How To Stay Sane During the Quarantine
Most of the world is several weeks deep into some level of quarantine. We’ve just experienced our first major holiday under the social distancing guidelines. Frankly guys, things just keep getting weirder. As someone who leaves his hidden mountain compound as little as possible I thought that I would be fine during something like this. I was wrong, though. If I’m feeling the cabin fever I’m sure a lot of you guys are too. We’re in this together so I’ll share some of my favorite things to do to stay sane during the quarantine.
Stop Reading the News
Seriously, guys. If you’re constantly monitoring the news, you’re going to lose your mind. The twenty-four hour news cycle is maddening without a global pandemic to add to it. Keep an eye out for important updates in your area, stay as informed as you need to be on the big picture, and leave it at that. You already know what’s happening; you don’t need an endless cycle of talking heads to drive the point home for you. Staying informed but not obsessing about every scrap of information is one way to stay sane during the quarantine.
Here’s a bonus suggestion: stay away from Facebook. That site is full of stupidity, fear mongering, and disinformation. You should be avoiding this digital cesspool at all costs.
Establish a Routine
The first thing to go during social distancing is your routine. Everything pretty much grinds to a halt and days seem to cease to have meaning. This really helps the cabin fever set in and that leads to boredom and making shitty decisions like starting a TikTok or something equally as bad.
A good way to keep those days separated is to establish a routine. Start by figuring out your daily schedule. Plot out your meal times, time to get up and do something productive, and some down time. Work in whatever you can to fight off the temptation to settle into a rut. Then expand and plot out your week. For instance trash goes out on Wednesday, laundry on Friday, and Mondays are for cleaning guns and preparing for the eventual fall of society. It’s going to take a little extra discipline but it will help keep your mind sharp.
Learn to Cook
I am surprised by the number of grown ass adults who are completely lost when it comes to making a meal. Now is a good time to learn your way around the kitchen. If you’re already an alright cook, spend some time upping your game.
There’s several reasons to strengthen your culinary skills right now. Delivery and takeout get expensive fast, especially if you’re not just ordering for yourself. Also, because of the overwhelming amount of people panic-buying everything, the grocery selection is unpredictable. Most importantly, eating the same things over and over is going to make this whole thing feel more like Groundhog Day than it already does.
You can look up recipes for the items you’re able to find or just go in there and improvise. The better you eat, the better you’re going to feel; variety of any kind will go a long way in keeping you sane during the quarantine.
Work Out
I think it’s a safe bet that over half of us own some kind of exercise equipment. Most of which has gained a healthy layer of dust since about mid-January. I’m not judging here, just speaking from experience. If you’ve got a bunch of extra time on your hands now, you might as well use some of it to pick up on that New Year’s resolution you forgot about before St. Paddy’s Day. Again, speaking from experience.
Don’t have any equipment? No worries! There are thousands of at-home workouts you can find online. If you really want to get some lifting done but don’t have any weigths, a gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds. You can get a pretty decent upper body workout with a bucket of water and a little ingenuity.
Sure, coming out of all this shit looking and feeling better is a big plus. There are more reasons to hit that home gym, though. For one, there are studies that show that exercise helps boost your immune system. You’re also going to feel better physically and mentally. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing pushups in the den or lifting in the garage, sweating out some of this cabin fever will be a nice change of pace.
Reconnect
As adults it’s easy to lose touch with friends or family. The world is usually moving at lightning speed and some things and people tend to fall by the wayside. For most of us, the world has slowed to a crawl. Now is a good time to reconnect with some old friends or family you haven’t talked to in a while. Positive human interaction, even from a distance, will help keep you sane during the quarantine.
Notice I said positive interaction. I’m not saying hit up your ex or your bitchy cousin who called the cops on you for hunting mushrooms in her pasture. Don’t do that, the goal here is not to lose your mind during all this.
While you’re at it, focus on some real, meaningful human connection. Sure, sending texts throughout the day is nice, but it just isn’t the same. Make a phone call or two; you’d be surprised how nice it is to just sit and have a distraction-free conversation with another human being. Hearing someone else’s voice and being able to share a moment in real time with them is good for your brain.
While you’re at it, sit down and write some letters. If you’re younger or have never been held captive by a tyrannical government regime, there’s a good chance you’ve never engaged in actual correspondence. It is hard to overstate the feeling of sending and receiving hand-written letters and cards.
Expand Your Horizons
Have you binge watched all your favorite shows and burned through your favorite films already? Have you been driving your family crazy with the same ten stoner rock albums on repeat? Well, it might be time to broaden your horizons. The possibilities are pretty much limitless.
I suggest starting with some of the stuff your friends have suggested to you. Chances are, people have suggested that you check out about a million movies, albums, and podcasts. Dig into it! Worst case scenario, you waste a couple hours. At least it won’t be the same old shit over and over.
Personally, I’ve been mixing a little indie rock into my usual musical rotation. I’ve also been going back and checking out old Universal horror films and some foreign stuff that I had overlooked. As much as I enjoy horror flicks and doom metal, I need a little bit of a change to stay sane during the quarantine.
Sobriety is Overrated
There’s a reason liquor stores and dispensaries are considered essential retail right now. I’m not saying that you should just crawl into a bottle or try to keep up with Willie Nelson or anything. All I’m saying is that sometimes it’s nice to have a little help relaxing at the end of the day or the middle of the day. Just whenever you decide to partake is fine.
I highly recommend day drinking at least once a week. Eat a decent meal, have your morning coffee, and pour yourself a good strong drink. You’ll be surprised how much better you’ll feel when you’re drunk by 3 pm on a week day.
While we’re on the topic, pot has the potential to make just about anything better. Whether you’re smoking before a workout or scheduling a daily smoke session, a little herbal pick me up is a great accompaniment to just about anything on this list.
Whether you’re trying to deaden the existential dread of the pandemic or make your day more interesting, doing away with your sobriety isn’t a terrible idea.
Fuck Like the Survival of the Population Depends on It
Sex is good, good for you, and if you know what you’re doing it’s the best possible way to kill an hour or two. If you’re quarantined with your significant other or some other consenting adult, I recommend getting down as often as possible. I know it sounds good in theory. I also know that stress is the great boner killer. Stress releases chemicals in the brain that dampen the libido so you’re both going to have to work around that.
Sure, you might have to put in some extra effort but both of you need the release, guaranteed. Do whatever you’ve gotta do to set the mood. Take your time with it. Hell, we’ve all got time to spare. Once you’ve got the mood set, lay it down like you’ve got something to prove. Rinse and repeat as often as possible. All the feel good chemicals that sex releases in your brain are going to go a long way to keep you sane during quarantine.
If you’re by yourself, don’t let that stop you. Find some porn, order some hardware from the internet and enjoy yourself. Take some time to do some stamina building exercises. Dating is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel when all this is over but you don’t want to be shooting too quick. Besides, you get those same happy-making immune system boosting chemicals no regardless of how you get there.
Finish Those Projects
We’ve all got something that got shelved because we didn’t have time to finish it. Maybe you’ve got some half finished sketches or paintings. What better time than now to sit down and finish those off? Maybe you’ve been putting off some home improvements. You’ve got time to finish them now. Maybe you need to replace the hinges on your hidden bunker door because the current ones squeak to goddamned much no matter how many times you oil them. Now is the time.
This isn’t just about keeping your hands and your mind busy to kill time. That’s definitely an added bonus, don’t get me wrong. The big thing here is the feeling of accomplishment you get from finally finishing a project that you have had on the back burner for weeks or more. You can get shit done and feel good about yourself. I don’t see a downside here.
Enjoy the Little Things
What would this list be without at least one post apocalyptic movie reference? Not as good, that’s what. Seriously though, you have to take time to appreciate the little things in life. Stop thinking that you’re stuck in your house; you’re spending time in your sanctuary. You’ve been given some time to do things that needed to be done or to just chill for awhile. Whatever you’re doing is probably fine.
It seems like bad news is everywhere you look right now. I’m not saying that you should minimize or forget about what’s going on in the world. I’m saying that you should take time to be grateful for the little wins you get. Whether it’s not being out of toilet paper or finally beating that game you’ve been working on for awhile now. Just try to find the positive.