Whether we liked it or not, we’ve already spent more than half of the year holed up at home.
For many of us, adjusting to all the free time has been a jarring experience. It’s been a matter of finding new things to do to fill up the gaps in my old schedule and trying to stay occupied.
I’d like to believe I’ve been successful in staying productive during quarantine. Reinvention was the name of the game. I had to reimagine my schedule and reprogram my habits for the months I spent working at home.
After months of practice, I’ve boiled down how I’ve honed my productivity over the quarantine into seven recommendations.
Detoxify Your Mind
The frantic pace of working and commuting has mellowed out thanks to the opportunity of working from home, so when you find everything accomplished for the day, please try some self-care.
By disentangling from work stresses and gadgets, we can find some peace in ourselves. But don’t fall for mindless entertainment if you can help it; meditating, doing art, or getting more sleep are the ways to go.
Know What to Do First Thing in the Morning
Because of the lockdowns, I’ve become more suspicious of free time. On numerous occasions, my mind goes into auto-pilot and it’s too easy to waste the hours away.
Since I started planning out a daily to-do list each morning, the way I’ve viewed every hour has become more clear-cut. To-do lists are concise and goal-oriented, and if you want to increase your mindfulness, bullet journaling is the best format for a to-do list.
Stay Committed to Working Out
I know, working out is tough. But looking fit is attractive, and you want to look fit, don’t you? Exercising at home takes effort; devising your regimen, organizing the time, securing a space and the equipment you need.
The first few times, you’ll be pumped with adrenaline, but if you feel like deteriorating by the second week, keep going. It’ll pass soon. Being strong is overcoming the discomfort, after all.
Take Up and Read
Odds are you won’t want to pass up the golden opportunity to read, undisturbed, and for hours on end, now that we’re in the new normal. There’s an absolute gold mine of good books you can find within seconds, thanks to the Internet.
Did you know reading two or three books makes you more knowledgeable on a topic than 99% of other people? Once you start reading, you’ll have a great habit to last a lifetime.
Invest in Skills You Might Have Missed
We’re currently doing a lot in the digital world due to social distancing. If you want to make the most out of quarantine, consider learning something you want to be good at.
I’ve been aching to find the right opportunity to learn guitar. That’s how I’ve stumbled onto Skillshare and Udemy. There are absolutely great guitar courses on these online learning platforms, and they’ve helped me accomplish my guitar learning goals in such a short time.
If you want to learn important skills like cooking, carpentry, or coding, check out eLearning platforms like Skillshare and Udemy to get some inspiration!
Perfect Your Work Habit
We’re all the captains of our own ships now. Some of us have even become their own bosses. Whatever your work schedule is, it’s crucial to optimize and optimize again.
That means finding the right sleep-wake cycle, deciding when to eat meals and be active, and learning which hours are you most capable of handling work. Everyone does it differently. If you can discover what gets you into your zone, your work performance might as well be unstoppable.
Keep In Touch Through Teleconferencing
Lastly, it’s important for your mental health to stay in contact. A lockdown might mean you can’t see or hang out with the people you love, but settle for the next best things.
Teleconferencing apps like Zoom or Google Meet are just incredibly useful in this age. Make the most out of them. Organize a nice, evening chat, plan a podcast-style meeting with friends, go for an online Dungeons & Dragons session; it’s up to you. Treat yourself to bonding time and help everyone feel like we’re all in this together.
Conclusion
These are only a few productivity tenets that I’ve established while trying to handle this pandemic and the vacuum of unused time it’s left us. By being productive, at least we’re able to rest knowing all this time is being invested in better things. Of course, it’s good to unwind, but keeping yourself busy is one of the tried and tested ways to maintain your composure in this quarantine and turn yourself into a better person than you were when the lockdown started.
Got any productivity tips? Comment below!