(Suggested) Do's and Dont's during Quarantine

Okay, let’s be honest here. When we first heard school was closed due to the virus, we were more than elated to get some time off from it. The agony of going to sleep on a Sunday dreading the grueling week of tests, assignments, and critiques to follow has been put to a indefinite stop. But what is the cost? For around two months (as of now) people despite their various races and religions have been following the practice of isolating themselves from the world. Which, is not something that is easy, because humans naturally are social butterflies. That’s why the 40 million teenagers, or so, out of school in America only have one wish, to go back to school. Come to think of it, a mere two months ago, we would have given anything to get a week, or even a day, off of school. Now that we have got it, most of us are becoming mouse potatoes, confined to TV or computer screens for hours and hours. This article is meant to provide some ideas to all of you of how you all can use the time we are getting in quarantine so that we can return to our normal lives, hopefully soon, not as a drooling wide eyed zombie that we are right now, but as more self-aware and enlightened souls.

1. DON’T binge all your favorite shows or have a movie marathon, at least not in one sitting. FIRST of all, that’s really unhealthy for your emotional stability, because the instant gratification and pleasure we get from resolving the cliffhanger from the last episode is debunked by the upsetting and depressing feeling we get after we finish all the seasons of our favorite show, that too, relatively quickly. That’s why watching movies is a lot safer because their duration is relatively shorter than all the seasons of a TV show. Now if you are going to watch your favorite show, watch it with a family member or with a friend (over FaceTime of course) who has more self-control than you, so they can stop before your addiction gets out of hand. SECOND, don’t feel bad if you JUST CAN’T STOP watching. Trust me, even though I am advising all of these tips, I’m definitely no expert. Why do you think television makers have put the cliffhangers of a episode? It is on purpose; to capture the audiences attention and hypnotize them, in a really twisted way, to just press that ‘NEXT’ button. Make it a challenge to limit your screen time, and give yourself a reward or gift if you fulfill that task. (Just make sure the reward is not another episode of the show). The reward can be anything from a snack to a FaceTime with your friends.

Third and finally, if you are like me and your mind refuses to move away from thinking about the cliffhanger at the end of the episode, making it all the more tempting to hit the ‘Next’ button on your remote, distract yourself by learning new skills. Now, I know what you all are thinking, and no, they don’t have to be academic at all, because we are already getting that covered through online school. For example, I am relearning chess, a game I learned quite a long time ago but lost touch on. Have an instrument that you intended to learn but remains untouched and is gathering dust in the garage? You can use GreatCourses Plus to learn something new, which offers detailed courses from piano to photography to creative writing and more . All you have to do sign up for a free trial. Membership for unlocking these courses is extremely affordable as well. Learning something you are interested in is a lot more enjoyable than doing something that you are not motivated to do grudgingly.

2. DON’T use social distancing as an excuse to not exercise. Exercise is important during this testing time as we are gorging on food while we are confined to our homes. Personally, my neighborhood is really quiet and not a lot of people go out, so I usually take a quick walk or jog around the street for half an hour or so. I usually cut across the fields through the grass, as I try to avoid the sidewalk, a path most people walk on. If your community is a lot more active and it is a MAJOR risk to go out, you can try out yoga indoors to relax and give your muscles and bones the stretch they need. 3. DON’T procrastinate on your responsibilities. Lately, everyone has just been really brain-dead and bored, and have been resorting to binging or sleeping all day. If you have online school work, do it as soon as you get it instead of on the day it’s due. That way, your days spent in quarantine are stimulating and not stressful or boring. 4. DON’T waste food. Farmers and grocery stores are working day and night to provide for the betterment of the community, and many of us are privileged enough to be able to have food on our plates everyday. Just think about the poverty-stricken people in developing countries who didn’t have access to safe food even before the virus, much less now. 5. DO start a passion project. If you have something you are interested in, you can create fun-filled projects pertaining to that topic. For example, one of my friends created a Harry Potter-opoly, a board game based off of Monopoly. All you need is cardboard, construction paper, markers, and some creative juices flowing in your brain. Even if you don’t have anyone to play it with, the process of making the board game is all the more enjoyable. If you like sketching you can display your creations by making a page on Instagram. If you love trying out new recipes, you can even start a YouTube channel and post baking videos on there. At this point, everyone needs to take a step back from texting or being online 24/7.

6. DO give back to the community by aiding those in need. A lot of people are in need for masks in hospitals or shelters. You can make cloth masks quite easily. If you don’t have a sewing machine, you can just use rubber bands to configure the masks. These masks will help those in dire need in centers all around the world. 7. And finally, DO continue to sanitize your living space as well your devices, even if you aren’t going out. If you ordered materials online, make sure to follow necessary precautions. The virus can linger on cardboard for 24 hours, so be careful before you use anything you’ve brought from outside.