How to have good mental health and be positive during the quarantine

We have been in quarantine for so long that even many of us have lost count. One of the most difficult parts of quarantine is taking care of your mental health, at first, you possibly thought you were going crazy. The problem with being locked up for so long is that we have too many things to worry about, the pandemic, the finance, the health, the stress, and the anxiety.

Today I bring you the tips that helped me improve certain aspects of my life and be positive at this stage, and I hope that helps many of you too.

Don’t worry about things you can’t control

That phrase helped me a lot in so many aspects of my life, and now I think that fits perfectly with the situation. You can’t control what is happening in the world now, so worrying about those things doesn't make sense, the only thing you gain with that is ruining your mental peace. The people that can help the world with the pandemic are out doing their best, and you must be calm that the world is working together to go back to what we were before this.

So what can I do if I can’t change the situation? First, think about what you can change, yourself. Today we have the perfect opportunity to create a better version of us. Focus on the things you can improve to be a better person, it doesn't have to be a big change, starting with small steps can be the best start making something bigger.

Stay away from bad news, remember that the newspaper seeks to sell news, and it is possible that with everything that is happening, they exaggerate with the numbers to reach as many numbers as possible. Don’t believe in viral messages that people send on social networks either, remember that not everything shared is real, and start looking for positive things that can have a better impact on you, for example, tips that can help you improve some aspect of your life, how you can help from a distance, how to keep your space clean and how to be safe when you go out.

If possible delete all WhatsApp groups that alter your peace of mind, when the pandemic started, I had a lot of groups sending fake information and just talking about negative things. When I left those Chats, my life started changing: instead of spending all day on social media watching what’s happening in the world, I started looking for things that I can change from my day.

Keep in mind the things you are grateful for today

One of the things that are hard for us these days is to be stress-free from all the negative things that could happen to us, and everything that is happening. Try to keep those thoughts as far away as possible, I know it’s difficult, but not impossible, there are little things you can do in your day to day to achieve it:

Every day when you wake up, think about all the things you are grateful for the day, and if is possible, write it. We have to be grateful for a lot of things, we have a place to stay safe, we have people that care about us, we have food, we can see, hear and feel, we have water and we are alive.

When you have that list, think about all the things you can change your day to be better, can be a small thing, like clean your room, search for a list of things you want to learn or watch, start a good habit or prepare a delicious meal. When you are ready with that, create an agenda of when you are going to achieve these things, and reward yourself for each achievement.

When you start doing small things for yourself, your mind becomes more positive and prepares to take big steps in your personal goals.

When you focus on your personal things, you don’t have time to think about the negative. So keep your mind busy.

Focus on your personal goals

Something that bothered me a lot when the quarantine started, was the number of messages “if you haven’t read a book or learned something in quarantine, you lacked discipline and blah blah”, I started to get stressed and think that I was not doing things right because I didn’t have a business idea ready due to closure. The reality is you don't have to read books or take a course to be productive, this quarantine is not a productivity contest.

Instead of thinking about the things you “should do according to social networks”, start thinking about yourself and the things you can improve on you, It shouldn’t be reading a book or taking a course that you had in mind, can be something small like do a makeover to your house or starting a skincare routine.

When you start to achieve small goals that you wanted to do, your mind will be focused on achieving more things.

You are not alone, you are enough

It’s okay to miss people, and there are many things you can do to stay connected to them, a call, or a message saying how you feel and all the things we can do when all these things happen.

But I have heard that many people are going crazy because they aren’t surrounded by people, and if this is your case, what you need is not the people, it’s to start loving yourself. Start to know yourself, have peace with yourself, and focus on improving the things you need to love yourself (and no, you don't need to change something physical to be better with yourself).

Remember this is not going to last forever

All this will pass at some point, so if you cannot achieve something now or you are limited, remember that everything will end. So you can focus on all the things you want to accomplish when you can get out, and start creating goals for things that will improve when it all end.

Thanks for reading, I hope these tips help you and write me in the comments what other things helped you to be positive.