After one week of remote learning it’s becoming apparent what sorts of actions I need to take to remain mentally, emotionally, and physically health. Habits help. Since my days are largely unstructured it takes some motivation to begin and finish tasks. Classes have been dialed back and this week we had two sessions versus an average of eight during on-campus weeks. Furthermore, on campus, I was surrounded by motivated people working towards a common goal, whether a group project or an exam. The study rooms were usually full, and team break-out rooms had one or two people from your group pretty regularly between 8am and 7pm.
This week has had its ups and downs, but the trend is positive. Each day I’ve added or pruned something from my actions that now, on Friday, I’m feeling confident and productive. Some of these include:
- Moving my tasks offline onto a notepad. I generally keep my to-do list on my phone, but a natural byproduct of isolation is that digital communication goes way up. My whatsapp and twitter are far more active than pre-covid. This resulted in far more distraction via notifications and my phone became a bigger time-drain than usual.
- Exercise in the morning. The roads are much quieter and it sets the tone.
- An evening walk. It’s like living in the 1930s. The streets are quiet, there’s no tourists, and it’s only your neighbors around. Everyone is very keen to talk, albeit a meter away from each other. It also acts as a ritual to close my work day. Otherwise I end up feeling guilty that I didn’t do more.
- Cleanliness. I’ve found I have a much lower tolerance for dirt while I’m self quarantined. Interestingly, I read that a common principle among prison gangs is also cleanliness. When you are cooped up somewhere dirt is harmful for your sanity.
- Alcohol. Not gonna lie, that glass of wine in the evenings is essential.
- Water. I’ve upped my intake to five liters a day.
All of these actions or rituals have contributed positively to my health, and were not actions that I consistently completed before the crisis. I find mixing these in with my personal projects and school work keeps me motivated longer, and allows me some good headspace. Finally, if you are more interested in habits, and want to use this time to generate some excellent ones, I recommend James Clear’s Atomic Habits. It’s a great book and his website also contains excellent blog posts about getting started.
Stay healthy people!