Just a heads up for anyone scared of self isolation during the Coronavirus and so forth, I thought I’d give you all a little insight into how to survive being stuck in without going insane.

Seeing as I’ve spent a few years of my life overall with periods of time either bed bound, housebound, or somehow unable to get out due to my disability I realise how hard it can be to adjust to a different way of life, temporary or long term.

So I thought I’d do a little coping strategies post for everyone, feel free to share obviously!

ROUTINE:
First of all, you will need to refocus your thought schedule in relation to sleep routine and your normal day practice to help with the gaps in your schedule, I personally found going to bed a little later and waking a little later helped with that, obviously watch out that you don’t go banging out 14+ hours of sleep as that will completely system shock you but waking up at 9am instead of 8am and so on is totally fine, obviously if you have little ones, you probably won’t get the choice anyways here 😉

BOREDOM:
Find yourself a way to keep yourself busy at home, if you can borrow a bunch of dvds, get yourself a Netflix membership or even finding cool YouTube channels like Haunted? paranormal for example 😉 is a great way to keep you occupied at the start, binge watch stuff like David Attenborough and TV series from years ago, if only to laugh at how old dated our humour used to be but yeah anything like videogames, blogs, humour channels, memes, it will all help you and keep your mind off of the time.

I also find boardgames are great, there are some free ones online also like cards against humanity, jackbox can be bought fairly cheap and you can play with others on phones, theres all-sorts of free games and such to take advantage of out there.

Time is also a good way to learn a skill, there’s loads of great resources online with often free courses with udemy (an online university of sorts) that can teach you all sorts of stuff that can help you when life goes back to normal again, there’s other sites like skillshare which are also great.

You could even teach yourself to sing, play an instrument (providing you have one available, or some other skills with a little time and patience, ive spent years with limbs out of action, ive found all sorts of weird hobbies to help pass the time)

LINKS FOR THE WEBSITES BELOW!
https://www.udemy.com/
https://www.skillshare.com/

SOCIALISING:
Use social media to its full potential, I’m guilty of not always messaging folks, so it’s time to do so, drop a distant friend or acquaintance a message, heck why not find out what they are doing with their spare time, you might even draw a new creative relationship out of something you may of overlooked when you’re normally out and about getting a little too merry with down the pub, you might find that once sober you can discuss other ventures and all sorts of doors can open as a result!

RELATIONSHIPS:
Consider this your marriage compatibility test, if you can spend two weeks in isolation with the same person under your roof without wanting to rip each others heads off, then you’re probably on to a winner.

Realistically though if one of a couple is sick, you’re going to need each other during this time, it’s hard being a carer and also being the one being cared for, it’s about communication, you need to be honest and understanding about all of the ups and downs, remember you’re a couple behind all the bad days or the flip outs, just remember there’s two people there, if you’re a single pringle then why not try out the different apps out there to make connections, heck you might even find love in those moments when you feel at your worst, life works in weird ways.

FOOD & DIET:
You’ll probably change your diet depending on what you spend your time doing, be aware of snacking and going overboard with chocolate and snacks, it’s great to get a sugar fix but remember those bouts of boredom binges mixed with food can be a nasty partnership, so keep on top of what you’re putting in, especially as days will often seem longer if you’re stuck in.

EXERCISE:
If you’re able to, then try and get some home exercise in day to day, you don’t have to go chasing medals or records, just set yourself small daily goals, a few steps will help counter those gains I mentioned earlier, keep on top of that, make yourself a week challenge that if you’re in isolation you hit it and reward yourself at the end, again if you’re with someone why not turn it into a challenge against eachother to the winner they get out of doing chores and so forth.

MENTAL HEALTH:
Lastly, during all of this the hardest part of living in isolation is your mental health.

Don’t be a hero here, it’s fine to feel a little shellshocked when your life goes on hold, it’s all about embracing the situation and do what you can to help pass those days, whatever works for you, if you like writing, then write, if you like films, have a cinema night with blankets and popcorn, whatever it is you need to do to help keep you focused the better.

It will hit hard, there will be days where you start sleeping a little longer, you have no spark, it can easily turn into something more serious so again communicate it to those around you, write a letter, drop a text or DM whatever works for you, it’s all an experience and what you get our of it is down to you.

Now I know everyone will cope differently and by no means am I the messiah or all knowledgeable im only speaking about what’s worked for me when I’ve spent long periods of time unwell, it’s a lesson to learn when you are isolated and it will help you appreciate the good days even more, especially once all of this covid nonsense is under control.

One last note:
If you are isolating right now, if you need anything you can message me, for a chat, for advice, to vent, whatever it is you need, I’m here.

Stay positive folks, the clouds will pass.

(Photo for reference of the times ive been stuck in or not very well, don’t worry i dont actually have the virus…………YET!)