How to make the best out of the lockdown (and stay sane)

So it has begun... The greatest global lockdown in modern history. Half of Europe, like many other parts of the world, is stuck at home desperately trying to telework and isolate themselves from others to contain the #COVID19 pandemic. How not to go crazy these days, being stuck in your apartment for hours and hours, and even take an advantage out of the situation? I have some first-hand expertise to share with you. So take 5 minutes (you definitely have the time now!) and listen to the (self-declared) expert...

The perils of home office

Since last fall, I have been mainly staying at home searching for new job opportunities and working (online) for Chaperone, a startup connecting researchers with career consultants. Yes, I did go out to meet with friends, network, attend conferences and job interviews. But I am not the type that would work from a library, abuse my Netflix subscription or hang out in the park reading a book. Instead, I developed my own schedule that allowed me to enjoy my time at home and make the best out of it. I am sharing it with you now, because I really think it can be useful to cope with the #StayHomeChallenge.

Are you ready? Here we go!

Start your day with power

What really sets the tone for the whole day is how (and when) you start your morning. I found out that, as tempting as it is, sleeping in late makes you lazy and demotivated for the whole day. You will also have a problem with falling asleep at night, and you might find yourself in a vicious cycle; you start going to bed later and later, overwatching Netflix and having no energy to get up in the morning. So set that alarm clock, even if the server doesn't work and you will not be able to connect with your work email.

Ok, so you got up and now what? If you don't have kids or a dog to walk, it might be tempting to stay in your PJs and follow the news, getting a mild panic attack while you're sipping your first coffee of the day. What I propose instead is a 5-min session of stretching (alternatively yoga), followed by a short run. Coronavirus is not contagious if you are outdoors and keep a distance from others, so you have no excuse to not to get out of the house! 20 - 30 min of a moderate speed jog is just enough: you will sweat anyway, but the exercise is not too demanding, so you can do it every single day! It will make your blood running, give you a good dose of oxygen and will help you produce endorphins to keep you happy for the whole day. There's also a psychological bonus: you will feel like you already accomplished something before breakfast, so you will be more eager to do more that day, after such a brilliant start.

What to do? The possibilities are endless!

How not to get insane in the home confinement? Simply keep yourself occupied. Teleworking might keep you busy for some hours during the day, but think also about all these others things you always said you wanted / had to do, but could never find time for it. The books you put on your reading list. Emails you owe your friends and family. Foreign languages you were learning at some point, but then stopped because of ............... <space to fill in> reason. Professional training you wanted to follow (there are planty of online resources + online coaches to turn to!). Hobbies you wanted to pick up on: guitar, juggling, painting. How about cooking? Gardening anyone? When was the last time you had a nice long bath? Oh, and yes. It's not all rosy. There are other less pleasant items you should consider too. Your admin files have been pilling up for years? Is it finally time to make this retirement plan you've been postponing for so long? Or maybe you should make your CV look amazing and re-connect (virtually please!) with your professional contacts in search of new job opportunities? The possibilities are endless, but I especially recommend activities that will somehow help you grow, professionally or personally.

Now make one big list with everything that comes to your mind and then put all items into two groups: recurrent tasks (like learning a new language or a daily meditation) and one-off items (such as putting your papers in order or planting flowers on your balcony).

Next, look closely at items in each of the sub-groups...

For the long-term recurrent tasks, pick those that you find the most important for you and ideally the ones that are not only useful, but also give you some kind of satisfaction / joy. Limit yourself to max. three items, so that you don't risk having too much on your plate and ending up not doing any of it. The rest of the items you can cross out. In my own example, I chose to study French to pass a language certification (my exam took place just before the virus outbreak, luckily!), train myself as a scrum master (and get a job in this doman!), and do meditations as part of my everyday.

Now, let's come back to the one-off tasks. They might be less pleseant, but they are still useful and you better get them done now that you finally have time for it. Prioritise them in order of importance, i.e. which ones you want to complete first because they are the most urgent. The rest of the items will be 'on hold' until you complete the first priority. In my example, for the one-off category I first chose to put my house in order (get rid of old clothes, magazines and old laptops, organise my papers, etc.), after which I moved to cleaning up my email account from old messages and subsriptions to newsletters I never read, after which I went to rearranging my work space at home, and so forth.

How to do what you said you would do?

This is is where the challenge really lies, but with a little bit of self-determination and planning, you can get over it! Keeping a kind-of-a structure during the week is crucial to make the best out of the lockdown. What I recommend is a weekly plan in which you will include all the recurrent activities you chose to pursue and the one-off tasks in the priority order, one or two for each week. This way, you will create a nice structure for the whole week ahead, giving yourself realistic expectations and a sustainable pace.

I found out it was very important for me to physically write my weekly schedule. You can make your weekly agenda on a piece of paper, in your notebook, or on a board. You can use sticky note, highlighters or a just a simple pencil. There is only one rule: you need to make the weekly planning visible to you throughout each day and cross out the items once you have completed them. For this purpose, I bought myself a beautiful calendar which I always carry with me and update almost obsessively. It is really up to you to see what works best. It might be sticky notes on your desk, or a piece of paper hanging on the fridge. Whatever works.

Ready to fill in your weekly agenda? Start with the recurrent activities. They should be fixed (more or less) on the same days every week. For example, I decided to study French for one hour on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, spend Monday and Wednesday mornings learning about agile methodologies, work on my CV and applications every Tuesday and do meditations every day after or during my morning run. The recurrent activities will help you keep a structure of your week, even if you don't have that much to do, and make you feel like there is a certain continuity and progress. In the times of a lockdown, I would totally recomend to make a 40 min walk a daily recurrent activity always at the same time, so that you can relax and get some fresh air.

Of course, you might need to add a full-time job to this equation. In this case, I would recommend you to first put your estimated working hours in the weekly planning, and only then add the reocurrent activities. And you really don't have to be too ambitious: even 15 min of learning Spanish a day will allow you to understand the basics of the language next time you'll find yourself in South America.

Now, the one-off items. Most of them will be unpleseant but useful. Once you prioritise them, try to make sure that at least one of these tasks is included in your planning every week. Try to complete them early in the week, so that you have a feeling of accomplishement and joy from the fact that it's already done and you don't have to worry abut it anymore. Don't forget to cross out these items from the weekly planning once you complete them. I guarantee, you will love it!

Reward yourself, but only for what you have already accomplished

I know that binge watching and browsing photos of cute puppies on social media might be tempting, but in reality, overdosing such activities will make you feel hollow, guilty and bored in the long run. We are homo sapiens, and homo sapiens need some intelectual stimultion to feel well. So stay strong and don't overdo it! Instead, use gratifications as a reward for what you have already completed. You studied Spanish hard today? You have a right to watch an episode of that stupid series that you somehow also find funny. You just revamped your CV? Well done, you won a right for one hour of a no-brainer on Instagram. You exercised your abs for 15 min today? Good for you, your favourite ice cream is waiting! Just try to be your own parent and set the limits for yourself.

Keep on going and don't give up

Don't give up if in the first week your planning falls into pieces already on Tuesday. Don't give up if the same happens to your week number two, five and eight. Reflect rather on why it happened. Maybe you overestimated how much you can do it one week? Maybe you were just in a bad mood and didn't get enough time outside of the flat? Don't be too harsh on yourself, but also don't let it ruin your rythm. Just keep on going. And you know what? In the long term, you will see a real difference. Maybe you will still not speak Spanish like Cervantes, but next time you are in Colombia, you will know exactly how not to order an intestine stew (yes, it does exist! Just checked with my good Colombian friend to be sure.)

Lockdown? Bring it on!

I know that the idea of being stuck at home for weeks to come might sound a little bit overwhelming at first sight. But believe me, it's not at all that bad. I've been through it already in the recent period of my professional transition. Just take the lockdown as an opportunity to create something for yourself and grow personally and professionally. So get ready and good luck!