These are challenging days especially if you are not used to being home so much. My heart goes out to all those who are sick and losing loved ones. This time is not something to take lightly.
But there is also an opportunity for those of us who are home and well just doing our part to keep as many people healthy as we can.
There is time to do many things that we didn’t have time for before. To start something new. Improve on something old. To bring some joy in the struggle to ourselves and our families. To possibly make the world a better place even in this.
It is easy to get focused on what we don’t have, wanting more or different. But in Exodus 4:2 of the Bible, God asked Moses a very wise question. What do you have?
“And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.”
And then God used that simple rod to help deliver His people.
So now at this time when we are feeling bored, down, and stuck, we can take a look around us. Appreciate what we do have and see what we can do with it.
Below are some ideas to explore to get you started. I will start with the lifestyle stuff and move into more of the business side so feel free to scroll down to what you are looking for but remember we need to improve on both for balance and joy. And don’t miss number 10!
Lifestyle Improvements for While in Self Quarantine
1. Self-Care
I want to start with this because we are feeling the stress around the world. And just distracting ourselves with a ton of activity may not be the healthiest way to process everything that is happening.
I cannot stress enough the importance of getting good rest. Having a morning routine that gets you up and going like the process in The Miracle Morning. In The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod calls his morning combination the SAVERS which stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing. You can implement these however you want with prayer, journaling, a quick online workout, your favorite devotional or book. Make the routine work for you as your normal morning has likely changed.
Getting dressed can also help us feel a lot better instead of staying in our PJs though I know it’s tempting. And your PJs could be hiding weight gain from all that baking we’ve been doing.
I saw a Facebook post this week that said,
PSA: Try your jeans on every few days because Pajamas will have you thinking all is well in the Kingdom!
Facebook Post
I had to laugh. Which brings me to another important aspect of self-care: Humor.
It does not mean that we are not taking what is happening seriously. Laughter is a great stress reliever.
Remember: The world needs you healthy and charged right now more than ever.
2.Family and Friends
Maybe you are home together with your family for the first time in a long time, or maybe you are in different households. If together you can play games, cook meals, and enjoy each others company. If at a distance you can still have a cup of coffee together over video chat, start a book club online, or even watch something together in different places and discuss.
Being physically isolated does not mean we have to be completely socially isolated.
You could call someone that you have not talked to in a long time to reconnect. Or check in on someone you know who lives in another town or even another country to see how things are going there and offer some encouragement. I have been in touch with people in 5 different countries over the last couple of weeks and it is interesting to hear different perspectives.
Schedule in some calls or prerecord a message and send to someone you love to lift their day. You can use Skype, Zoom, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and more. We have a lot of technology.
Check out this recent interview on Loneliness and Connection with Kat Vellos
3.Spring Cleaning
Maybe you have had cleaning out your closet or garage on your list for a long time. Now is a great time to do some deeper cleaning in your living or office space. Cleaning out things feels good. You could even do a digital clean.
Martha Stewart has some tips for spring cleaning your house.
You can save items you don’t want for donation later. I like to even rearrange our furniture in different rooms while I’m spring cleaning. It makes the space feel new and fresh and can give you motivation and inspiration. Plus if you have your family home right now you have more help. You could turn on some fun music and make it a game.
Here’s some inspiration for your Home Office
This is also a great time to go ahead and repair items in your home that are broken that you can fix yourself or repaint items that are outdated if you have the supplies. Hello art projects! Doing this now will make your life more organized and easier later when you are back busy again.
4.Commit To A Challenge
If you are finding it hard to motivate yourself to spring clean, exercise, or even get dressed in the morning there is probably a group challenge online you can join to help with that. I am currently in a challenge with Rose Jubb of Style Class™ where we are motivating each other just to get dressed each day for 5 days, even if it’s comfy clothes, and sharing the pictures.
I am also planning on starting a workout challenge with my favorite YouTube workout instructor Lucy Wyndham-Read who has a free 30 Day Shred playlist.
You can find challenges online for almost anything. Invite a friend and help motivate each other to get something done or do something fun.
5.Take A Tour
A virtual tour that is!
I got this idea in an email from Ally Bank. They shared this Washington Post article full of free virtual museum tours.
12 historic sites you can virtually tour from the couch during the coronavirus outbreak
I checked a tour of The Louvre and got to move around and learn some things that I did not know.
There are also a lot of Vloggers on YouTube that have uploaded video tours so you can journey along.
6.Batch Cook
Stocked up on ingredients?
You could spend a few days creating and cooking meals to put in the freezer for later. Batch cooking can save you time, money, and keep you and your family eating healthy. Know someone who is having an extra hard time or has a baby on the way? You could even do some cooking to share.
Soups, sauces, gravies, and pies this page from BBC GoodFood should get you started!
Bon Appetit has a great list too Meal Prep These 97 Big-Batch Recipes and Eat Well All Week Rather watch a video? There is always YouTube. Batch Cooking and Meal Prepping Videos
Need inspiration to up your culinary skills? My husband and I just finished the 2019 season of MasterChef Professionals UK. So good! Take this time to try new recipes. If you enjoy cooking and baking this is so much fun and you may discover new family favorites.
Business Improvements While in Self Quarantine
7.Start And Grow A Business
Have you always dreamed of starting a business? Now could be the time to work on it. It does not have to be a full-time thing. You could use your skills to start a side hustle. It could be an Etsy shop, a services business, freelance writing, design, or photography. There are so many options.
I have a series of interviews called That Side Hustle here at Immensely Social if you need inspiration. Some side hustles even turn into full-time dream careers later.
There are so many resources out there to help you from books and online courses to videos and podcasts.
My affiliate partner Ultimate Bundles just launched the Grow Your Business Bundle 2020 which has loads of resources that are available just for a few days. Marketing & Branding, Business Growth & Operations, Traffic & Lead Generation, Profit Margins & Revenue, Product Development, and more.
And a website!
It could be a great time to finally start that website you’ve been thinking about too. I use and recommend WP Engine for web hosting here at Immensely Social and I love StudioPress themes for WordPress. Currently, I have Brunch Pro. It’s a great, easy theme even if your website is not food-related.
8.Work On Personal Branding
We’ve seen through COVID-19 how quickly our work lives can change. Even if you are working full-time for a company, it can be a good idea to create a personal brand online. This can be a website and social media profiles that express your skills and who you are. It is a home base for you and your work.
It can help you network, find a new job when needed, and branch out into new areas, start a side hustle like we just talked about, or even teach an online course.
Learn how to monetize your content, grow your audience, and create quality course content at Amplify 2020.Forbes has some tips: 10 Golden Rules Of Personal Branding Goldie Chan quotes Michelle Phan in that article,
My quick tip on personal branding is to remember you are your brand, no matter what your current job is, what project you happen to be working on at any one time or whatever the priority happens to be today… always keep in mind the impact you leave on others and remember all we have is our own reputation and that’s our brand , so be awesome to each other!
Michelle Phan
9.Review Your Social Media Profiles
This one is realted to growing a business and personal branding.
When was the last time you updated the bios and links in your social media profiles?
Have a look over your profiles and see if anything is outdated. Does your bio tell the true story of who you are now? We change and grow in our careers and often forget to update everything. There’s a post to help here: How To Craft Epic Social Media Bios
You could create some new banners to better represent where you are now too. My favorite resources for that are Canva and BeFunky. Don’t forget to look at your color schemes.
You may want to do a mini rebrand just by changing the background colors in your headshots or avatars. Here’s a post to help This Genius DIY Replace Color Tool May Just Change Your Life. It’s a great tool if you want to work on your personal and family photos also.
10.Dream, Regroup, and Adapt
Learning how to deal with change is hard. Sometimes we just get discouraged. But we can never stop dreaming. If you have been so busy before the self quarantine that you don’t even know what your dreams are anymore take this time to stop and regroup yourself.
Have a look at your personal and business life. Have you gotten a bit lost? See what is working and what isn’t. Write it down. Forgive yourself for the things that are not working so well and figure out what you can do to change those. Write out a plan of action to do so and take one step at a time.
Congratulate yourself on the things that are working well. And express gratitude for any area that you can see a blessing in no matter how small.
Learn to be flexible about the “how” without sacrificing your dreams.
I could share many more things but I truly hope this list of ten gets you started taking action while taking care of yourself and resting too. If you found something helpful here, share this post with a friend. We’re all in this together. And leave me a comment about how you are managing in this self quarantine for COVID-19.
I truly wish you a blessed life. Prayers
There are a lot of links and resources in this post so be sure to Pin it to come back to later whether you are in self quarantine or not!
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