Now that we’ve all been stuck at home for the past few weeks, I’ve officially hit the point where I think I might actually be going crazy. For those of us that are fortunate enough not to have been affected by COVID-19, we’re playing the waiting game until it’s safe to socialize again and this means having a lot of downtime. I’ve been self-isolating for about four weeks now and along the way I’ve discovered a few things about myself that you might be able to relate to.
1. I NEED an alarm to keep me functioning.
As much as I hate the sound of my phone alarm blaring in the morning, it is so essential in forcing me awake to start being human at a reasonable hour. I spent my first week of quarantine without a schedule and it resulted in me going to bed around 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. and waking up around 1 p.m. every. single. day. My sleep schedule became so whack that it impacted how I did my school work which definitely wasn’t okay. Additionally, waking up in the afternoon cut my day super short and my already-low productivity level dwindled even more. I forced myself to start using the alarms I had set for when I was still physically going to class in order to get me back into a healthy sleep cycle.
2. I’m capable of eating SO much food.
Whoever said eating three meals a day was the “correct” amount of food you should be consuming a day clearly hasn’t been quarantined before. When I’m pacing around my house for weeks on end, you can bet that I’ll be frequenting my fridge and snack cabinets every damn hour of the day. Before quarantine was a thing, I used to track everything I ate in a calorie counting app but about two weeks into self-isolating, I had to stop because the numbers were just too astronomical to look at (RIP to that “summer bod”). I’ve legitimately been “pregnant” with a food baby everyday since I’ve been trapped at home.
3. I can watch 5 movies in a row in 1 day.
Binge watching Netflix is definitely a skill in itself, but have y’all ever watched 10+ hours worth of movies in one sitting? I have and I wouldn’t recommend it…unless you’ve completely run out of stuff to do…which I did. Last week I watched “Little Women”, “Frozen”, “Frozen 2”, “Toy Story 4”, and “Avengers: Endgame” back to back. I honestly think watching those 5 movies was the most I’ve focused on anything since we started going to school via Zoom. Speaking of which…
4. I hate Zoom “school” with the passion of 1,000 suns.
The novelty of “going” to class in pajamas while staying in bed has completely worn off now. Dealing with spotty WiFi, constant distractions, and the overall feeling of being deprived of my last semester of college is all that I think of now. I know, I know, this is a super pessimistic and privileged thing to say and our professors are working their asses off trying to give us the best education possible given the current situation, but I also think it’s okay to feel upset. The class of 2020 is getting a huge milestone taken away from them so I’m granting us permission to be angry. See y’all at our “ViRTuAl GrAdUAtIoN” *throws up sarcastic peace sign*.
5. I’m capable of playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons for 24-hours straight.
Similar to my movie-watching abilities, I recently discovered that I can play a video game for 24-hours straight. My older brother, bless his soul, bought me a Nintendo Switch Lite a few days into quarantine so I could play the game that’s taken over the world: Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Now, I wasn’t a video game person whatsoever prior to quarantine but that’s definitely changed now. This video game is pretty much just an adorable life simulation full of sunny beaches, cute animal friends, and crafting your world exactly how you want it. I guess it makes sense why millions of people have turned to this game during the pandemic to feel like they can go outside and explore the world again. I became so obsessed with “getting out of the house” and entering my perfect little virtual island that I forgot about mundane stuff like sleeping. Sorry not sorry?
I want to emphasize that I realize how lucky and thankful I am to be healthy and have a home where I can feel safe. I have food, water, my family, means of entertainment, and I am still receiving an education despite everything that’s going on in the world. I know I’m better off than so many others who are suffering greatly from COVID-19, but I think it’s also all right to acknowledge that self-isolation can be tough, even for people that are living in non-threatening conditions. Keep your heads up, everyone, better times are coming our way.
All images/GIFs courtesy of Her Campus Media Library.