A GUIDE FOR GO-GETTING IN THE AGE OF QUARANTINE
BY STEPHEN TAHBAZ
You wake up. Maybe you make your bed, fix a bowl of cereal and tune in to virtual school. Maybe you sit in bed and watch Netflix (or Hulu, if you have any class). Maybe you go back to sleep until it feels physically wrong to be in bed. You get your homework done (or you don’t), you walk the dog, and you chat with the folks. Regardless of what you do, by lunchtime, you have absolutely nothing left to achieve. This sucks.
If you are anything like me, you hate the feeling of being sidelined. I golfed the day after getting my wisdom teeth pulled, and I shot a great score. I would much rather deal with the discomfort of a day in school with a flaming hot throat than the anxiety of missing some classwork. Thus, living in an era where it is socially acceptable to do nothing all day has been a difficult adjustment for me. After eight weeks of observation, testing, and analysis, I have developed a quick guide for do-ers, go-getters, and people like me who get anxious in purgatory.
Step One: Acceptance
This was the hardest thing for me to do, but it is certainly a necessity. When the entire world is not functioning in a normal manner, neither should you. I’ve loosened my normally strict schedule significantly, to the point where my former 10:45 bedtime and 6:45 wakeup have moved to 12:30 and 9:00. My phone, which used to sleep in the kitchen, now comes to bed with me. I’m actively trying to enjoy activities that are lower effort and less demanding than the usual actions I take in a standard day, which brings me to step two.
Step Two: Appreciation
In this crazy time, there’s a lot of gratitude to be had; thanks to first responders and front liners, teachers and administrators, restaurant staff and delivery workers, and many others. But the appreciation I’m referring to is slightly different. An essential change for the over-achiever right now is to find beauty in doing nothing. This is an art form. During the school year, I would find it hard to sit around and watch TV without being worried about work I wasn’t doing or assessments I wasn’t preparing for. This isn’t to say that I never watched TV or read the paper or relaxed, but just that there were often lingering concerns in my mind, often ones that pushed me to get back to work. I am now learning how to appreciate those idle moments. I am trying to not feel guilty in my laziness, and instead, learning to value the unique nature of an excuse to be unproductive.
Step Three: Normalcy
The third step is pretty easy; even as many things in your daily routine shift, try to keep some things constant. I am trying to make my bed every morning (which is a great way to start the day feeling productive, General William McRaven has an excellent book about this), and find consistencies in my day. Online school has added some structure to my weekdays, I try to work out and golf every day, and contact my friends on a semi-normal schedule. As an overachiever, I find comfort in regularity, and when I feel particularly useless, I can take pride in my routine.
Step Four: Artificial Productivity
Making the most out of this time is essential. I think that the limited school and socialization is a shining star for people like me, if one is smart enough to see this as an opportunity for productivity. This time is the perfect excuse to manufacture tasks to accomplish and things to learn. I’ve spent the last month working on musical production skills (for free on my computer) and learning bebop on the saxophone. My golf handicap is better each week, and I’m writing creatively for fun. This is not meant to be braggadocious, but merely to show what can be done with all this free time. If you’re an overachiever, start achieving! Tons of online programs are giving out free or reduced-price classes and lessons. Learn a new language. Get shredded. Refine your craft. Do something, because there’s no excuse not to right now.
Step Five: Filling in the Gaps
If you follow this guide to the letter, as I have, you will find that steps one through four enhance your days, but do not bring the complete satisfaction of productivity. Part of this is just the nature of our circumstances; it’s not possible to achieve full mobility right now, and thus, the ultimate work ethic can’t be at normal levels. But part of this is what I call the gaps, the slots in your day where you normally are not being “productive”, but are doing things that you still aren’t doing right now. For example, between 3:00 and 3:20 on school days, I would walk home. Not exactly hard work, but something I don’t do right now, hard work aside. Time typically spent commuting, getting dressed for school or work, doing chores that are now arcane, and so on, become gaps in our days. Our job is to figure out how to fill those gaps, having already allotted time for productivity and laziness. I am doing this by communicating, which actually kills two birds with one stone. We all have relatives, friends, and other loved ones who are not socializing at healthy or regular amounts. “Gaps” in your day can become meaningful and great times to reach out to those people. I check in on the phone with my grandma and Instagram DM some of my friends and co-workers who I don’t get to see right now. You’ll be doing a good service, and feel better about yourself (and fill your gaps).
I cannot promise you that my advice will fill your day, make you feel better about yourself, or get you back to over-achieving, as I do. All I hope is that through a window into my daily routine, you can pick out some helpful tips and feel some comfort of normalcy in this insane time. So download that Spanish-learning app you bought two months ago. Go for a god-damned run, it’s only going to get nicer outside. Make your bed, you’re not a toddler. If you do all of this, find a comfy spot on your couch and soak in every minute of your choice Netflix show. Raise your fist in celebration when your TV checks in to confirm that you’re still watching. And if your show is good, let me know. I just might find some time to check it out.
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