Pune has now become epicenter for Corona virus called covid 19. This is deja vu of swine flu era of august 2009 (which I covered in my old post, Masked Pune and Swine Flu Scare ). With deeper media penetration the stats and information on precaution to take during covid-19 needs not one more post. In fact people are better prepared now .But with almost a total lockdown in Pune and in many cities of India ,keeping a good mental state and happy mood has become a task . So here is my routine during lockdown and few suggestions on activities you can do to keep yourself meaningfully busy .
My routine in corona virus lockdown.
1. Start day like usual and do the chores.
2 Exercise with family (everyone is missing their friends so joint tasks helps.)
3 Go to terrace or balcony ,as suitable ,take sunlight.
4. Start work at regular hours ,if work from home is your thing(same with kids , one parent/grand parents can become teacher or classmate for them)
5. Call all the people from your daily routine and chat like its normal(this includes all the big and small people .It might sound trivial but its assuring).
6. Call all type of friends and other people I/we know and talk about their life.
7. Find lots of small activities that need deep focus (see below for my list)
8. Talk to neighbors, from a distance,help them as needed.
9. Travel,if must ,with hemlet or car or mask.
10. Do not spend time watching tv for hours,it will affect mental freshness.
11. Sleep at regular hours.
But the main point is, lockdown causes more stress due to loneliness caused by the cut off from human beings. May be its obvious ,or not ,we need lots of people around to feel good and safe (even if we don’t talk or talk deep things with them, we need the tribe ) .So ,its ok to reveal that you need human connect and talk to as many people as your mind find satisfying .It’s difficult in core city of Pune where you get judged at the first sign of being common man who has average life 🙁 . But in difficult times I suggest you take this risk of being vulnerable and connect .
Next thing is, even when we work from home and do group activities with family the feeling of forced life can be unsettling .We need some personal work which needs deep focus so we can endure hard times .One can find lots of articles on internet on activities to do or new hobbies to cultivate. Sites like wikihow has great articles on this . However one need to find such lists really meaningful so that they get your deep attention and give you the much needed focused distraction .
For indian audience here is my list of meaningful activities that can keep you happily and meaningfully busy.
- Find a list of aarti, mantra -stotra , prayers you always wanted to know by heart and then include them into your daily worship routine .
- Think of your life as a timeline and tell the people you stay with, about all the small missing details .This will also give you a list of people/places that you haven’t seen in long time (so you can call them now) . In case you don’t want to open up this much ,one can do this mentally and find this list .Or instead of life, it can be a theme based talking like, great foods u have eaten since childhood ,funny people you met in life.
- Do the personal housework – While doing daily chores keep you busy ,but if it is not something you do regularly, it can become boring .The feeling of forced task can make u more sad. So the idea is to do all the tidying and repairing work around your self .Wash all your cloths by hand, iron them ,arrange them ,repair them if needed . Wash all your foot ware, polish them .Do your own SPA ,head to toe (even if your are man, do it ).
- Do your own stand up ! Each one has a list of jokes he makes or poems. Or you might have a list of songs you like . Recite them, act out .Being center of attention is very assuring .
- Documentation : grown ups have lots of documents .It could be your certificates, legal documents , research papers , bills/receipts .Or even your books shelf .This is goodtime to arrange them ,clean up etc.
- Secondary kitchen works : We all know that cooking and cleaning can be very soothing .If you do this already good .Try it now. Additionally there are many secondary works that can be done in kitchen that can be engaging, even for men. Re arranging kitchen, taking a look at old wares /repairing them .This is also good time to make the pickles, chutneys, papads at home .You can find list of such small food items from your culture.These items need small but focused effort and bring joy to you .
- Make toys for your kids ! This can be origami ,sewing ,knitting , adhesive works . When you are making gift for someone ,its very fulfilling .If you enjoy, make more for others .
- Write the long post you always wanted to . We all have grown past the era of reaction based social media posts. But there are always posts about the topics close to your heart, but which needed some reading, research ,reflection. Do that and publish .Don’t bother about the audience ,your topics can be cooking, dog care, garden ,hobby, economy, or kids or housekeeping tips. Making your point in good manner to others is satisfying . Post need not be text ,it could be photo ,song or video or paper notes .Do it .
- I am against binge watching TV in such times .If at all you have to ,do it based on theme .Some era,actor,director,topic . That common theme gives meaning and keeps you clam .
- Listen to local radio .In such times listening to same favorites can highlight the lockdown problems more .Local radio offers good randomization as well as personal touch via RJs.
- Talk to neighbors .Obvious one but in city like Pune many people are still waiting to be properly introduced to their neighbors. The fact that you are in the same physical space ,in such times especially , warrant that you shed the inhibition, take risk and talk (safe distance tough ).
- Read and make lecture notes .In such times forced reading can feel depressing .So if you are reading , take notes .As if your need to explain it to students or your grandma or kids. This adds meaning to reading .Now if you don’t want to talk to people near your about what you read(for some practical reason ).Put your summary on social media, blog or update Wikipedia or create slides or video and upload .The focus is on contribution over impression .
- Complain ! We all had those small issues we always wanted to take up. Roads in your area , pollution , repairs needed in kids park and so on till some policy issue . This is the time to write those emails or raise those complaint tickets . Central ,state local govt has emails ,mobile apps and portals for this . Speak about what you feel is safe enough and matters to you .However small ,do it . The same can be done with service providers instead of government agencies . So you can also write to railways ,airlines, uber or banks about what you wanted to always tell them. But don’t do it to people 🙂 .
- Watch family photo albums. If you are digital person then this is good time to check all photos on mobile and hard disks and order physical prints.
I am not including the usual list like gardening, pet care, calling family members, learn new language for 2 reasons .First such time filling activity list is know and available . Second is in lockdown times we need deep engagement as well as variety ! I will update this list over time ,Do suggest your own, in comments .
Last and never the least ,call everyone -talk to them small -big ,important-trivial .Hug them if it matters .How much ever we evolve our needs for connect and touch remains the same. They make or break us.
