How Do You Stay Happy (And Productive) in Quarantine?
ANNA ZHOU, ‘18
ANNA ZHOU, AN ECONOMICS AND PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR AT YALE UNIVERSITY, IS ONE OF MANY COLLEGE SENIORS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED AN ABRUPT END TO THEIR TIME ON CAMPUS. NOW THAT SHE IS HOME, ANNA SHARES SOME OF HER FAVORITE WAYS TO SPEND HER TIME.
To all of my fellow seniors: I know it definitely feels like we got the short end of the stick.
I think I speak for all of us when I say we were looking forward to the end of senior spring – a time to celebrate, stay up until the wee hours laughing with friends and cap it off with walking across a stage in front of friends and family. I’ve been told that I’m often too optimistic, but I think that when this all blows over and we can finally celebrate in-person, get-togethers will feel even more special.
In the meantime, I’m still quarantined in Boston and I still have a thesis and three papers to write. I’ve tried to take up time by making “easy no fail” banana bread, “foolproof” hand-pulled noodles and 3-ingredient cookies. Definitely super fun, but I still am trying to graduate! Here are some ways I’m trying to stay happy and ALSO productive:
Blocking out one-hour chunks! Rather than working for 5 minutes and then getting distracted by TikToks or quarantine memes for the rest of the hour, I’ve found that one-hour blocks of uninterrupted work time helps me get so much done. I put these in my calendar at the beginning of the week and try to plan Zoom catch-ups, TV and family time around these.
Running and doing yoga!
I’ve been going on runs alone on the trail behind my house. Not only does this boost my mood and release endorphins but it also boosts my immune system!
When the weather outside is gross (welcome to New England!), I try to get in at least 20 minutes of yoga. I’ve been using this awesome app called Down Dog. It is currently free for students until July 1, 2020.
You can personalize your yoga practice as needed, boosting areas of your body that you would like to stretch out more. You can also modify the duration of your practice from 8 minutes to 90 minutes – honestly you could probably fit in a full yoga practice during your Hulu ads.
Joining Zoom studying sessions! Some of my friends and I have started using Zoom to write our essays together. One of us sends around a link at a specific time and the rest of us hop on. After catching up for around 5 minutes, we all mute ourselves and get to work! I’ve found that having my friends there virtually helps me stay focused on the task at hand.
Making a “To Do” list! It’s been pretty easy to lose track of time. Even at home in quarantine, I feel like I have a billion little things to do every day. It’s been super helpful for me to quickly jot down everything I have to do that day on a little notepad. On the bright side, it’s pretty satisfying to physically cross things off of a list!
Any other tips for how to make the most of your time?
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