I finally understand why Rapunzel wanted freedom from her tower.
It has been nearly a month since the entire world has begun to take the global pandemic of COVID19 seriously and it's been a single week since I've been confined in my room.
I went from social distancing to isolation and the difference is staggering.
My Social Distancing Adventure
Initially as of March 15, I started working from home. This meant that I went from working in the city all throughout February to returning to a work from home environment. This is why, unlike most, it wasn't a difficult transition and I was fine.
On the eve of my significant other's birthday, I lost my sense of smell and my sense of taste. When we sang happy birthday at midnight on March 22nd, I didn't enjoy the champagne that I purchased for the occasion nor could I enjoy any of the sweets available.
The following days played out normally.
I worked from 9 to 6 from the comfort of my home, sometimes working from my home office, other times I worked from the kitchen table. Being an ambivert means that I didn't mind the isolation from the rest of the world, and thankfully the interaction with my family was enough to keep me sane.
It was then 10 days later that I decided to contact a healthcare professional to ask about losing 2 of my 5 senses. I wasn't experiencing any fevers, but I did feel some tightness on my chest and I desperately wanted to savor the taste of coffee.
My Transition from Social Distancing to Isolation
It was then I was recommended to stay in my room and distance myself from the members of my household. This was because while my symptoms were very mild, there was a high chance I was carrying the virus that memes were joking about. Due to a lack of appointments, we couldn't put this to the test, but I was told to be better 'safe than sorry' since I have an at-risk person in my household, my grandmother.
When I was practicing social distancing, I was able to still walk around my home. Sure, I was cautious about washing my hands repeatedly, but I could still raid the fridge or go into the living room to chat with my family. Now I was restricted to just my room and occasionally, the bathroom.
I found that I’m okay staying at home, but I don't like staying just in my room.
How I've been coping
I am grateful that my symptoms if I have the virus, are mild. I'm able to function as normally as someone could being locked in my bedroom. My gratitude has been what has kept my spirits up since after all, my situation could be worse. I'm grateful that I feel okay, and I'm even more grateful that my grandma and my dad are fine.
Technology also has been a saving grace to help me cope with my situation.
Besides the normal technology that I'm blessed to have during this situation (such as electricity, heating, etc.), there have been other bits of technology that are less essential for living that has helped me keep my sanity.
Zoom
I've been on various Zoom video calls with my friends and my co-workers throughout these days.
Zoom has done an amazing job providing free video conferencing services for my friends and me to connect (normally Zoom offers 30-minute sessions in their free plans). Zoom also has been able to provide some laughs with their virtual backgrounds. The amount of memes used as backgrounds has been astronomical and I've put myself in my friend's room by taking a screenshot of her room and using it as my own background. Francesco from Keep Productive has even shared his own Virtual Background prank on his channel to help spread the laughter.
Netflix Party
Since writing this, I've been apart of a few "Netflix Parties". My boyfriend and I enjoyed watching Jo Jo together prior to isolating myself, and now we can continue to do so through the app. My friends and I have also been able to enjoy flicks such as "I Lost My Body" and "Letter for the King" together.
Don't Starve Together
A few of my friends and I have gotten together to also play the game, "Don't Starve Together" on Steam. It's a fun survival game that we used to play a year ago and have gotten back into due to being stuck at home. We use Steam in combination with Discord (a chatting app) so we can talk while we play.
Animal Crossing
I also have been solo-playing Nintendo's latest game "Animal Crossing New Horizons". It's a relaxing game that is real-time (meaning if it's 5 PM for you, it's 5 PM for the game). While I've been mostly playing this on my own, I'm in a FaceBook chat called "Virus-Free Vacation" that has made the experience a social one since we've been able to chat about it and share our experiences.
My Animal Crossing Passport
My Animal Crossing Residents
FaceTime
Lastly, FaceTime has been helpful to keep in touch with my dad. I haven't seen him since March 3rd and I plan to keep it that way until this crisis is over. We've been FaceTiming every couple of days so we can still 'see' each other without putting him at risk.
What I've been doing during Isolation
While I've been doing all of the above during my isolation period, I've also been doing several other activities to keep myself 'sane' and occupied during this time. The worst thing to do is nothing, for that's when the worries and panic sets in.
Here are some other things I've been doing and hopefully it'll give you some ideas of things to do:
Journaling
Every evening I have been journaling. These entries haven't been long, but I answer a series of questions.
I've answered these questions on my Notion account and I have a template that makes this process easy to do every evening. If I have more to say, I can always continue writing afterward, but for now answering these questions helps me reflect on each day.
Online Education
Several organizations and individuals have either generated online courses or have shared their courses for free. There are also free trial subscriptions to services like Master Class and Skillshare for people to go through.
Personally I've done a mixture of online courses and YouTube binging as of late.
Ahref's Academy: Blogging for Business was an interesting course about SEO and as the title suggests, blogging for business. They focus not on page views, but on getting the right people to land on your website to convert (aka, buy your products).
Do You Even Blog: Crush Your Content was a short and sweet course. It's hosted by Pete McPherson and this free course had several golden nuggets and useful info to get more done when trying to blog. One of my favorite tips was to "use asdf as a placeholder while writing" which is really useful since you can find and replace later to fill in those bits.
DonkEcom: DonkEcom created an online course on creating your own Shopify shop. It's really in-depth, comes with a ton of lessons and videos to watch. While I've only mildly dabbled with RedBubble, he really goes into detail about the world of Shopify and the importance of treating it like any other business and not a "get rich scheme".
Khe Hy: How to use GTD in Notion was an insightful YouTube video that covers how Khe Hy uses concepts from GTD (which I’ve done a review on) in his Notion account. I enjoyed how he went around doing 'Projects' and probably will take a second look at that video to implement some ideas into my own Notion setup.
Exercise with Ring Fit Adventure
Even before being fully quarantined in my room, I was "playing" Ring Fit Adventure on my Nintendo Switch. Ring Fit is an amazing game that has you combat your enemies and overcome obstacles by doing various exercises. It's a mixture of fun and fitness and I'm all for it.
I've done so many squats and yoga poses in the 40+ days of playing Ring Fit than I probably have in the entirety of 2019!
I've kept my streak with Ring Fit Adventure and the best part about this game is that it's still getting updates. It even added in a rhythm-based mini-game to encourage more exercising under the guise of a playful game.
Unfortunately, unless you have the game, you won't be able to get it at a reasonable price since everyone is realizing that they need something fun to keep them active while they are stuck at home.
Cleaning
Lastly, since I've been confined to my room, I've been spending time to clean it. For the first few weeks when I was just social distancing I didn't fuss about cleaning it so much, but now that I'm stuck in here, I can't help but try to tidy it.
I have a whiteboard-like calendar on my bedroom dresser that I updated with April's dates and I looked through my wooden filing cabinet and sorted through all the old paperwork that I've been procrastinating on.
While my room is nowhere close to being as organized and clean as I'd want it, it's significantly better now than it was in mid-March.
How are you doing during this Crisis?
Are you stuck at home? Are you stuck in a single room? Are you on the frontlines? I'd love to know what your experience is like and what you have been doing to cope with everything.
This crisis has been a blessing disguised as a curse, or it's a curse disguised as a blessing.
On one hand, most of us have spent more time at home than ever before. On the other hand, even though we have been home, it's a forced stay in unfortunate circumstances. While some of us have been able to use this time to be organized and get things done, others have been too stressed, too scared, and too overwhelmed to even make a single small step towards progress.
Some of the advancements that I shared above are things I'm doing, but this is new.
In the first few weeks of this crisis, I spent a lot more time sleeping and stressing than anything else. I'm just now starting to get my bearings and it's a struggle because I'm stuck in my room.
Either way, I'd love to know your experience and thoughts.