Thoughts about quarantine and how I am handling it

Being quarantined is a condition the most of us haven't gone through (not even our parents). Especially when the motivation is a pandemic situation, which can cause us anxiety, fear, uncertainty.

These feelings stack on other ones that come from the ongoing will (or pressure?) to be productive and the rush to get a minimum financial stability (in my case). And I reckon you all have other not so welcomed feelings that are already hard to handle.

For someone that relies on specific environments to go through the day and cope with those feelings stated above, quarantine has been hard.

Separating environments to each activity is something really important to me.

And those environments do not include only physical places, but also my preparation/process to be at them. I would work/study something in the office, then I would go to the gym to clear my mind (oh how I miss it!), then getting back home and studying a little bit more of different subjects (not to mention my weekends and social gatherings ☹️). Moreover, being frequently in touch with more experienced people and developers is something that I miss as well. I feel like I learn a lot by this means.

Because of that, I had to plan a different routine (I do very well with routines), create micro-environments as I must say, manage my time better and be more active online.

And that's what I am doing

Time Management

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For my routine, I am planning specific times for each activity that I would normally do: waking up, working, studying, exercising, eating. When I am at home is easier to overlap or even not doing some of these properly (skipping training, not taking a rest, eating in crazy times or event skipping some meal).

For time management as I am working/studying, I am currently using Clockify. With this tool, I can keep track of my time and if needed, allocate it better.

Micro-environments

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For each activity that I do, I follow the usual process of getting ready for it and organize. Hence, I do get ready to work in the morning, I do get ready to exercise and I do get ready to slow down and sleep. I don't spend all day in my pajamas.

I also organized my working/study desk. Having lots of things over my desk is visually unpleasant and annoys me haha. I just can't.

Being more active online

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Hello, Hashnode! haha

Even though it is something I was willing to do since the beginning of this year, being more active in the dev community has brought me a sense of socialising and belonging. Besides Hashnode, I am writing more on Twitter and engaging more in groups and courses' communities. Sharing and reading experiences (and resonating with some), acquiring knowledge or just having some people to talk about similar subjects have been really important to me.

Lastly but maybe importanTER

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• Keep in touch with your loved ones.
• Being productive is not about working/studying all day.
• Learn a new recipe, read a new book (for leisure!), watch a new movie/series, play your guitar, listen to your favourite bands ...
• Stay healthy. Take care of yourself. Try to meditate.
• Sometimes just do nothing. We all need to rest. We are not robots, computers are 🤓
• Drink a good coffee ☕️ (ok, that's for me)

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Bear in mind that all of these are good advices regardless of quarantine.

How are you coping with these hard times?

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Also posted on Hashnode