5 Tips for Thriving in Quarantine – Even If You’re Completely Alone at Home

Are you climbing the walls, stuck at alone at home this month? Welcome to the 2020 quarantine! If you’re like most folks, you’ve stocked up on groceries and bought enough surgical masks to open your own clinic.

But your sentence doesn’t need to be an ugly one. You can turn your prolonged stay into a thriving vacation or prolific telecommute. Read on to discover the 5 keys to flourishing during your epic COVID-19 homestay adventure.

1. Clean Your Space

Close your laptop and grab your rubber gloves. It’s time to get dirty.

Did you know that clutter is devastating to productivity? Yep, people are significantly less productive when they’re surrounded by the disorder. If you want to shift your efficiency into overdrive, start by pulling out your mop.

Here’s how to speed up the cleaning process. Forget one room at a time. Clean your whole house at once.

When you stay in one room, switching from one task to another, you lose time. Instead, stick with the same task. Hop from room to room dusting, mopping, vacuuming and so forth.

Condense all your tools into a cleaning caddy. It’ll save you from hunting down lost tools later.

Start by picking up stray items. Just because you’re living alone doesn’t mean you need to be a slob. Grab that old pizza box and stray laundry and put them away.

Move on to dusting and vacuuming. Double-check to make sure you don’t need to change out your vacuum bag before you begin. If you don’t have a duster, you can use a soft cloth, preferably microfiber.

Then wipe down your mirrors and glass. Afterward, disinfect your countertops and other surface areas. Germs build up on kitchen countertops and office desks, so use a bleach solution.

Then jump to tubs, sinks, and toilets. Once again, bleach or other disinfectant is a must. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and open a window so you don’t pass out from the fumes.

Now sweep, mop, and vacuum. You’ve pushed all the dirt and grime onto the floor, now it’s time to clean it up!

2. Create a Routine

Did you know that 40% of our behaviors are driven by habit? What does that mean to you? It means that almost half of your day is spent going through the motions without forethought.

What could you accomplish with that extra time? Do you want a better life? What do you need to get there?

Most of us create a routine by mistake. We grow lazy at the end of our day and flip the TV for 3 hours of mind-numbing sitcoms. We knuckle our eyes and stop off before work to grab our octuple-shot chocolate hazelnut latte with an extra pump of peppermint.

We don’t realize that all the while we’re building our future selves. They’re defined by the routines we build today.

Do you really want to lose 10 pounds? Then guess what? It’s time to stop grabbing McDonald’s at the end of your day and time to start cooking at home.

Do you want to get smarter? Ditch the TV and research the best online courses to achieve your goals. It’s time to leave your mindless practices behind and live a life of intentionality.

Here’s how to start:

Keep an activity log today. Every 15 minutes write down what you’re doing, so you can discover where you’re really spending your time. Determine which of your habits are leading you to your goals and which are leading nowhere.

3. Focus on a Project while You’re Alone at Home

This is your time to thrive! Let’s put that extra energy of yours to good use. Start by writing down what you want out of life.

Do you want to get a date? Get a promotion? Would you like your kids to smile at you rather than frown when you walk in the door?

What do you want your life to look like a year from now? Write down at least 3 ambitions. For each ambition, write down the steppingstones you’ll need to accomplish to achieve those ambitions.

Those steppingstones are your goals. They’ll be the focus of your projects. These are the best things to do while alone at home because they give your chaotic mind something to focus on.

Decide on one project that you’ll spend at least an hour each day. Now, add that to your new daily schedule.

4. Define Your Work Environment

If you’re one of the lucky (or unlucky) few who get to telecommute, it’s going to be more difficult than you thought. With the Coronavirus quarantine, life at home is different. You’re suddenly limited by children, space, privacy, and choice.

Your kids were at school before. You could pop over to Starbucks and grab a coffee when you wanted. Your husband wasn’t nagging at you from the other room.

Here are a few helpful tips to get you back on track and skyrocket your productivity:

1. Start your day before your household wakes up.
2. Pretend like you are at the office.
3. Choose your dedicated workspace.
4. Turn off social media.
5. Commit to a schedule.
6. Plan out your tasks at the start of the day.
7. Work when you’re most productive.
8. Refuel Your body.
9. Take scheduled breaks to stretch.

Commit to your workday and set clear boundaries with everyone in your home. If you can, put a screen or a door between you and the rest of your family. Make sure your spouse knows you’re going to work today.

5. Connect with Your Circle

If you’re saying but I live alone. I can’t connect with anyone. Look, living alone during this quarantine doesn’t need to be a social apocalypse.

You don’t need to climb into a deep, dark hole of depression. Social connection is crucial for depression recovery, and we’re going to get you started right now. Here are some fun options to get you started.

FaceTime binge-watch: You can still binge-watch your favorite shows with a friend. That friend just needs to be using Skype, FaceTime, or Netflix Party.

Group video conference call: Reconnect with friends or hang out with besties. It’s simple with today’s technology, and you can do it with multiple parties at once.

Try a text hangout: with sites like Google Hangouts and other social media platforms, you can chat it up. You can hang with family or meet new friends.

Send snail mail: when was the last time you got a card in the mail? When was the last time you sent one? Connect with someone you love with a written letter today.

What’s Next?

Cheer! You’re alone at home this month. It’s a great opportunity to adjust your mind, your habits, and your relationships. You can even pick up a new hobby and finish those work projects that you’ve been anxious to complete.

If you lost your job during the quarantine, don’t fret. Come peruse our colossal library full of articles that’ll help you define and build your career. Yep, even if you plan to work from home.

So long and good luck!