Quarantined: One Man's Guide To Keeping Balance

With mostly everyone being advised to stay home due to the pandemonium of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all witness to a unique time in history. Our work environments have changed, we've had to adapt and overcome new challenges, and self-distancing / isolation has become a requirement for the safety and wellbeing of us all. You're likely going to go through a plethora of emotions, if you haven’t already. On one hand are the introverts claiming this is “what [we] have been waiting for”, and extroverts claiming they're “going mad”. Wherever on the spectrum you fall, we are collectively in isolation, together. This presents us with more choices than many may see. The choice of psychological well-being or despair, productivity or procrastination is ours and we should consider how we want this to impact our work practices, relationships, and general sense of well-being. What many are struggling with is the complete sense of lack of control in their lives and losing the picture in their head of how they thought the next few chapters of their life may unravel. Someone said to me yesterday that the trick is to stop making yourself miserable; just keep busy and be happy.

Naturally, that posed the question: What should we be doing with this time in quarantine and isolation, and how do we stay happy? Easier said than done, but this question made me reflect on what that may mean over the coming days, weeks and months.

Firstly, we can’t expect to be happy all the time, and having the ability to let go of that expectation will counterintuitively help. If you have a dog, you'll notice that they don’t complain when they are down nor do they “expect” to be happy. They just (almost always) are. As humans, we naturally ask, "Why me?"... as if it is our right to be happy all the time despite knowing that's impossible.

The depth and breadth of human emotion is a blessing and a curse. During this time, emotions in my household have oscillated between frustration with my new “coworker” and cramped office space, anxiety about loved ones becoming ill, and short tempers about too many things to count. With all of these contradictory emotions, there is a natural tendency to fight the unpleasant ones. Instead, I prefer to just relax into the emotion and ride it through until it's over. An ability to experience these extreme emotions lets you know you're alive and in tune with yourself. Equilibrium is staying the course and riding the waves of these emotions, but achieving this isn't always easy.

We'd all like to stay positive and be happy as much as possible. However, humans are social creatures. So how can we stay in this state, even though we are all social distancing?

One word: Balance.

Rarely can anyone spend a full day working, no matter how much you love your job. As fun as surfing, drinking, or playing computer games may be, you cannot do it all day if your goal is to find balance, homeostasis, and happiness. We know that finding that inner sense of contentment comes from finding balance. What if it is as simple as dividing your time across a few different areas each day? My guess is that your mood will improve, you will find it easier to be optimistic, and this will translate into seeing your life improve and your productivity soar, even during stressful times such as the ones we are living through now.

Something that has always worked for me is adhering to the following five principles. Granted, I fall off the wagon from time to time and have not always been consistent. However, reflecting on my past, I have come to realize that when I have been happiest, healthiest, and most productive are the times that I have committed to spending my days according to these:

1. Work: Whether it's your full-time role or a side hustle, it's important to get at least a small amount of work done daily. The nine to five may be good for some people, but if you want to achieve balance, working on projects to generate income should be in your daily routine. I think this helps de-stress, allows you to not dread Mondays, not work for the weekend, and can shorten your actual daily working hours, allowing more productivity and balance.

2. Socialization: As we are in quarantine/isolation right now this will be the biggest problem for many and can easily lead to a rabbit hole of negativity. However, this can be a great time to FaceTime your grandma, to reconnect with an old friend, or to take advantage of the downtime and spend it with family. A good friend once told me that one of his goals was to “give the best of myself to those that matter the most”. In the busy day-to-day, we sometimes lose this. Recommit to letting those you love see the best of you.

3. Movement: Just because you're stuck at home does not mean you should give yourself permission to eat that extra bag of M&M’s and not exercise. Plenty of gyms and online trainers are giving away home workouts for free. Spending 30+ minutes a day sweating will definitely help to get you through this period and manage your cabin fever. You won't see many colleagues and friends for potentially a month or more, so what better way to impress them than by dropping a few kilos? Evidence shows that even as little as 30 minutes of exercise three times a week is a first-line treatment for depression. My go-to is running, CrossFit-style workouts, rowing, yoga, and walks along the river (luckily living in Canada means we have a lot of outdoor space!).

4. Education: With a diverse array of online information at our disposal, take this time to learn. Cooking classes, writing classes, language classes, coding…you name it. It's a great time to learn a skill and there are a multitude of learning platforms offering services and classes for free. I’ve been relearning Spanish and finally have opened a couple of cookbooks I received as gifts (sorry, Mom).

5. Relaxation: Has there ever been a better time to get caught on sleep...Or catch up on all those books collecting dust on your nightstand, binge watch a series on Netflix, play 007 or Mario Kart (my favourite). Even better, play board games, do a puzzle, or invest in your future well being and take up meditation or mindfulness. We will all be back to our regular lives sometime (hopefully) soon, and these things can fall by the wayside very easily. Take some time to recharge the battery. You will thank yourself later.

So, if you feel inclined, give this a shot while we are collectively self-distancing.

An easy way that I find helps motivate me to achieve the above is to make a list of the specifics within each category above that are appealing to me and then schedule them into my day, every day for the quarantine. If you hold yourself accountable, the less likely you are to falter. Don’t berate yourself if you miss a step or don’t fit everything in. Evaluate every few days, adjust accordingly, and only compare yourself to the most important marker: yourself. I can assure you that if you make time for each one - it'll keep you sane through this strange, weird and totally unprecedented period of our lives we are all experiencing.