There is no doubt that the coronavirus has changed all of our lives in one way or another. It has most certainly altered the way we interact with others and we will feel the impact of social distancing for many years to come. COVID-19 has also introduced relatively new terms and practices into our daily lives such as self-isolation. 

The challenge of self-isolation comes when you are either not used to spending most of your time at home indoors alone or with family. Being held in such close proximity for an extended period can be well, maddening for some. Below are several tips to help you survive this experience and come out of it still liking those people you spent self-isolation with.

1 – Remember This Is Just Temporary

It is going to take a fairly serious adjustment to the way you’ve been doing virtually everything during your waking hours. This means your space is going to be invaded more frequently than it used to by other family members. It also means that your stash of special chocolate or cigars or whatever is going to be found and likely consumed in one way or another. This will not be forever. With this in mind, be as relaxed as you can be to accept your new living situation.

2 – Be Mindful Of Those Nutty Events

Let’s just get this out of the way as soon as possible. If you are in self-isolation with family, expect to learn some unusual behavior as time passes. It also means that being “cooped up” together for an extended period may cause someone to dip off the edge of reality every so often. It is your job to not hold that against the person allowing for the strange circumstances as the cause. Try to keep everyone in good spirits and the nutty events will be fewer.

3 – Don’t Skip Your Personal Hygiene

You are in self-isolation, not a prison. You are sharing the same space with other humans who you love and cherish as much as they do you. The last thing you should do is start to relax your normal daily shower, shampoo, shave, and teeth brushing/flossing exercise. As noted above, your routine is going to take a different shape thanks to the coronavirus but it doesn’t mean you should stop washing your hands or any other cleaning ritual.

4 – Try To Keep A Daily Routine In Place

This is going to be a challenge. However, if you try to keep some sort of structure into your day, it will make dealing with it and everyone else in your house a little easier. It can be something as basic as eating meals at 8:00 AM, 12 Noon, and 5:00 PM daily. It could be hitting the treadmill each day at 11:00 AM or watching a favorite program nightly. The routine you maintain will help you to make it through those days when you needed a scheduled event.

5 – Dress For The Day, Regardless Of What Day It Is

While it may be tempting to live in your PJs for a few days, weeks, months, self-isolation survival requires that you refrain from this. Yes, COVID-19 has effectively taken away a number of your freedoms, and staying in your jammies is a right that you can still claim and hold on to. However, there will be a day when you have yet to have changed your clothes where you may just mentally give up and never leave your bed. Don’t be that guy, pull on some jeans.

6 – Keep As Fit As You Can Without Access To A Gym

Even if you don’t have a treadmill or home gym of any kind, you can still keep your body strong and fit by improvising. Hey, think about it, with self-isolation you are already improvising somewhat so doing things to stay fit using whatever is in your surroundings is an extension on that. If there are stairs in your home, that is the first place to go. Look around your home and see what you can use to create your very own fitness routine and follow it regularly.

7 – Stay In Contact With Friends and Family

The internet and your phone will fast become two of your most vital tools the longer you are in self-isolation. That’s because both of them will give you the means to keep in contact with others. It gives your children a way to communicate with their friends and with video chat programs, you can host regular meetings of friends and family. This is an important element in maintaining your mental wellbeing so encourage everyone in the house to reach out.

8 – Eat Your Peas, Carrots and Other Veggies

Now more than ever, you need to eat as healthy as you can. You need your strength and something to get your mind off of all the drive-in food you are missing. This can be part of your daily routine – healthy meal planning. You will be amazed at how easy it is to start eating poorly just because of something like a pandemic occupying your mind. If everyone in the house with you eats well, it will help all of you to cope with the overall situation with ease.

9 – Start A Game Night Or Share A Hobby

You could call it a form of distraction, but in reality you are trying to fill time with something fun to keep everyone thinking about something other than coronavirus. If you have some board games, now is the time to fish them out of storage and creating a game night. Or, if you have a hobby you can share or encourage others in your home to discover their own hobby, time will pass a little smoother. Plus, hobbies are fun and help with creativity.

In Conclusion

Self-isolation is not a bad thing if you know how to get through it. Hopefully, the suggestions above have inspired you to explore ways to keep your sanity during this very insane time in our lives that has resulted from COVID-19.