During this ongoing pandemic, upto 40% rise in cases of stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness has been observed. Social isolation’s stress is leading to a lot of issues dealing with children or dealing with elders as feelings of frustration and boredom are experienced. In some cases the development of psychological disorders like panic attacks, depression and claustrophobia (intense fear of crowded spaces) were also seen. One of the major factors that adds onto this stress is the constant fear of death. Source: Economic Times
Social isolation and work from home has somewhere or the other started affecting people’s mental health. What we need to understand is that it’s very important for us to manage stress and balance our mental health in this current situation.
One should manage these feelings by engaging themselves in some fun yet productive activities that could help people manage stress and balance or enhance their mental health as these activities will help us channelize our energy into a much more constructive manner. These activities can be carried out by people who’re currently quarantined with their families or the ones who are facing this lockdown alone.
So here are some ways to manage the lockdown period and save yourself from the problems caused with this self-isolation at home.
Let us read about these activities in brief details:
Reading Books
Many a times we try completing books but can’t because of our daily schedule or work load. Lockdown is the best situation for a person to read as much as possible. Reading helps you develop interests as well as increases knowledge. Simultaneously, it improves our mental health and reduces stress and anxiety. Also helps us increase our concentration. Below are some best sellers that one should definitely read. (E-books are also available for the same)
The alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Wings of Fire by A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Mythos by Stephen Fry
Twenty Love Poems by Pablo Neruda
Ariel by Sylvia Plath
Hegarty On Creativity: There Are No Rules by John Hegarty
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Many Lives, Many Masters by DR Brian Weiss
Outsider by Stephen King
Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia
Learning New Languages
Remember all those times when you said learning a new language was on your bucket list but you couldn’t spare time to actually learn one. Well, here’s your chance to learn any language you want through some YouTube tutorials or by using apps like Duolingo or Rosetta Stone.
Setting Fitness Goals
Set goals to keep yourself engaged in some physical activity. Exercising can help you increase your energy level and it is also considered to be a great way to balance your mental health as you feel relaxed after working out. It also helps to boost stamina which increases our immunity level. And it minimizes risk factor for some problems related to heart. Not only it reduces our chances of obesity, therefore minimizing risks to our health. Achieving your daily goal would really motivate you to get through your day. You could look up exercises from YouTube or through some apps like 30 Day Fitness, Cure.Fit, Nike training club etc.
Ted Talk
Ted talk is great platform for finding content of your own interests. It’s a platform for thousands of inspiring, informative and transformation videos for free. Ted talks broadens our perspectives and it also boosts creativity.
Gardening
Gardening or planting pots in your balcony or garden is a great way to decorate your house and use your time. If you don’t have pots then you can use some plastic bottles, cut them in half and decorate them. Gardening is usually considered to reduce stress in women compared to men.
Painting
A great way to keep yourself busy, develop your artistic skills and create something that you could use to decorate your soft board or walls. Painting is seen to promote optimistic attitude as a painter’s progress and skills provides happiness and pleasure to the individual.
Self-Care
With abundance of time, you should give sometime to yourself. By using home remedies for better skin, or by making a routine which includes things that make you happy. Self- care leads to better productivity and enhanced self -esteem.
Organizing Wardrobe
Many a times we end up procrastinating this task because we feel it’ll take up a lot of time from your day and hence feels boring and tedious. But now with abundance of time, you could clean up your drawers and cupboards and segregate the things that are no more useful to you.
Enjoying Creativity
Use your imagination to the best potential and try to create new things using the minimal resources you have. Even I did, I wanted a lamp for my table and had few things at home lying around, so came up with a bottle lamp, with glass art. Use your crafts skills and enhance them to create something for yourself from the unused products lying around you.
Cooking
You could learn new recipes from very limited ingredients through YouTube tutorials. Cooking is considered to be an amazing way to relieve stress as the end product is a very delicious meal which is hugely rewarding.
Listening Podcasts
You could listen to podcasts related to thrill, short stories, true crime, educational, games, music, lifestyle & health, comedy etc. on an app Spotify for free. Or you could even surf them on internet. Podcasts are considered to be more convenient and easier to use.
Sitting in Balcony
Being inside the house for the whole day prevents us from taking fresh air. Nature is a great way to feel fresh and energetic. Rather than going out, you could sit in the balcony and listen to some soothing songs and enjoy the fresh air.
Dancing
Dancing is an activity that all of us could enjoy. You could play the music on speakers or television and dance and feel lively. Dancing improves balance and strength and boosts cognitive functioning. This activity could be done with family members or alone too.
Playing Games
You could play some indoor games with your family members like Antakshri, cards, Dumb charades, board games which will help you reconnect with your family members or you could play games online on your phone or laptop with friends or families living far away.
Watching Movies
Watching movies is one of the simplest ways to pass your time. Movies are a way to feel different emotions. It spreads awareness or help us gain perspective about different situations. Below are some great movies listed that could be watched by both, youngsters and adults, to watch during lockdown:
Parasite
Joker 2019
Once upon a time ...in Hollywood
The Godfather
Gandhi
Titanic
A Beautiful Mind
The Artist
Green Book
Uncut Gems
Nightcrawler
Scarface
The Intouchables
Whiplash
Bohemian Rhapsody
Leon: The Professional
Dead Poets Society
Fight Club
Good Will Hunting
Dear Zindagi
The Sky Is Pink
Before Sunrise (trilogy)
Karwaan
Five Feet Apart
The Pursuit of Happyness
Writing Blogs
One can start writing blogs about their thoughts, opinions, themselves, their passion, experiences. It’s actually a great activity for the young generations to pen down their thoughts and make them reach to the society. Its also a great way improve your writing skills and get technical knowledge.
Online Learning
There are a lot of things that a person can learn online. You could take up online classes related to some field you like or you’re interested in. Online classes are more flexible in nature and a wider range of networking opportunities are available especially during times like this. Sites like Udemy or Google Garage provides a wide range of options for such classes.
Thank you very much for reading through. You can ask any question you wish in the comments section below.
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