Keeping Sanity in a Dorm – Amit (India)

Hey there, I hope you’re doing great during the quarantine and your spirits are still high! This indoor adventure has just begun. With that in mind I offer you some of my views.

Always a Bright Side

On one side, most of us are already feeling like an eternity has passed since we last went out with our friends and family. The news is depressing yet essential at the same time.

If we look at the brighter side, it’s a way to be entertained when we can’t leave our homes! These troubled times have also given us a chance to develop skills we always wanted, to enjoy our own company, and, maybe, a chance to become our own best friend.

A Little Advice About Staying Home Without Going Crazy

So, dear readers, behold some free advice from my side on how to stay productive as well as distracted while on lockdown (let’s all be a bit optimistic here and hope this too shall pass).

1. ONLINE COURSES. One can take free courses from Coursera or OpenLearn in various domains. It can significantly improve your CV in the near future.
2. ONLINE CONCERTS. You can also look out free online concerts from various global artists like Coldplay, John Legend, etc. Check this space for more information.
3. HOME GYM. I know how lazy some of us are when it comes to gym plans. But right now, staying fit is of utmost importance for most of us. Utilizing just half an hour of your day for a bit of yoga, meditation or exercising can go a long way. You can refer ample of YouTube videos about working out at home without equipment.
4. HEALTHY HOME DIET. Eat small amounts of healthy food every two to three hours to keep your metabolism going. It will avoid overeating due to quarantine boredom.
5. HOME COOKING. Cook up a storm in the kitchen! Look out for easy recipes to cook here. Also, be sure to check online – BBC’s Good Food recipes.
6. HOME WRITING.Pursue that poetry or blog idea you always had in your head, but never got much time to write it down.
7. RECLUSE GAMER. You can also play games like Mario kart Zone or UNO online with your friends. A brief list of all games played online are here (please don’t mind the name of game #11, LOL).
8. INDOOR ARTIST.It’s that phase when you could bring your window view to canvas or a sketch. If not, prepare a time-lapse from your room window. Here’s a look from my window (clicked over a period of time). I guess I was in quarantine since long before everything started.
9. HOME THEATER. Movie Marathons! It’s time you watched Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings from start to finish. Unleash your cinephilia on Netflix or binge watch Amazon Prime, or if you have more subtle taste, try MUBI (which is now free for three months!) If interested, you can also look out for free documentaries to watch here.
10. HOME LAB. In these times of crisis, it is hard for many of us to get hand sanitizers in supermarkets and pharmacies. The World Health Organization has published a guide to help you make some sanitizer at home itself.

And last but not least…

Relax! It can become overwhelming to think about being inside for 14 days or longer. Try to tackle each day as it comes and don’t think about being stuck inside.

Stay safe everyone!