My Plan To Avoid Boredom During Coronavirus Self-Isolation

Coronavirus Self-Isolation Help

There seems to be a lot of advice out there about how to spot the Coronavirus and what we should do if we have it, or if we think we have it, or if we have been in contact with someone who has it. The widespread panic is clearly visible in our shops with the empty shelves, so we are preparing for Coronavirus, but are we preparing for self-isolation?

In our household we have discussed the logistics of how we would self-isolate, what we would need and what we would need to do. We have also planned what we might do if we knew of other people outside of our household were self-isolating and what we’d do.

But once you're shut in your self-isolation room alone – what then? If you're sick that’s one thing, you’ll be ill in bed and sleeping – but what if you feel well. There’s only so much daytime TV you can watch before you go stir crazy!

For many people spending this amount of time alone may look like a holiday, but for many it will look like a prison sentence. Now is the time to be planning what you will spend all that time doing. I have been thinking about this myself and I have come up with a few ideas; I thought I'd share my thoughts because they might be useful to other people…

• Writing Poetry – I thought this would be a marvellous way to express my emotional response to self-isolation and my thoughts and feelings. Maybe if I was brave enough to publish my poem on social media, it might reach out to other people and resonate with them.

• I have been to a few Yoga classes in the past and I have always found then to be relaxing and chilling. But I don’t usually have time for Yoga in my life, so I thought if I have to self-isolate, I’ll find a YouTube yoga class and de-stress.

• Read a book. Again, I don’t usually have the time for this, but actually I have bought a few books over the years that I had every intention of reading and never did. Now could be the idea opportunity.

• I thought I’d give myself a manicure and a pedicure, and a leg wax, it will be a full spa treatment!

• This could be the perfect time to try a new hobby – what about water colour painting? I thought I could copy pictures from magazines or photos. I might be a talented artist!

• What about writing your memoirs? I thought I could write the story of my life in a book or on a blog perhaps. Add photos and all my best bits.

• Of course, we can still go in the garden as long as we are 2m away from anyone else, so I could do a spot of gardening and enjoy a day of sunshine and fresh air.

• I have a lovely DVD collection of all my favourite films. I have a lot of monarchy films; I could watch them in order of their reigns – I have never done that before and that might be quite interesting.

• Some people enjoy jigsaws, I don’t think I could manage that, but I do like a game of patience and I do like crosswords and puzzles.

• I thought whilst I was there feeling sorry for myself, I could be doing something for charity – knitting trauma bears or crocheting woolly hats for the homeless.

• I think the hardest part about self-isolation will be not having someone to talk to and to share my thoughts with. So, I shall take my phone with me and the address book so that I can call people. I will also have my laptop so that I can facetime people and chat on Skype and Facebook (other chatting services are available)

Samaritan Help Life Line

• If self-isolation really does push me to the brink – I know that I can always call the Samaritans. It’s a free call number 116 123. I have rung them in the past. I did feel as the phone rang that I was wasting their time, and that other callers must have been more in need than me, but they didn’t think that way. They listened to me and really helped me emotionally – which is what they are there for. Just remember if you do think of ringing them – everyone thinks they shouldn’t ring them. It's your emotional state stopping you reaching out for help. Its ok to ring them and it's really useful.

• One last thing, these are all new idea of that I think I will be doing during self-isolation, I shall also be doing what I usually do during my free time.

Need Virus Advice – Visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/