LIFE SKILLS PEOPLE ARE LEARNING IN QUARANTINE #quarantinetaughtme

Boredom. Cabin fever. Languor. These are a few of the quarantine woes! Nevertheless, allow me to introduce you to the positives of staying at home and social distancing for a while. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, 7 life skills that people are learning in this season, which you should too if you haven’t already.

1. MASTERING THE ART OF BEING ALONE

First of all, these weeks in quarantine have unleashed in a lot of us a level of independence and resourcefulness we didn’t know we possessed. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve learnt to do so many things that prior to the quarantine we didn’t imagine we could. For one, my dad has discovered the art of barbing his own hair, which he’s very excited about. I personally have learnt to bake better and I imagine a lot of you are cooking more in this season. As an introvert, it hasn’t been difficult at all staying at home. However, I recognize that all of this has been quite the challenge for those on the other end of the spectrum. I do have a trick for you if you are that person who is losing it in this time. Since you can’t go out and “party” as usual, be the party. Create your own fun. Being alone is not as ridiculous as it sounds. It could be a wonderful experience. It would give you an opportunity to not only discover new things about yourself, but about other people, and things. This situation is not going to last forever but what you get out of this personal time and space could be with you for a while. So make it worth your time.

2. ENTERTAINING YOURSELF

Social distancing has been such an incredible eye opener for a lot of people. Many are getting CREATIVE! I have seen so many ideas of games to play by yourself and things to do alone on YouTube that I imagine some people would be plain upset that they had been spending so much money on “fun” whereas the Realio-Dealio was free all along. All this time at home is spewing a lot of creative juices which is great. I think it is such an amazing thing to be able to entertain yourself when you are alone because the fact is that we’re are not always going to have company and it would be horrible to tie your ability to have a good time and be happy to another person.

3. SELF-DISCIPLINE

Personally, quarantine has taught me a pretty good lesson. I used to be that person who would use tissue paper for random things like dust surfaces, dab sweat, and as Nigerians would say every-every, but now I know better. Tissue paper is ONLY for special events. I am certain that the quarantine has taught you to do better with your resources as well and to exercise some self discipline because we all need it. A lot of my friends have reported that they have piled on the quarantine pounds because who’s to tell them that they can’t eat at once all those cookies stashed in the house supposed to last for weeks? Discipline! It is very important that we pick that up with immediate effect. It makes such a difference every life.

4. APPRECIATING ACTIVITY

photo by Andrea Piacquadio from pexels

Many of us probably took for granted the ease with which we were able to move about freely and get together with friends and family whenever we wanted to before this paradigm shift. I mean, it didn’t seem like a big of a deal because we just could but now things are different. All that while we were enjoying such a major blessing and we didn’t realize it! Quarantine is opening our eyes to recognize our blessings and is teaching us gratitude. Everything that we have and can do is a blessing from God that we shouldn’t take for granted, even being able to stay at home.

5. TIME MANAGEMENT

It is very easy to get carried away with all of the free time it looks like we have and then lose it all. You tell yourself, “Oh, I’ll do it later, the day is long” but before you know it, it is 1AM of the next day and the previous day is gone. Time will always progress whether you do something with it or not so it is great to still have a plan, even in quarantine. Quarantine has already shocked a number of us with how much of the year has been spent dealing with this pandemic so if you haven’t already, come up with a plan to achieve something while staying safe at home. I plan to shock my friends with a major transformation at the end of social distancing. What’s your plan?

6. TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

photo by Burak K from pexels

If you have anything to do in quarantine, maybe you’re working from home now, or maybe you just set goals for yourself to achieve while at home, follow through and take responsibility. Nobody is going to come to your home and make you workout. Nobody is going to remind you to take your vitamins. Nobody should have to remind you to eat. Take responsibility for yourself. That’s what being an adult is all about. Don’t allow yourself to come out of quarantine feeling ashamed because you just didn’t put precedence on your priorities. Taking responsibility for yourself is not just something you should learn and do in quarantine. Take responsibility for yourself all the time.

7. RELAXATION

photo by Andrea Piacquadio from pexels

Don’t be caught up in hustle culture. It is wonderful to work and be productive but it is also sensible to create time for relaxation. Before now, the world was so busy with a lot of people refusing to take a break. Now, everybody has to. Don’t get so carried away with life and work that you forget to appreciate the little things. You could never exhaust work. What you can’t do, somebody else would so give yourself a break.

We have come to the end of life skills people are learning in quarantine. What are some of the things that life in quarantine has taught you? What would you like to have achieved by the end of this period? Let’s chat in the comments section. Meanwhile I hope you check out my other posts in the quarantine series here. Until we connect again, Stay Safe. XOXO.