How To Stay Sane In The Face Of A Crisis

Telecommuting. Self-isolation. Quarantines. Social distancing.

The Wuhan CoronaVirus or COVID-19 has crippled governments around the world and resulted in massed lockdowns all over Europe and Asia. In many countries, entire cities have been quarantined as governments push to contain this now global pandemic.

Despite dozens of initiatives to keep the spread of COVID-19 under control, we’re getting no closer to developing a vaccine for this highly contagious virus. Up to now, scientists have all agreed that social distancing still remains to be one of the most effective means of keeping the spread of COVID-19 in check.

Social distancing means avoiding large crowds and functions whilst maintaining a safe distance of at least six feet from another person. While effective, all of this can have a negative effect on one’s mental health.

Let’s face the facts, it’s hardly healthy to spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in solitary confinement. However, the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 means that most of us do not have much of a choice.

If you’re reading this article, chances are good that you’re like many of us; cooped up at home and bored out of our minds.

Rather than despairing, there are plenty of ways you can keep yourself sane during this troubling time period. From getting yourself back into shape to starting an online business, here’s a list of things that you can do to stop yourself from going over the edge.

1. Keep connected with your colleagues

To help keep the spread of COVID-19 under control, many employers have deemed it necessary to allow employees to work from home or telecommute where possible.

For some, this may initially seem like a real godsend. After all, no more lengthy commutes, no pesky managers and annoying colleagues, what could possibly be bad about working from home?

Well for starters, working from home for extended periods of time can take a toll on one’s mental health. From feelings of isolation and disconnection to the inability to switch off after a hard day’s work, working from home isn’t all fun and pajamas.

Chronic loneliness can lead to depression and put a real damper on your motivation to keep working. Furthermore, with things looking rather bleak, some employees may feel added pressure to prove their worth by appearing “extra busy”.

Instead of succumbing to feelings of helplessness, reach out regularly to your work colleagues via Skype or social media. This allows the team to maintain a sense of camaraderie and togetherness which is essential during tough times such as these.

2. Start exercising

Let’s face the facts, nobody likes to exercise and we’re always looking for excuses to avoid hitting the road or lifting some weights.

Now that you’re cooped up at home and with gyms being listed as one of the “hotspots” for CoronaVirus infection, it appears that you have even more of a reason to not exercise. Right?

Absolutely not.

With so much more free time on your hands, there can be absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t start getting back into shape. Forget heading to the gym or your local zumba class, everything you need to get into shape is available in the comfort of your own home.

Looking to lose some weight but don’t wanna head out?

High-intensity interval training or HIIT is the perfect type of workout. Focusing on full-body, body-weight exercises, HIIT sets can be done just about anywhere around the home. Even better still, with HIIT you’ll find yourself absolutely drenched in sweat in just 30 minutes.

Besides feeling fresh and amazing, you’ll be able to quickly tone and tighten every inch of your body. Imagine emerging from the COVID-19 quarantine looking absolutely ripped!

3. Try your hand at starting an online business

The spread of COVID-19 is no joke with some analysts citing fears that a global recession may hit all of us. Consequently, this could mean that some of us could possibly end up being unemployed and out of work.

This is without a doubt a very real and scary prospect, however there is still hope.

With the added free time that you’ll gain from locking yourself at home, there are plenty of opportunities for self-improvement. You can opt to take on a variety of online courses to sharpen our skills or try your hand at starting an online business. You could even consider an online degree or dpt course, to further your career.

Thanks to today’s globalized economy, the internet has become a source of income for many enterprising individuals. If you have a skill of any kind be it copywriting or accounting, chances are that you’ll be able to find someone who’s in need of a professional.

With sites such as Upwork or Fiverr, you’ll be able to easily sell your skills to clients on the hunt for good freelancers. Given the remote nature of the work, you won’t have to worry about being exposed to COVID-19.

Maybe it is also time to start investing into cryptocurrency and trading Bitcoins, as this eToro review from Cryptonews.com can show you. Cryptocurrency might seem like a shady business but in the context of a crisis it is actually the least likely to lose value.

Given the shape of things to come, we can expect things to become worse before they start improving. In the meantime, the best you can do is to focus on improving yourself while keeping your body in good shape.