10 Tips How to Stay Sane during Covid-19 Quarantine Alone

Updated: 13th February 2021

Locked down all alone due to the coronavirus pandemic? Welcome to the club! I’m with you in this shit, guys! We can deal with the loneliness together. Read my tips how to deal with the COVID-19 quarantine alone and stay sane.

Our comfortable lives have changed. All travel plans have been dismissed and meals in restaurants have been swapped for bean stews and ‘what the fridge gives’ meals. Fear for life has invaded our minds and uncertainty has become our everyday routine. Coronavirus effects all of us and it sucks for all of us (with a different level of intensity but still it sucks for all!).

We’ve been sent ‘home’ to ‘save lives’. Some of us have lost their jobs or businesses. The everyday heroes are those who keep providing food, electricity, water and other various services. And finally, the real badass guys sweat in packed hospitals and take care of sick and dying people.

Yes, it does suck and staying at home is basically the simplest thing we can do to help to slow down the spread of the virus (or we actually have to, it’s a state order.) Quarantine is now the way ‘to survive’ and get back to our ‘normal’ lives as soon as possible.

If you have to deal with the lockdown or quarantine alone, you might face a wide range of different emotions. And it can be damn hard to stay sane. I know what I’m talking about! That’s why I prepared a few tips how not to lose your mind when locked down all alone during COVID-19 quarantine. Check them out and comment below if you have more tips to stay sane during these hard times

1. Make a Quarantine Plan

Nobody knows for how long we’ll have to stay at home but that doesn’t mean you can’t make any plans. Think about what you’ve always wanted to try or do. Yes, it has to be all indoors, but it can still be fun! Have you always wanted to learn a foreign language?

Did you buy a sewing machine like years ago but always postponed the passionate desire of making your own clothes because you were just too busy? Do it now! Making a plan we’ll help you to boost your motivation during these grey days. The plan doesn’t have to be any complicated. For example, I decided to learn handstands, read a book about Nikola Tesla, browse through my old lyrics and write.

2. Set up a Daily Goal

Your house or flat has turned up into a working space, gym, gallery, museum and a restaurant. You leave the house basically just when you run out of food or you’ve accumulated a notable amount of rubbish. This can easily lead to lack of motivation and never-ending procrastination.

There is nothing wrong about having some lazy days and watching 7 episodes of Office before going to bed (oops, you got me here!). Although, if you don’t want to erase these lockdown days, weeks or months from the 2020 you better get something out of it. Every night or every morning just decide what will be your next goal of the day. It can be something simple or useful.

Monday can be your once in a week shopping day, on Tuesday you can make your own mask (here is a nice article about home-made masks and materials you can use), on Wednesday you tidy up the flat and on Thursday you organize your laptop, mobile, pictures or whatever you want to do. At the end of the day you feel fucking good because you’ve reached your little daily goal and the quarantine day number 13 had a purpose.

3. Keep in Touch with People

Text your friends, call your family, talk to virtual strangers, make any contact you wish to do. What I noticed about myself that the more I’m alone the harder is for me to communicate. I somehow get to this absolute introvert mood and get used to the feeling of loneliness that I don’t even long for any human contact anymore. And that’s awful!

Talk to people every day. I bet that many of your family members, friends or acquaintances have to deal with this virus shit all alone as well, so get it touch with them. Moan together, look forward for the brighter future together. Swear together, share silly videos and laugh together. Laughing heals!

4. Don’t Underestimate SELF-CARE

Do you already give names to your furniture and you named your mirror ‘The Ugly’? Well, if you grow a Robinson Crusoe beard or keep your hair fresh & oily no wonder that every look into the mirror gives you a heart attack! Yeah, we solo quarantine fighters can lose the motivation of self-care very quickly.

Take a shower, trim your moustache and shave your legs. You can even put on some make-up and lipstick if that makes you feel better. The last thing you want to see is a picture a complete wreck with a sweaty spot under armpits. What can really help you are video calls. It’s a pretty good reason to comb your greasy locks!

5. Pamper Yourself

Because you look like shit and feel like shit you may end up thinking that you actually are a shit. The last thing that you need though is being hard on yourself and hating the only person you spend some real time with!

Pamper yourself. Take a bubbly bath, cook yourself a delicious dinner (if you managed to get something nice in the supermarket), put on a nice dress and pour yourself a glass of wine. Have a sexy date with yourself! It is only you around so treat yourself with all the respect and dignity.

6. Reflect Your Happiness

You have plenty of time to think about your life now. It is quite possible that world will look a bit different soon, but you can still reflect your past. Think what made you really happy and make a plan how to get rid of your vices, bad habits or toxic people in your life.

Dream about the future and visualize what you’d like to achieve or what path you’d like to choose. Maybe you’ll make some pretty interesting findings and decide to change your life after the corona flies away!

7. Stay Creative

Challenge your neural network! Creative work engages brain, grinds your abilities and feeds the soul! There are many psychological studies about creativity and how it can improve your problem-solving skills. It also boosts your confidence and according to American scientist it even decreases mortality rate.

You can write poems, lyrics, stories, you can create jokes, you can paint, draw doodles, you can make handmade decorations, create a choreography, work on your stand-up comedy gig, write a mono-drama or do anything else crazy and creative enough to fill-up the empty moments of your quarantine.

8. Move Your Ass

The gyms and stadiums are closed and the only move you do is a walk towards the fridge to grab a bottle of beer. All the ‘before and after’ memes and jokes are funny mostly because they’re true. Don’t give up on your spring body! There is still a chance you may ever go to a beach! And it is not just the sexy body you should take care of. It’s also your heart and mental health which will thank you.

I doubt that your daily schedule is so busy that you can’t find (at least) 20 minutes daily to stretch out your body and burn some ass fat. Join Instagram challenges, learn headstands, do squats, planks, yoga, strong Zumba or whatever you like the most. Dance like a beast or box out your anger!

9. Express Your Emotions

I’ve never experienced so many emotions during a single day. Sometimes I just quietly stare out of the window, after that I’m feeling happy because I still got my job and everybody who I know is healthy. A few minutes after I feel lonely, after that angry, annoyed, frightened, sick, futile and sad. And that’s totally alright!

It ain’t easy for me now. I supposed to move to a different country. I haven’t seen my boyfriend in the last two months, we haven’t lived together for 4 months. My family is far away in Slovakia and I can’t get out of Spain. I can’t get to see my new home in Germany and this double living costs me lots of money. And I know that I still have it easier than many of you. So just get out your feelings. Cry, swear, shout, say out loud what you hate about the situation. Don’t suppress it.

10. Get Prepared for the Worst

This is the scariest thing about solo quarantine. It’s the fear you get sick alone. The fear you may get sick so much you won’t be able to ask for a help and there won’t be anybody around to take care of you. I’m not talking just about the coronavirus. There are still plenty of other diseases which didn’t disappear just because some fucking bat virus invaded this world. Just be ready.

Save all the important numbers to your mobile or write them down. If you live in a foreign country (like me) and if you’re still not confident with the foreign language (me again!) prepare an emergency speech ahead. And be very careful, more accidents happen at home than anywhere else. Don’t do anything crazy which could hurt yourself. Emergency services are pretty busy nowadays, and they’re needed somewhere else. Therefore, stay safe!

I believe that this extreme situation will have an outcome soon and people will come out as the winners of this battle. And hopefully we all will learn a lesson here and start to be finally less greedy and more grateful. Kinder and more generous, more helpful and warm-hearted… I just hope that we humans will start to act like humans. I wish you a safe solo quarantine. Use it wisely!

Featured picture by:  Huỳnh Đạt from Pexels

Photos by Daria Shevtsova, Steve Johnson, George Shervashidze from Pexels