9 habits that will help you destress in quarantine
These 9 actions help you curb fear and rid of the sense helplessness about the situation at hand.
When there is darkness, there is light. When negativity floats around, positivity rises in the social media space to combat it. I don’t remember exactly how many podcast episodes I have heard recently that tell me to cheer up and face the COVID-19 isolation with positivity.
Frankly, all this content is making me sick because many of these podcasts are not covering the exact steps which I can take to make me feel better.
1. You can actually get a kick out of cleaning
Yes, I used to one of those people who saw cleaning as a chore too. But when I treat cleaning (especially the sanitization of surfaces) as a sort of a long-needed break to getting work done, I welcome it with open arms.
These days, especially, spraying sanitizing products onto my desk has become somewhat like a healing ritual. When I apply some force while wiping the spray off the table using a towel or tissue paper, I think of the goals that I need to crush and people who have wronged me before so that I can relieve and rid myself of any grudges I previous held against them through that forceful movement of cleaning and wiping.)
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
2. Work out at home/ office
This is a well-discussed tip, but at times I still find it hard to stay consistent and stick to a work-out routine. I have bought a stretchy rubberband for doing yoga at home but am still yet to put it to use.
Working out, of course, has been scientifically proven to release endorphins and combat stress. But I think the reason why I find it hard to motivate myself to work out while staying indoors is that I have always secretly enjoyed the sensation of sweating buckets in a gym room and the refreshing shower after a work-out session. Conclusion: I’m still working on motivating myself to follow a consistent work-out routine during quarantine. Let me know if you have any good tips for sticking to an indoor work-out routine.
3. Pick the right soap!
I am a person who likes to incorporate some sort of novelty into my life, be it a new fragrance, a new soap, or a new app that I use. I do not want to live the same day on repeat. I have recently bought two pieces of soap from LUSH, (which, thank God, is entirely cruelty-free). I love the touch of soap, especially each piece of them come in different shapes and textures (Some of them have a grainy texture, which I love, because of the oatmeals and tea leaves in them). Of course, it also helps that they all look so colourful and organic and are wonderfully scented. I tend to choose the soaps that won’t strip my hands of moisture as no one enjoys having cracked and dry skin after doing multiple hand washes in a day.
4. Pick the right sanitary products
In the vein of the last point, I love picking sanitary products with interesting, classy and luxurious scents. Sanitary products that are safe to use around pets are also really important. I use them not only at my home but also at my workplace because I need the peace of mind of knowing that I’m not inhaling any harmful chemicals that could possibly disrupt my hormonal cycle.
My go-to products are:
a. Bondi Wash Bench Spray (Lemon Tea Tree & Mandarin)
b. Bondi Wash Bench Spray (Sydney Peppermint & Rosemary)
c. Bondi Wash Bench Spray (Aniseed Myrtle and Vanilla) (Current favourite)
[Hey, I actually had a smell of all these scents again when writing this article just to find out which one scent is my favourite. That alone deserves your claps, huh?]
5. Be mindful of the importance of restricting social media content/ news consumption
Restricting social media can be easier said than done because Instagram and Facebook, all that jazz can seem like an infinite scroll hole that sucks you in without you even knowing.
It’s worth remembering and constantly reminding yourself that over-consumption of social media content leads to dissatisfaction with comparison, dissatisfaction with our own lives, inaction and procrastination. We often turn to social media in order to avoid doing the work we need to. A good way to avoid social media and news overdose is to replace it with a good habit — learning. Use Memrise or Rosetta Stone to learn a language; learn to code; learn to use new software. Pick not too daunting but worthwhile challenges, which provide exactly the stimuli that our minds crave when they are prone to boredom during quarantine. (I just learned how to insert a drop cap on Medium today! Yay!! Kudos to me!)
Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash
6. Say no to comparison
Comparison makes us unhappy. Being a naturally competitive person, sometimes I can’t help wondering why I am so much behind in my work, when the podcasters I listen to seem to be staying so calm and productive. I get so so unhappy when my thoughts start to go this way.
But let’s face it, it’s only natural that social media giants and thought leaders like Gary Vee, Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield, Dean Graziosi, Toni Robbins, Brendon Burchard and Jasmine Star always sound pumped in their podcast to motivate their listeners to take action — it’s their job!
And it’s actually unfair for me to compare myself with these people as they have a WHOLE TEAM behind them helping them create content. I wonder if anyone, like me, start comparing myself with these people and sometimes feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness that I seem to have gotten so little done in comparison to them and just totally defeat the purpose of listening to them by doing so?
The takeaway here is DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE ELSE. You can model after them. You can steal from their greatness. But do not compare yourself with them and judge yourself against their standards. Comparison will simply lead to misery.
7. Do something that makes you feel good about yourself (Something that you’re good at)
In my case, thankfully, it’s often writing and podcast because I’m a naturally (AND nurtured to be!) an expressive person who loves dumping her thoughts on paper. It’s such a relieving outlet. I find writing therapeutic after a day of hard work.
Some people may envy me for being such a prolific and speedy writer. I am so comfortable with writing because I am simply dictating the voice that’s in my head when I’m writing. But these people should probably be also aware of the other side of the coin — that I am not a very visual person. Learning how to use software, take photographs and use cameras (any job that involves the clicking of buttons in general) pose a great challenge to me. And because I am used to writing so quickly, I find myself progressing so slowly when I’m creating content in the format of image/video/pdf. Impatience is a constant enemy that stops me from getting jobs done. So, don’t envy me because not every task in my life is a breeze.
8. Learn something every day
Learning makes you feel good because it instantly makes that day so much more rewarding and meaningful.
Make sure that you’re delegating tasks that are too repetitive and no longer allow you to learn at work so that you constantly keep learning. This will also help relieve any stress that comes from doing future tasks, that will demand an even broader set of skills.
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9. Drink Chinese herbal tea (leung cha)
Inspired by Shirley Lee 🍟, I think adding a local element to my writing is probably a good way to spice up my Medium article.
This tip is especially useful for those of us who live in Hong Kong (NOT Wuhan nor China!) where Chinese herbal tea is widely available for easy purchase on the streets.)
Provided that you choose the right leung cha that complements the ‘temperament’ （體質）of your body, you can avoid having too much ‘heat’ or too much ‘cold’ in your body, and thus maintain a good balance of yin and yang in it.
Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash
(Does that make any sense, can anyone tell me? Actually I know near to nothing about Chinese medicine. All I know is that sounds about right.)
Even if it doesn’t do that much to make you a lot healthier can by no means replace a well-balanced diet, at least it’s a feel-good drink.
Finally, a bit of Sinatra and Cole Porter that helps you get a kick out of cleaning. Let’s kick Covid-19 in the butt!
