How to Beat the Quarantine Blues and Boredom
Here I am in the middle of week 5 of unemployment and week 4 of self-quarantine (95% of the time). I’m also in week 3 of my “working from home” without pay. As I’ve posted in earlier blogs, this “working from home” consists of my writing, editing, and helping college students. So far, I’ve managed to keep busy and be somewhat productive. I adopted a high school senior to encourage, pray for, and deliver care packages. I participated in a teddy bear hunt by displaying a few stuffed animals in my front windows so passers-by (drivers, walkers, and cyclists) can see them and feel a lift in their spirits. I’ve done some deep cleaning; yet, there’s still more to do.
On the other hand, I’ve also dealt with the blues and boredom. Feeling a bit down in the dumps and boredom has led me to mindlessly scroll through Facebook posts, play online games, or look through my phone. After staring at a screen for a lengthy period, my eyes get tired so I know it’s time to step away from the technology devices. That’s when I go for a walk with the dog (sometimes twice a day), watch some TV (the screen is much further from me so it doesn’t bother my eyes), clean, or work on a project. Somehow, I feel better mentally when I’m away from technology. If I’m around it too much, I feel unsatisfied and not at peace. I’m just trying to fight the negative feeling of boredom, yet I’m realizing that this boredom is my spirit crying out to God to satisfy me. Here’s an excerpt from an article explaining this:
Boredom was designed by God to allow our brains to work. When we are bored, our minds get creative. We process, we come up with ideas, and we allow space for God to speak to us. “Being still with yourself can give access to all sorts of ideas and musings that wouldn’t otherwise occur. So perhaps in our quest to end boredom our creativity is being stunted,” says Susan J. Matt, one of the authors of Bored Lonely Angry Stupid. When we constantly consume—devour—media, we don’t allow our brains or our hearts to sit in the necessary silence for this growth to occur.
Okay, so the feeling of boredom is not so terrible because we need our brains to work and our minds to get creative. If it wasn’t for feelings of boredom, I doubt that I would have become a self-published author of two books, created a website with a blog, and have more unfinished writing projects that still need to be completed. If I quenched my boredom with only technology devices and social media, my house would be messier, I would be fatter because of lack of exercise as well as a bored dog, and I would feel like a failure because I hadn’t accomplished much. However, I could stand to do better at limiting my time on social media and looking at my phone for texts, missed calls, emails, messages from a group I belong to on the Band app, and pictures I’ve taken. When I feel that I've been staring at screens too long or scrolling through numerous Facebook posts, I realize it's time to check in with myself with a few questions each day:
· What am I grateful for today? I am grateful for a lot of things, but here are the first 5 that come to mind: I have my health, my relationship with God, money saved up, my dog, and my mother who lives with me.
· Who am I checking in on or connecting with today? I texted a friend “Happy Birthday” instead of posting on Facebook and I’ve been in touch with some of the students I’m tutoring.
· What expectations of “normal” am I letting go of today? I don't know what normal is anymore.
· How am I getting outside today? I took my dog for a walk this morning.
· How am I moving my body today? I walked and later I plan to do some yoga.
· What beauty am I either creating, cultivating, or inviting in today? I colored a picture and writing this blog post.
Are you still bored? After taking the time to reflect on these questions, are you still searching for something to do? I came upon a sample of a quarantine bucket list and I’ll list some of the suggestions that I might try or have already done. I added a few of my own.
My possible bucket list:
Memorize a Bible verse about trusting God: I need to memorize something other than Proverbs 3:5-7.
Read a book that I’ve been putting off reading: I’ve got several I need to get to.
Clean out a closet or drawers: I plan to work on that soon.
Walk the neighborhood and pray over houses, businesses, and other places I pass by: I do that.
Eat a piece of fresh fruit: I ate my stash and will have more when Mom and I pick up our grocery order Saturday.
Drink more water every day: A big challenge for me because I get water-logged then feel miserable.
Take a nap: Easy as pie; I do that anyway.
Call a family member or friend I haven’t spoken to in a while: Having someone call doesn’t count; I need to do this myself.
Do 15-20 minutes of stretching daily: I need to get back into this routine.
In addition to daily walking, work on another body part (ex. Abs, arms) for at least 10-15 minutes: I need to get back into this.
Watch a documentary or something of interest: I love documentaries and recently watched Capitalism: A Love Story (2009). Political documentaries are not my cup of tea, but I watched this one to help with my tutoring.
Google the answer to a question you’ve had for a while: I’ve been interested in learning about environmentalist Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring. Well, one of my students did an assignment about her, so I just had to Google her.
Organize photos: I did a bit of that when I cleaned some bookshelves last week.
Study a “fruit of the Spirit” that I’d like to see more of in my life: I want to focus on self-control (self-discipline) to help me stop spending extra time on electronic devices and scrolling through social media.
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