Isolation Guide: Fourteen Day Guide to not Losing Your Dam Mind
March 28, 2021
So you caught COVID and have to spend fourteen days inside with nobody but the people you live with. It’s maddening, but it needs to happen. Luckily it’s not the end of the world. Without further ado, here’s a day by day guide to keeping your dam sanity.
DAY 1 – CLEAN THE HOUSE
I know what you’re thinking. “I’m supposed to be trying to recover and you want me to do chores?” But hear me out: you’re going to be stuck inside for two weeks. Wouldn’t it be better to be stuck in a nice tidy living space instead of a dirty one? You’d be surprised just how much it’ll improve your mood.
DAY 2 – LEARN A NEW DISH
It sounds easy to order DoorDash for the umpteenth time, especially when you’re quarantining, but if you take today to learn how to make a new food, it’s something you can continue to make while you’re quarantined. Who knows? By the end, you might get pretty good at it.
DAY 3 – START A NEW BOOK
When was the last time you read a book for pleasure? Students lead such busy lives that we often don’t find the time to read for pleasure, but right now you’ve got some time to kill so why not find a new favorite book? Or start a new series of books, it’s not like you’ve got much else to do.
DAY 4 – EXERCISE ROUTINE
With limited access to gyms, staying in shape is more important than ever so maybe this is the perfect time to build some good habits. There are more ways to work out at home than you’d think. It can be as simple as doing a round of pushups and situps in the morning, or maybe you have a home gym to take advantage of.
DAY 5 – QUARANTINE WATCH PARTY
Five days in, you’re probably starting to get a little lonely. That makes it the perfect time to get your friends together and host a virtual watch party. This can be done on several platforms. A good go-to is Discord, a popular online communication platform. With it, you can share your Netflix screen with your friends with the click of a button.
DAY 6 – CARE FOR A PLANT
Raising a plant requires time and attention, both of which you likely have in spades right now. They’re also easy to get a hold of even if you can’t leave the house, all you need to do is pick what kind of plant you want and get the seeds shipped to you. The rest is up to you. No pot? No problem, you can raise a plant in a solo cup as long as you have dirt, water and sunlight.
DAY 7 – LISTEN TO A NEW PODCAST
If you can think of it, there’s probably a podcast about it. Seriously, people love to talk about things that interest them, whether it’s cooking, fashion, politics, computers, music, obscure trivia, it’s there. Give one of them a listen, once you find something you like it’ll keep you entertained for hours upon hours.
DAY 8 – CLEAN THE HOUSE…AGAIN…
You’re halfway there, pat yourself on the back. But since you’ve been quarantining in one place for a week, your house has probably gotten pretty messy again. Take today to put everything back the way it was and reaffirm your positive state of mind. You’ve gotten through one week, you can get through another.
DAY 9 – BINGE WATCH A SHOW
You don’t need to be productive all the time. Take today to sit back, relax and find a show you really want to watch. All the popular streaming platforms have huge back catalogs of content to pursue. If you’ve got the right machine, you could even pop some homemade popcorn to get the 2020 cinematic experience.
DAY 10 – BAKE A FUN TREAT
Remember when you learned a new dish on day two? Today you can take it one step further and bake a dessert to go with it. You could try brownies, cookies, a cake, a pie, really whatever you want. Pro tip: the first time is the hardest, once you realize you can make brownies whenever you want, there’s no going back.
DAY 11 – TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR
You’re so close to freedom that these next four days are going to feel longer than the last ten, but you can satisfy that urge to be anywhere else by taking a virtual tour. Many visitor attractions like museums and national parks have virtual walkthroughs that allow you to explore the area without being physically present. I know, it’s not the same, but it’s the next best thing.
DAY 12 – PLAY A GAME
Assuming you’re quarantining with your household, there’s a near-infinite supply of games to play with your cellmates. You could play a video game like Mario Kart or Smash Bros, a board game like Monopoly, Settlers of Catan, or Chess, or play along to a game show like Jeopardy.
DAY 13 – DO A PUZZLE
A good puzzle can take a surprising amount of time to finish while getting the whole household involved. Maybe you’ve got an old one lying around, but if not, you can get one online for under $20.
DAY 14 – PLAN YOUR FREEDOM
Only one day to go, you’re so close! Take today to think and plan what you’re going to do first with your newfound freedom. Maybe you want to eat at your favorite restaurant, maybe you want to go to a socially-distant happy hour with your friends, maybe you just want to take a nice long walk. It’s up to you, you earned it.
