On March 12th, at roughly 7 o’clock pm, the Orange Lutheran Emergency Text System alerted its student body and their families about the new protocol for the COVID-19 crisis, and the main portion of our days was effectively canceled for the next three weeks. School would be closed until April 6 or longer. With this news, a flurry of emotions spread throughout the grade levels that all pointed to one thing: we were all going to be home until April. But three weeks is an incredible amount of time to be doing nothing, so how can we keep ourselves from getting bored on day two?
For starters, don’t spend every single day indoors. While it is smart to avoid areas where you would be in close contact with other individuals, something as simple as sitting on your driveway could keep everyone from going crazy. Going for walks or runs can substitute going to the gym or conditioning in the weight room, and puts you in the fresh air where the spread of the virus is minimized.
Another thing to keep you sane is picking up a hobby for your free time. Online classes, as well as cancelations of other routine activities, will free up huge chunks of time in our lives. Picking up a hobby can spare us an extra 4 hours of phone time a day and keeps our minds stimulated. To combat the terrible boredom of being at home, try learning a new instrument, painting, drawing, cooking, or anything else that interests you. You could even write and submit pieces to the OLu Muse!
Alarms might become your new best friend while you’re stuck at home. While some people prefer a completely free day, most need the structure of a routine or a school day to help keep them motivated. To combat the “I have all day to do this, so I’ll do it later” mentality, set alarms to alert you to time passing. Plus, because the alarms are for just you, your new schedule can look however you want it to, with as many fun and different breaks you need to stay focused.
Lastly, try not to sleep in until noon. As tempting as it might be to sleep all day, it is completely unproductive and will most likely lead to stress when you realize you haven’t done any work. Sleeping late could also cause you to miss important emails regarding classwork or any scheduled deadlines.
Most importantly, we are all going through the same thing. As scary as this might seem, we can find comfort in the fact that all of us are in this together.
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Picture Credits: Justin Stewart
