As of this writing, the global COVID-19 pandemic is ensuring that much of the world’s population is currently stuck at home in a state of quarantine.
Whether you are reading this article during the current quarantine period, or whether you are reading it in completely different circumstances but are nonetheless stuck at home for some reason, it certainly can’t hurt to have a few pointers at hand that you can use in order to help ensure your time spent indoors is used fruitfully.
So, here are just a few tips for using your time fruitfully when stuck at home.
Work on identifying and managing those aspects of your life that lead you off track
We all have certain things that we want to achieve in our lives, and certain visions of the person we would ideally like to be.
What stops us from moving towards those ideals is – probably more than anything else – those assorted everyday habits, stumbling blocks, and distractions that throw us off track, divert our attention and energy, and sap our motivation.
One of the best ways you can use your time when stuck at home, is to work on identifying and managing those aspects of your life that lead you off track. One way to manage this is by doing a thoughtful inventory of your positive and negative habits, as advocated by James Clear, among others.
Another way is to simply track how you spend the majority of your time each day, potentially using a timesheet such as the one suggested by Laura Vanderkam, author of “168 Hours.” From there you can gauge how much of your time is being wasted.
Often, just a couple of substantial changes can lead to a really dramatic series of improvements.
Begin setting goals and planning for the future
Do you have some sort of idea for a future business that you would like to turn into a reality? Or maybe there’s a particular physical event you’d like to participate in, like a marathon?
Time spent at home is naturally useful for introspection – but don’t let it be only absent-minded daydreaming.
Sit down with a pen and paper and actually start setting some goals for yourself, and planning for the future.
What steps would you need to take in order to move closer to your goals? Perhaps that business idea of yours would require you to buy platform scales. Maybe getting marathon ready would require a particular training regimen upfront.
Either way, begin planning for the future.
Follow a body weight exercise routine
It’s difficult to overstate just how valuable exercise is.
For one thing, contrary to all the meathead stereotypes, exercise is one of the few things proven to improve cognitive function.
For another thing, exercise helps to boost immune function and mood – just as long as you don’t dramatically overdo it.
If you’re stuck at home and don’t have a convincing home gym setup, never fear. There are all sorts of effective body-weight exercise routines and programs out there, that can get you into great shape with little if any equipment at all.
So, whether you want to use certain interactive exercise services, or whether you want to simply piece together your own workout routine after a quick web search, look into body-weight fitness.
