Just like me, you may be at the moment home, stuck, hating your life while the darn coronavirus quarantine is in action. And while it may seem like something negative at first glance (to all sane people), I want to challenge you a bit and ask you to think outside of the box.
When else in your life will you have the opportunity to stay home, knowing that everybody else in your city (or even country) is doing exactly the same? That’s right, regardless of how you spend the time, you are allowed to have absolutely zero guilt knowing that you haven’t done $h!t in the last month or two. And that feels wonderful.
But if you are one of those weird people that just can’t sit still and need to keep growing, then I have some good news for you. This coronavirus quarantine can actually be the perfect time of self-discovery, self-reflection and personal growth. In my eyes, this time is a window of opportunity if you do the right things.
Things to do during coronavirus – “COVID-19” Quarantine
1. Obviously books
I am sure that you knew that this activity would be on the list. And why wouldn’t it be? Books are arguably the best way to raise your level of intellect. Not only they teach us plenty of things about life that we would otherwise not bother learning, but they also stimulate our brain, which in turn helps to protect memory and thinking skills.
However, because this blog post is about self-improvement on quarantine, I encourage you to not just read “some” books, magazines or the news, like many of us prefer to do. Instead, read something practical that you can apply in your life once the quarantine is over. It may be related to relationship advice, business, motivation, NLP, psychology, education, etc. Whatever that can help you become better in life, read on it. Here is one of my blog posts in which I share some of those must-read books:
Recommended: 50+ Best Self-Help Books That Will Change Your Life Forever
2. Working out
Having been on a coronavirus quarantine already for almost 3 weeks, I have noticed some pretty ugly changes in my body.
Usually, I try to spend at the gym at least 6 days a week. Working out is just something I like to do. So as you can guess, I have some muscle mass.
But now that I have been on quarantine AND I have been sick, I haven’t been doing much moving around, other than from my bed, through the kitchen, to the toilet and back. In other words, I got FAT… and I have begun losing muscles that I have worked for so hard 😭.
Anyway, where was I? My point is that if you do what most people will.. specifically nothing physical at all… you will become a wreck. You need to create a daily exercise scheme for yourself in order to keep yourself healthy and at balance. You can’t just eat and not move. You will inevitably become fat, unless you really control what you eat and how much of it you eat. So once again – EXERCISE!
3. Business ideas
If you have ever thought to yourself that maybe one day you’d like to start your own business, this is the perfect time to take it seriously.
Use this time to brainstorm. Think of what you want to do, what you can do and what you are willing to do for your own business. Look at the costs of the business, the benefits, the risks and the dangers. Make sure that by the end of this quarantine you know absolutely everything that there is to know about your future business… the theory, of course.
4. Learn a new language
I am sure that I don’t need to explain why this coronavirus quarantine is the perfect time for learning a new language.
- Nobody is rushing you
- You can focus 100% on it
And yes, learning a new language is a highly intellectual activity that can one day save your life when you are stuck in some God-forsaken place and are not able to buy french fries in English. The more languages you know, the better off you are.
5. Networking
The coronavirus quarantine seems like an eternity, but trust me, it will end one day, and you should be prepared for that day.
So what do I mean? Well, you probably have plenty of plans already made. Maybe you will travel, maybe you will find a new job, a new business, a hobby, etc. Whatever it will be, you will want to have new connections, even if it’s just for the sake of finding like-minded people.
Use this time for networking. Once you have some specific topic in mind, such as your new business idea, use Facebook groups, blogs and other websites, such as Reddit and Quora to find people that are also into that same idea. Who knows, maybe you will find your future business partner that way.
6. Stretch
Personally, I have no problems with being flexible; I have done Yoga, Muay Thai and I stretch at the gym. But most of my friends can hardly reach the floor with the tips of their fingers while standing bent down.
You may think, who cares about stretching and why is it even on the list? Well, my friend, stretching has many benefits, some of which are:
- improvement in posture
- increased blood flow to muscles
- stress-relief
- back-pain relief
- improvement in performance during physical activities
These are just a few. If you ask me, I pick flexibility over stiffness every day.
7. Freelancing
Now that you are stuck at home, why not make some extra money on the side? Why just waste all of this precious time?
I am sure you have at least one skill that someone else needs during this uneasy time. Offer this skill in exchange for money as a freelancer. It’s totally doable. Use websites such as Upwork and Freelancer to find customers. Alternatively, Facebook has plenty of groups dedicated to freelance jobs.
8. Meditation
I am a big advocate for meditation. In my book, meditation is just as important as exercise or a balanced diet.
An eight-week mindfulness meditation program can, as Harvard Gazette puts it: “make changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy, and stress”.
Recommended read: Why Meditation Is So Life Changing: 6 Reasons to Meditate Every Day
I’ve been practicing Mindfulness meditation with the Waking Up app, and I must say, it has the best guided meditations that I have ever gone through. This is not a paid advertisement. I genuinely love this app and wanted to spread the word.
9. Podcasts
I love podcasts. I love the fact that today you can find a podcast pretty much around any niche.
I, for example, am into online marketing and blogging, and I have found plenty of podcasts around these subjects. I find podcasts to be a great source of up to date, practical information.
So while you have so much extra time on your hands, find a number of podcasts and start binge listening to them. Podcasts to me are the number 2 source of quality information after books.
Recommended: How to Make Money with a Blog for Beginners (+ FREE Guide to Grow Traffic!)
10. Talk to old friends
Talking to old forgotten friends may not seem like the most self-improving thing in the world, but I disagree.
I do understand that sometimes family members and certain friends need to be left behind because your relationship with them is harmful to you. But there are also those instances when people are left behind simply because you get busy, they get busy and life goes on.
Think of those people you genuinely miss and have wanted to communicate with for a long time but haven’t been able to contact due to the lack of time. Well, now is the time. Not only they will appreciate it, but you will also find harmony in doing this, which is definitely a piece of the self-improvement pie.
11. Diet
Speaking about pie… how’s your diet going? If health is your thing, skip ahead, but if it’s not, I encourage you to use the quarantine to fix it. There are no fast food places around and no one at work pushing you to eat out for lunch. You have full control now.
Keep in mind that if you don’t focus on what you eat and how much you eat, and you are already overweight, this quarantine can do you even more damage since you are sitting in and still all the time. So please, please, please, watch your diet, and, if possible, make it as healthy as you can.
12. Udemy
Now that you are rotting at home.. he-he, just kidding.. why not use the time to learn something totally new? You can watch YouTube videos for this or read books, but one of my favorite online sources for new information is Udemy. It’s not a paid advertisement, but I honestly have gone through so many courses there that I have to include it here as well.
Udemy is great because it’s world-famous, meaning that you can find a course pretty much around any topic, but also because the courses are dirt cheap.. I mean cheap enough for EVERYONE to afford it. Don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself.
13. Prepare for non-quarantine
In tip #3, I mentioned that if you are thinking of starting a business as soon as the coronavirus quarantine ends, you should be using this time to research the business idea as much as you can. Well, you can apply this principle to other things as well.
You know that the quarantine will end sooner or later. You also know that as soon as it ends, you may have your studies, work or business waiting for you. Or maybe, you have something completely new that you want to get yourself into.
What I am trying to say is that you should be using this time to prepare yourself for life again. Whatever you didn’t finish before the quarantine started or need to get back to as soon as it ends, you can already start doing now. No reason to be lazy, waiting for the quarantine to end to start preparing for exams, when you can already start doing it now. I hope you get the point.
14. Learn to play an instrument
This one may be not for you if you don’t have instruments lying around. But if you, your roommate, wife or husband have some instrument in the house that you don’t know how to play yet, then, by all means, learn it now!
When I studied at a university and lived in a campus, believe it or not, I had some spare time. So I asked one of my neighbors to borrow me his guitar so that I could learn to play it. I never mastered it, but I tried, and I enjoyed it. Give it a go.
15. Get rid of bad habits
Acquiring a new skill or habit during the coronavirus quarantine is an awesome idea, but using this time to get rid of the old unwanted ones can be just as good, if not better.
Whether you drink too much alcohol, smoke cigarettes, curse, bite your nails or anything else that isn’t doing you anything good, this is the perfect time to let it go. Focus on the things that will make you better, while leaving everything that is taking you down behind. Look at this period of the coronavirus quarantine as something that was given to you as a gift. You don’t want to ruin this gift, do you?
Click To TweetA bad habit never disappears miraculously, it’s an undo-it-yourself project. – Abigail Van Buren
Embrace and enjoy this time while creating the best version of yourself. By the time this hell is over, you will already be on top of your game, full of motivation and willingness to take massive action and to continue changing your life for the better. By then, you will have learned so much, dropped bad habits and acquired new good ones, such as meditating, reading a lot and eating healthy. You may even have a business plan ready to be put into action. Doesn’t all of this just sound extremely exciting? I know it does to me!
I truly hope you found these 15 self-improving tips useful. Remember, the goal is not to hate this time, but to see it as a gift, to embrace and to use it to your advantage. While a neighbor of yours may be drinking day and night and acting like a lazy slob, you are paving the road to your future success, and that’s definitely something to look forward to. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
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