Being stuck in quarantine is no fun for anyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to be unproductive. As college students, we are constantly pushed to complete assignments, study for exams, and maybe even perform in extracurriculars. Being in quarantine doesn’t stop this. As a college student myself, who is involved in many groups on campus, I found it very hard to adjust to these 10 days alone in a room. Longing for the outside world again, I began to search out some ways to keep myself motivated during this lonely time. It is so hard to keep up with everything when you are locked in a room, watching zooms, and trying to keep up virtually, but this does not mean it is impossible. After having all this free time on my hands, I compiled a list of things that kept me motivated during this time.
Schedule your days
Setting yourself a schedule is very important during this time. For myself, I’ve adjusted to my routine here in isolation by setting the same alarms everyday and planning out my days. Despite these days being pretty bland, setting designated time for each assignment I was working on really helped to get myself motivated. It is super hard to stay focused when you’re staring at a screen all day. In order to keep myself focused I would set aside about 15 minutes of time to go on my phone or relax between classes. Zoom class is extremely difficult, it is super important to set aside time for yourself in order to perform in a virtual class setting. One thing I found very helpful during this time was my apple calendar, I put every little aspect of my day in my calendar so I could keep myself on the right track. If I was behind schedule, the rest of my day was changed, so it kept me motivated to stay on time and get all of my work done before relaxing.
Keep yourself active!
Although it may seem difficult to be active when you’re stuck in a room, there are so many ways you can keep yourself motivated and healthy. What I found most productive for my routine was virtual workouts. I was not lifting weights or doing anything extreme, but keeping myself in this routine of working out definitely helped me not get into a lazy slump. As a student, it is very important to exercise daily. A study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health concluded that “frequent physical activity had significant effects on students’ mood, stress levels, and social interactions”. It is so important to your physical and mental health to continue to exercise when in quarantine.
Take Care of Yourself!
Self care is one of the most important aspects to keeping yourself motivated during this time. Things like face masks, yoga, long showers or anything that is relaxing to you should be in your quarantine routine. This is obviously not a vacation, but it is important you take care of yourself first before all else. When life gets stressful it is pretty hard to maintain these types of routines, but trust me it will help when you are in quarantine.
Give yourself some time to relax!
One thing that is so important is to give yourself time to relax, especially when you’re in quarantine. I know it seems like it’s a lot of sitting down doing nothing, but since you are going to be doing so much work and zoom meetings as a college student, it can be stressful. In order to keep myself sane, I began to set aside some time every night to watch a movie, read a book, or just scroll through TikTok. Reminding yourself to give yourself some time to clear your mind is super important at any time, in quarantine or not.