COVID-19 – 6 Tips to Observe While Staying at Home

If and you’ve been inside for days on end amid the COVID-19 pandemic, you might be getting a little stir-crazy — or at the very least, feeling bored. At first, the thought of this may have freaked you out. It’s not exactly easy for a person who thrives in social settings and enjoys daily interactions with people. 

You may feel frustrated or lonely. You may also be low, worried or anxious, or concerned about your finances, your health or those close to you.

Remember, this situation is temporary and, for most of us, these difficult feelings will pass. Staying at home may be difficult, but you are helping to protect yourself and others by doing it.

The tips and advice here are things you can do now to help you keep on top of your mental well-being and cope with how you may feel while staying at home.

1.   Stay connected with others

Call, text, email or video chat with your friends and family. Just because you’re socially distancing doesn’t mean that you can’t connect. Research has shown that social support can make you more resilient to stress

2.   Educate yourself

Use your time wisely – there are loads of educational materials online that you can study - like learning a new language or a new skill. There are many apps in the “app or google play store” which teaches a new language or skill from scratch.

3.   Look after your body

Our physical health has a big impact on how we feel. At times like these, it can be easy to fall into unhealthy patterns of behaviour that end up making you feel worse.

Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, drink enough water and exercise regularly. Avoid smoking or drugs, and try not to drink too much alcohol.

You can leave your house, alone or with members of your household, for 1 form of exercise a day – like a walk, run or bike ride. But make sure you keep a safe 2-metre distance from others. Or you could try a google play app “home workout” for easy 10-minute home workouts.

4.   Do not stay glued to the news

Try to limit the time you spend watching, reading or listening to coverage of the outbreak, including on social media, and think about turning off breaking-news alerts on your phone.

You could set yourself a specific time to read updates or limit yourself to checking a couple of times a day.

5.   Listen to (or play) music

Singing has been shown to improve people’s mental health and sense of belonging.  Listening to music can help people in the face of a scary and stressful experience; a study on cancer patients found that music reduced anxiety and pain, while bolstering people’s moods.

6.   Look after your sleep

Good-quality sleep makes a big difference to how we feel, so it's important to get enough.

Try to maintain your regular sleeping pattern and stick to good sleep practices.

These are but a few tips to help you through these challenging times. You can add your ideas to the list by writing them in the comments section.

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