7 Effective Quarantine Habits That Changed My Life
Not new habits, but amplified trends
For most of us, the quarantine was a time of uncertainty and nervousness.
It was, however, also a time of reflection, renewal, and reinvention.
Many of us had to face unprecedented challenges and novel commitments.
Our homes became our offices. Our pets became our colleagues. And our favorite gyms became empty warehouses.
In short, we had to adapt.
Before lockdown, I followed a certain personal growth trajectory. I was keen to build new habits and establish long-term growth patterns, both on a personal and professional level.
During the quarantine, these ideas suddenly became my sole priority.
No drinks on the weekend that could stop me from reading more books at night. No late office meetings that could hinder family chats. And no shopping sprees that could cause unwarranted spending.
The quarantine cut out all distractions and allowed me to focus all my energy on my main objectives. And this newly-found focus sped up the process of building virtuous habits.
On this basis, here are seven effective quarantine habits that changed my life.
Worshipping the god of routine
Before the quarantine, I had a solid routine. I got up, meditated, went to the gym, ate breakfast, and got ready for work.
I should stress that I worked remotely before the quarantine. As such, I was already used to working from home.
My daily rhythm was self-evident, but I never appreciated its benefits.
When the lockdown began, I started to notice the immense advantages of an effective routine.
Aside from replacing my morning gym session with a home workout, I didn’t change my routine.
I dressed the same way, ate the same food, and enjoyed the same books and movies.
The difference was that all of these elements suddenly became vital.
Like everyone, I had bad days during the quarantine. There were times when the world seemed to crumble and my entire existence felt like a house of cards.
In these moments of trouble, my daily activities secured my sanity.
My morning routine ensured a productive start to my days. My diet provided the fuel I needed to function. And my timed working blocks became safeguards for my productivity.
Consequently, I didn’t invent a new routine during the quarantine, but the quarantine made me realize the importance of strong, well-defined, daily rituals.
Home workouts
Before the quarantine, I was a gym fanatic.
I spent most mornings inside a sacred temple of iron, sweat, and bacteria.
When my gym closed down, I had to change my approach.
In the beginning, I struggled to re-create satisfying workouts at home. It simply didn’t feel right to exercise without my beloved weights in the confines of my apartment.
A few weeks and hundreds of Youtube videos later, I finally managed to come up with satisfactory home sessions.
The experience was life-changing.
The gyms have reopened, but my methods have changed. Thanks to the quarantine, I internalized hundreds of new exercises and learned new techniques.
I now do half of my workouts at the gym and the other half at home. In this regard, my quarantine habits now save me heaps of time and money.
Even though my membership fee remains the same, I commute less, spend less time in locker rooms, and sleep half an hour more.
Patience, patience, and some more patience
The quarantine dealt most of us a hard lesson in patience.
Waiting for places to reopen, curbs to flatten, and countries to adapt was an eerie experience, but an instructive one.
One of my main goals for this year was to become more patient, both in business and as a person.
The lockdown period required patience on steroids.
My income dropped, I had to cancel trips, and various major projects couldn’t go ahead.
Consequently, the patience I had wanted to build for a long time was now an imperative condition for my business and my wellbeing.
The objective existed before, but the quarantine amplified my need to become a more patient individual.
Limiting news consumption to the minimum
One of my most effective quarantine habits was certainly a reduction in news consumption.
Like most people, I was glued to the internet at the outset of the lockdown.
What are today’s numbers? What new closures will the government announce today? And most importantly, when can we expect to get back to normal?
I was hoping to read something positive. A little glimmer of hope.
After a few days, however, I realized that the media had no answer. On the contrary, news outlets were making everything worse.
As an example, around April, most European news outlets proclaimed the cancelation of European summer tourism. There will be no international travel this summer.
Fast forward a few months and I have been on the road for weeks, living my digital nomad lifestyle just like before, with the slight difference that I am traveling closer to home.
During the quarantine, I realized that news consumption only works if you limit it to the minimum and use it for informative purposes.
Watching the news because you are hoping for some kind of development will weaken your mental composure and work against your patience — creating a never-ending cycle of disappointment and agitation.
Prioritizing family and friends
“When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.” — Eddard Stark (Game of Thrones)
Akin to other quarantine habits, the prioritization of my inner circle wasn’t a new habit.
It was a previous objective that became critical during the lockdown.
As I had been traveling full-time before the quarantine, I was used to long Facetime conversations with my family and friends.
It always felt like a normal part of my travel lifestyle, but nothing more. I knew that my ties had to strengthen.
During the quarantine, when everyone’s sanity was at stake, it became a crucial part of everyday life.
Instead of talking about mundane stuff, we started to listen to each other and truly considered everyone’s feelings.
We stopped bickering about little things and fortified our bonds. We helped each other out without a reason to do so.
In short, we became a tribe, a wolfpack that doesn’t leave anyone behind, even in the coldest winters.
Only buying essential products
I became a minimalist long before lockdown, but the quarantine intensified my willingness to consume intentionally and to spend my money wisely.
When the shops were closed, I re-evaluated my entire wardrobe. I came up with new decluttering rules and promised myself to stop buying certain items.
Thanks to the quarantine, I have kept my promise.
Years ago, I told myself that I would only buy long-lasting, high-quality products that serve multiple purposes.
During the quarantine, when all the stuff I owned constantly peaked at me inside my apartment, I was forced to be honest with myself. I had to finally practice what I preach.
I suddenly realized that I still owned too much and that I could become more minimalist, more deliberate with my spending, and more quality-orientated.
I now own even less than before and donated over 100 items since February.
The experience was life-changing. My minimalism now feels like a long-term lifestyle, rather than a youthful trend.
Long-term thinking
Akin to enhancing my minimalism, the quarantine also helped me develop a long-term growth vision.
In this context, my most life-changing quarantine habits definitely include constant long-term thinking.
When the world is uncertain, and your future unclear, you need to think long-term.
You cannot get bogged down with temporary setbacks or banal problems.
In a nutshell, you need to pursue a long-term growth strategy that’s flexible, realistic, and ambitious.
That’s the mindset I wanted to take out of the quarantine. The quarantine was a hard period, but also a highly rewarding one.
It helped me concentrate my efforts, creativity, and energy in specific areas that further my long-term plan.
And this concentration would have taken a lot more time to achieve without a few months of forced indoor time.
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