7 Reliable Steps to Radically Improve Your Entire Life During Confinement
Now is the perfect time to take charge of your life.
It seems we are dealing with an apocalyptic state of affairs, but there is a hidden gem of an opportunity waiting for us here.
Governments and employers are urging the populace to reduce work hours or work from home, so many people are faced with extra time that they’d usually spend commuting or getting ready for work. Some aren’t working at all right now, for various reasons.
This newfound abundance of time can be a blessing in disguise — as long as you use it wisely.
If you’re not careful, your time will quickly evaporate into the abyss of sensationalized news, social media, online video binging, and you’ll feel dissatisfied at the end of the day.
But you don’t have to surrender to inertia.
You likely haven’t had this much time on your hands since college, maybe even since childhood.
Your perspective on life, your priorities and abilities have all evolved since then. And now you’ve been granted a gift of a few extra hours per day, so you could make full use of your potential and change your life in a significant way.
What can you do to take advantage of this windfall?
#1: Avoid Freaking Out
First and foremost, don’t freak out. Between the disruption to your day-to-day routine and the insidious stress that comes from reading the news, the current situation is a perfect recipe for increased anxiety.
You must actively protect your emotional wellbeing. Start with managing the quality and amount of information you consume.
Although I’ve avoided the news and social media for years, it’s harder than ever to resist checking for COVID-19 updates.
The only way to stay calm is to become super pragmatic. Focus on what you can do here and now, and protect your mental space as much as possible (see point #7 for developing systems to stay informed).
When you spend less time worrying and instead embark on a self-improvement journey, you will set off a cycle of positive change:
- The calmer you are, the more time and attention you can dedicate to a project of your choice.
- Having a goal improves your mental health in general, and it is especially useful if you’re feeling cooped-up and helpless.
If you’re feeling restless and anxious, remember that most of the usual mental health advice still applies in these extraordinary circumstances. You should do your best to sleep and eat well, work out, meditate or keep a journal — if you’re persistent, these habits will help you find your tranquility.
#2: Think About the Positives
The last thing I want to do is to diminish the seriousness of the pandemic. Our loved ones — and others in our community — deserve as much solidarity and care as we can give them.
While we’re taking care of ourselves and others, we can still treat this as an opportunity to work on something that we’ve been putting off, possibly for decades.
Personally, I’m choosing to double-down on my posture exercises to counterbalance the time I spend in front of a computer. While I’ve been actively working on maintaining a healthy posture for nearly two years, my back discomfort persists.
Instead of relying on physical therapists and the like, I changed my perspective: this is an opportunity to make a long-term improvement on my own.
#3: Determine Your Focus
Setting too many goals is a common mistake. Many people, myself included, opt for doing too many things at the expense of doing any one thing to the fullest.
Do not spread yourself too thin by focusing on more than one thing.
Take some time to jot down ideas of what you could work on that would have the positive impact on your life.
Consider learning a new language, starting a side business, living healthier, or creating some form of art. Pick something for the long haul.
#4: Implement a Realistic Routine
Set yourself up for success by breaking down your goals into bite-sized “next actions” you can develop a routine around.
Now, determine how to best integrate your “next actions” into your routine — decide on the time-of-day, location, and duration.
Productivity expert James Clear recommends using the Seinfeld Strategy to keep procrastination at bay. To achieve your goal, you should focus only on continuing the habit you started on the previous day.
Don’t be afraid to start small — in fact, you should start so small that you can’t fail.
If you can manage to work on your goal for five minutes every day for a week, you’re closer to forming a habit than if you achieved a full hour on Monday and then gave up.
Making a simple tracking sheet to visualize your progress and provide motivation may also help since you won’t want to see too many blank days
Remember that perfection is the enemy of progress. I do skip my exercises on some days, which is totally okay because the trend is what is important.
Focus on balancing your new ambition with your daily flow. You can incrementally build support systems to increase your success rate.
#5: Prove Your Resilience
Proving to yourself your ability to conquer a challenge is an essential ingredient to life contentment.
Unlike many things in our modern materialist society, this is something money cannot buy. It can only be achieved through disciplined hard work; hard work that serves as the foundation for conquering future life challenges.
Whenever you invest time into your own growth, your day will improve and you will have extra energy for other tasks.
My posture exercises take 15 minutes a day — but to be honest, even that feels like it’s too much sometimes. When I manage to complete the exercises in spite of chaos, I’m proving to myself that no matter the hurdle, I can finish the job I set out to do.
The good news is that there are many ways you can increase your resilience. This is a skillset like any other, and it’s one we need now more than ever.
#6: Be Gentle with Yourself
You shouldn’t fret too much if you don’t meet your expectations. This is life and you are human. Just pick up where you left off — even if it’s a simplified version — and get back to work.
I often struggle with this balance. It’s never perfect, but I consciously aim to be gentle to myself, as it’s the only way I can keep working and not give up on my plan altogether.
It’s important to be flexible and long-term focused.
Deliberately skipping days on occasion also eases the physiological pain when you unintentionally miss a day. Over the last few months, I don’t do my posture exercises on weekends for this reason.
#7: Ruthlessly Guard Your Mental Space
Develop systems to keep on top of information that is relevant to you. This includes news, social media, and, if your job allows, email.
Check your information source no more than twice per day.
Don’t worry about missing out: in our ultra-connected world, someone will let you know about anything particularly important. Even if you stop watching the news altogether, you’ll hear when something significant changes.
I have barely read the news over the last 13 years, stopped using social media about 7 years ago, and am still working on checking my email less than 3 to 4 times per day. You can work your way to your version of this too!
Keep in mind that multitasking harms the brain and decreases our ability to perform great things — everything you do will become easier if you stop absorbing so much unnecessary, dispiriting information.
Now that you know how to achieve something remarkable during these wild times, go figure out your next action.
Take two minutes and come up with a goal right now. What is standing in your way? What can you change right now to bring yourself closer to achieving it?
Additional Reading
