3 Must Do's To Stay Productive During Quarantine

Who thought that 2020 would be such a disaster? But here we are.

By now, I’m pretty sure that most of us have already lost count of the days since we’ve been self-quarantined. Our sleeping schedule, eating habits, and overall life in general right now is a mess. The only thing that we profess is, “I’m so bored.” Right?

But, have you ever wondered to yourself:

Every day we wake up to news about the death toll rising due to COVID-19. People are dying, starving, and families are being apart. There are people working in the frontline, people working for the citizens and the country to make the situation better. How desperate they must be and how they wish if they could stay home, protecting their own life like all of us.

Amidst this chaos, the fact that I’m writing this, and the fact that you are reading it actually means that we are extremely blessed to even just breathe and stay alive. We are locked inside our house (hopefully with family), we have food to eat, access to the internet and technology yet, we are bored? Why aren’t we utilizing this precious time to create a meaningful life?

Is it to look back at this day 10 years later and feel immense guilt of wasting this valuable time and opportunity to work on self?

Uh-huh.

Instead here are the three simple steps to continue being productive while quarantined. Following these steps, every day will eventually help you overcome your boredom and make you a productive person for the rest of your life. It helped me, I’m sure you will be benefitted too.  

1. Start your day wisely

“24 hours in a day.” We often fail to realize this but let me just say it.

How we start the first few hours of our morning directs the fruitfulness of the entire day. Hence:

"The goal is to win the first hour of the day. "

Especially in times like this, I would suggest, never use your phone and laptop as soon as you wake up, until really necessary. Why?

You wake up from a beautiful goodnight sleep and start using your phone and boom, there’s a bunch of notifications.

 “This many people died, many more affected, accidents, starvation and what not”.

It’s utterly heartbreaking but its effect on your mentality and your day is profound. You can deny it, but your subconscious mind grabs this content and makes you anxious and frustrated throughout the day. It doesn’t necessarily have to be news related to the pandemic, but any other negative content will have a similar impact. Instead, as soon as you wake up, go to your window, terrace, or balcony anywhere that you feel comfortable. Feel the sun and the wind in your body and do some stretching. Take a moment to appreciate nature, the environment, and your existence. Take a vow to make the most out of your valuable life and start the day. This is the purest form of positivity that you can consume at the beginning of the day when your mind is fresh. 

I would term this as “Nature and Natural Healing.”

Might sound cliché but try it and you will feel the difference.

2. Set Goals and write Journals

The most worthful investment that you can make at this time, is to buy a diary. Use the diary to write 

"Goal-setting Journals."

This means:

Set goals for yourself and journal your progress and learning every day.  You know, whenever a deadline approaches, you work hard to achieve whatever it is, assignment, work, anything to not exceed the deadline. It’s the same. Set yourself a weekly, monthly, yearly professional, and personal goals. When you tie yourself with a deadline then you will work on it and when you start working then you’ll unquestionably be productive. The goals can be anything but make sure it’s of your interest. In present, we are influenced by the accomplishment of others and try to copy them just for the sake of doing it. We call it a TREND. But, I repeat, never do something until it really excites you. Use your skills, technology, and the platform to inspire and influence yourself and others. Since you are journaling, do a review every week or month, and see if you could achieve your goal, if not what went wrong? Make plans again.

This way, slowly but surely, you will succeed.

3. Expand your Knowledge

The depth of your mind is limitless. 

"Declutter the negative and harmful contents from your mind and instead fill it up with knowledge and wisdom."

Besides your professional and personal goals, use some time to increase and expand your knowledge. Try to create a hobby, and do things that might benefit you in the long-term. For instance, learning new cultures and languages never hurts. I am a big K-pop fan and while I used to watch Korean music and videos every day, I realized that I was actually drawn to Korean culture. I wanted to learn the Korean language and guess what? I found a fun way to do it. I started watching Korean dramas with subtitles. What a great pass time along with learning. You can do the same. Soon, after you think you have a grasp of basics, then use learning apps like Duolingo and Busuu. Besides this, also take this time to improve in the area that you lack or the area that you want to expand. I suggest you use platforms like Khan Academy.  

Whatever it is, just experiment and use your day wisely. You never know, you might find something that might excite you. Art and Painting, cooking, writing, reading, it can be anything. As long as it excites you, just remember that you are being productive.

With this, experiment, take care and stay safe.

XO

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