Recently, the world woke up to a desperate situation with the spread of a pandemic at alarming levels. The initial panic and mismanagement were soon followed by sane reasoning and rational ways of dealing with the situation. The rise in positive COVID-19 cases on a daily basis along with an increasing shortage of hospital beds has brought to the fore the idea of self-isolation as an effective alternative. However, self-isolation and quarantine due to medical purposes is not an alien concept. It dates back to thousands of years when the world had suffered such pandemics like cholera, leprosy, plague, etc., which were all considered untreatable at that time. Yet, surviving self-isolation is not easy. If you, or someone close to you, are currently self-isolated due to medical reasons, then here are some simple ways to survive it.
Be Regular With Your Medications
Let’s face it – the real reason you are self-isolating is your ill health. It is quite natural to initially get demotivated by knowing your health condition. However, try to move over quickly and focus on getting well soon. And, one of the first ways to do this is to be regular with your medications. Also, avoid skipping blood tests, if any, & be regular with scheduled doctor visits. All this helps you in knowing if your condition is improving with the line of treatment.
Take Your Meals On Time
Another important step to improve your condition is to take your meals on time. Sometimes, sickness makes you averse to food, even the one that you liked earlier. It could also be possible that you would be asked to avoid certain types of food while adding some other types by your doctor. Such dietary changes are usually not easy to adhere to. However, remember that it is only for a short while until your health improves. Also, the food you eat helps in providing you with the necessary nutrition to bounce back!
Create A Schedule And Stick To It
While being on self-isolation, boredom is inevitable. Eventually, it can make you quite irritable. However, this situation can be completely avoided for the entire duration of your self-isolation. All you need to do is continue to stick to your pre-isolation days. Whether you are working from home or not, create a schedule for yourself nevertheless. Make sure you wake up, have your meals and medications, and indulge in other activities – all on a fixed time. While doing so, make sure you are flexible with it too. For instance, it is ok if you don’t feel like waking up at a particular time in the morning because you aren’t feeling too good that day.
Pursue A Hobby
Self-isolation can also mean plenty of time for self-reflection. In all likelihood, you might have been living a rushed life before the medical condition slowed you down. On a positive note, this could be the right time to kick-start all those creative ideas that had been piling up for a while now. From learning a musical instrument, knitting, gardening to other art forms such as painting or sketching, it’s time to jump right into them!
Do Not Cut Off Communication
Self-isolation does not mean cutting off entirely from your social circle. Barring physical interaction, you should continue to communicate with your immediate family, close friends, and even your office colleagues as usual. Today’s technology has more or less changed the way we interact socially. While you can always get on a call with anyone, you can as easily switch to the ‘video mode’ if you are missing fact-to-face interaction. What’s more? Such video interactions are not limited to one or two people but can include as many as you wish through conference calls. So, make sure you keep up with it to drive away those lonely blues!
Give Yourself Some Downtime
Let us admit. Despite all the scheduling of routines and making lifestyle changes, chances are that you might not feel like following them entirely at some point. At such times, you might just wish to laze around or sleep for extended hours to simply recharge your batteries. And when this happens, don’t feel guilty or beat yourself about it. Your body as well as your mind require some downtime. However, don’t let it bog you down for too long, though. Treat it like a cheat day in dieting. Cherish it for a short while but only with the intent of bouncing back the next day.
Don’t Neglect Grooming
“What is the need to groom yourself when no one’s going to see?” you might ask. But hey, isn’t grooming all about pleasing oneself too? Often, when someone falls sick, basic grooming takes a beating. But, those overgrown beards, untrimmed nails, and oily scalp make you feel all the more sick. Even though you might be tending to yourself, make sure you keep yourself well-groomed. This applies to change into clean outfits every day or at least on alternate days. This way, you’ll feel fresh and confident about yourself despite the self-isolation.
Look At The Brighter Side
Haven’t there been times when you would have longed for some “me” time? We all would have wished for it at some point or the other. Due to our busy schedules though, this would have seemed like a distant dream. However, now that you are in self-isolation, approach this difficult situation like a blessing in disguise. This is probably ‘the’ me-time that you were always longing for. Use this time to understand yourself better. Listen to your body. Meditate. Relax. Inhale deeply. In the end, make this the most productive phase of your life instead of one which you’d want to forget as soon as possible.
Self-isolation on medical grounds isn’t a walk in the park by any terms. However, it is also not the demon it is often made out to be. With some patience and endurance, we’re sure you’ll come out a winner from this phase. And while you are at it, we hope that the tips provided above come in handy as well.