brain to associate the movement with the feeling of happiness, so even if you don’t feel it, your brain thinks you do. Try it, it’s free!

Stay safe everyone. This too shall pass (soon!)