First of all, don’t get ill. Don’t get infected, it’s lame. Let me tell you how: you lose sense of smell and taste completely. One might as well eat dirt. Our bodies (and souls) need movement, fresh air. Only once you suddenly can’t go outside and run, do you see how much you need it. I will never take my sense of smell, sense of taste and freedom in fresh air for granted again.
But… when being one of the »lucky« ones: infected, but not strongly affected by the virus, what can one do not to go insane being locked in for two weeks besides working from home?
First, the moment you suspect there’s a chance you might be infected, put everything in order. Stock up. If you have a pet, put it into someone else’s care for the time. If you live with other people, isolate yourself as much as possible. It helps if you have separate bathrooms. Don’t use any common areas. Unless you’re all infected, in that case you’re all done anyway. In my case we were both infected at the same time, which made things easier, as horrible as that sounds. A mitigating circumstance we called it.
What to do now. If you’re feeling not so ill that the only thing you can do is lie in bed, if you can move around somewhat unaffected, than the most important thing is to keep yourself sane. Do all the things you didn’t have time for in your usual daily life. Basically it’s a perfect time to do a reality check of where you are in life and set it for the future. Here are some ideas and most of what I did:
1. Improve your home. Clean up every corner, down to the last dust particle.
Note: if you’ll be throwing any larger items away, keep them in a dry space in room away from you so that the pathogens get removed before you remove the item from your home.
2. Fold your clothes, put them where they belong. Do any of them need more care, to be sown or decorated? Guess what? Now’s the time.
3. Go through your kitchen counters and drawers, put everything out and off the shelves, clean them inside and out, then go through all the items and and remove those you don’t and won’t ever need.
Note: if you do this – once you’re healthy and non-infectious, make sure to clean all the items again. In case you have guests significant(!) time later, that there aren’t any pathogens present on the items.
4. Put your photos in order, transfer them from your phones and cameras, save them and make backups.
5. Are there any books you own but haven’t managed to read yet? You can now also read any books you wanted to read again but somehow didn’t find the time.
6. Own any musical instruments? Time to pull out those note sheets and warm up your fingers!
7. Do you like to draw/create/DIY, have a pile of ideas about what to create just waiting to be released? Get those pencils and tools out and draw, paint, create.
8. Any podcasts you wanted to listen to but couldn’t find the time? You know now. Same goes for films and series.
9. Wanted to change your diet, but »couldn’t find the time«? Only eat fruit through the entire time of being locked in and/or even go on a post for a day or two. You’ll surprise yourself and others once you come out of that locked door of yours when it’s all gone by. Not to mention this will help you get healthy faster and strengthen your immune system for any future pathogen encouters. You might just change your life with this, find a new, better, sweeter path to life. Just make sure you have someone who will be able to deliver you enough fruits once a week.
10. Meditate
11. Exercise (if you’re feeling well enough to do so, don’t exaggerate)
12. Do yoga
13. Set your life’s goals, reality check them and set a path to achieve them, not an exact one, just see way on how you’ll get there.
14. Make your travel bucket list, make it real, achieavable goals first.
15. Keep a journal or a blog? Write. About your personal experience if nothing else. What do you think I’m doing at the moment?
16. Take an online class.
17. And one more thing – what not to do: do not shop online, unless it’s for something you actually need. Do not even spend any time “window shopping” online, just checking online stores. It’s a waste of time. Rather spend time researching about investments. Invest your money instead.
There are so many activites listed here you’ll hardly have enough time to do half of them in those 10 days.
No excuses, get going, start setting your life now.
You’re very welcome to share any ideas and activities.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you purchase a product through these links. Don’t worry – the price is still the same for you. Visit my disclosure page for more information.