Due to the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic a lot of countries are placing whole cities under lockdown. For many of us, it is proving to be a difficult time. Even though we are not infected, we are bored and sad so our mind automatically redirects our thoughts to FOOD :-P. Combine that with our prolonged sitting due to Work from Home and entertainment, this time can become detrimental to our physical and mental health.
We need to realize that the moment we get ourselves busy, time will just fly. But YOU need to choose whether to keep yourself busy in healthy activities or to let yourself get bored and depressed.
So how do you make the healthy choice to stay physically and mentally fit during the lockdown?
1. Make a schedule
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Lockdown can last for weeks and you may lose sense of time because you are not adhering to your regular strict schedule. You may even get depressed and think whats the point in getting up early the next day. The best way to cope with this is to make a schedule, set work hours, family time, play time, food time, etc. Set that alarm clock, get up and try to stick to the schedule. Sticking to a plan will leave less chance for boredom. This will also help you realize how much more free time you have and plan to utilize it.
2. Eat lesser but tasty meals
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By all means eat tasty food and enjoy it but try to eat lesser meals. Focusing all your energy and innovation solely on food is not going to help you, it will just make you crave more and more junk food. Eating too often is also not good for health so limit the number of meals. Eat good, filling and wholesome meals rich in nutrients so you are more satiated instead of eating junk high carb foods that will make you hungrier.
Avoid treating yourself in each meal, keep treats as an incentive of doing productive work. It is likely to be a long lockdown so make your recipes last and count. Also, make your ration last so you don't have to go out shopping more or get it delivered more, both of which will involve human contact and is risky at this time.
3. Help out in House chores
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This is a good time to reinstate some morals and new habits into your family. Women are not the only ones who should do house chores, everyone should do their part regardless of their age. Let your kids learn that too by Example. Having your kids help out in house chores is not Child labor, it helps them get responsible and have respect for the work instead of taking it for granted. So divide the house chores among all family members. It will help them get some movement too, call it a mini workout :D.
4. Play
====== Well this fun is for everyone. You can play with your kids, your room-mate and if you are alone you can still play some games. Example, any number of people can play with a ball. Get creative with what you already have. There are a lot of indoor games you can play which don't need much resources, get that ball rolling. You may burn some extra calories and it will distract you from food while also having fun in the process.
5. Walk at home
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Walking is the best exercise, Anyone can do it Anytime. You can put on your favorite songs or listen to podcasts or watch videos on youtube or even netflix while you walk around the house or terrace. You wont even realize how an hour got away from you and wollah, you just had good exercise. That is ought to make you feel good.
6. Workout at home
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Because of the lockdown we are sitting far more than usual at home. It is important to get some stretching or Yoga atleast to keep your body feel fresh and flexible. If workout is your thing and you are missing the gym, there are countless home workout videos online which will motivate you enough to workout at home. You can even signup for online classes or live workouts, check if your local gym provides the same. If you are unable to find the push, watch some motivational workout videos and that will get you pumped up.
7. Time for hobby
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Haven't you always complained that you do not get time for your hobbies? Take this opportunity and instead of indulging in tv and food, indulge in your hobbies. Find inspiration, get your creative juices flowing and make that painting, compose that poem, write that article or finish reading that book. Don't wait for time to pass, make that time work for you.
8. Time for project
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Watching the news where more people are getting infected and dying each day due to Covid-19 outbreak can make you feel sadder and more helpless by the day. It will help to re-direct your thoughts to a project that can energize you. I will not believe you if you told me that you never had an idea for a project, it is just not possible. You had an idea, may be it was to start your Youtube channel, or may be you had a sewing project in mind or may be you wanted to build your own robot but ditched it in the process :-P. Utilize this time to re-engage in that project or start a new one and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.
9. Time for learning
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Instead of sitting all day and eating while watching the news, netflix or just waiting for time to pass on its own, you can utilize this time to learn a new skill, a new language, a new technology or even upgrade your current work skills to get ahead of the herd. There are lot of online courses that you can sign up for, people even teach via Youtube nowadays. So just pick your interest area, get going and you will be surprised to see version 2.0 of yourself by the time this lockdown ends.
10. Time for Contribution
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Why do charities work? Because helping out makes you feel good, it makes you feel purposeful. We all can contribute in our own ways. Most of us are contributing to the world today just by sitting at home and not going out, how great is that?
But may be you can take it one step further. You can use your skills, knowledge and expertise to come up with ideas and solutions. There are a number of problems being faced each day by public, health workers, police, government and other people in the service just to manage the Quarantine and lockdown. May be you can find a solution to some of those problems. Just spend sometime thinking and may be you can help a lot of people with your simple idea.
Remember... no contribution is small.
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