If you’re currently using our serviced apartments to quarantine from the covid-19 pandemic, you may be wondering how you’re going to survive the long days ahead of you.
The default is to sit in front of the TV and binge on box sets or day time television, but we know that is only fun for a few days before the boredom truly sets in and you’re missing the outside world.
To help you make your quarantine stay more comfortable and fun, we’ve listed some ways in which you can pass the days away without feeling like you’re losing your sanity.
Don’t Forget Pack Your Essentials
One thing we definitely recommend is to pack well before you arrive.
If you know you’re staying in one of our luxury apartments for your quarantine, then we highly recommend you pack well before your stay as this can help ease the time you will be spending in isolation.
While we have all the necessary amenities you will need, including high-speed WIFI, TV and full kitchen equipment. There may be some home comforts that you might want to bring to make your stay more relaxing.
Here’s a few things to ensure you have;
- Any personal devices and chargers including phones / iPads etc
- Good books you wish to read
- Any crafts or hobby equipment
- Photos of friends or family to make the space feel like home
- Fitness equipment such as a yoga mat or resistance bands
Create a Routine
Boredom in small amounts is good for us, but too much of it and we begin to have negative feelings that can start to lower our mood and make us unwell.
Negative feelings are proven to lower our immune system, which is something we don’t want when trying to avoid a virus.
Routine is the remedy to boredom and can help you to keep your mind focussed rather than being taken away with any negativity.
Even creating a simple routine while in quarantine will enable you to spend your time productively and keep your mindset in a positive space.
Set yourself a daily routine. This should include what time you’re going to get up in the morning, and any practices you want to include in your morning, for example, some meditation, or yoga.
Then decide on when you will take your lunch, and what times you will do some physical exercise.
Having even a small sense of routine will help your day feel more structured, and you will be less likely to fall into negative moods.
If it helps, perhaps message a friend to ask if they will be your accountability buddy for this routine. That way you are forcing yourself to ensure you commit to your routine every day.
Keep in Touch with Family & Friends
It’s easy to fall into the trap of just messaging people, but try to make a conscious effort to book phone calls or FaceTime with your friends and relatives.
As humans, we are a hugely social species and we thrive off contact with others, so while we can’t be in the same room as our loved ones or hug them, we need to do the next best thing which is to see their faces and hear their voices.
Diarise to have some kind of contact with someone every day to help you stay connected.
Low Information Diet
The news and social media can be a black hole of misinformation and fake news, as well as general negative stories in the press. This tirade of negative noise can have a dark impact on our mood and make us start to feel like the world is a horrible place. When in reality this is just a drop of information in an ocean full of positive. But let’s remember, positive news doesn’t sell.
To help maintain your mental health during your quarantine consider a low information diet. This means being conscious of the information you are consuming and how regularly you are absorbing it.
Try to limit your news exposure and your social media exposure. In fact, why not use quarantine to have a complete social media detox?
Be Active
We know it’s not quite the same as going to the gym or your favourite fitness classes, but even doing just 30 minutes of exercise can help give you a good kick of endorphins – which are the positive hormones that make us feel happy.
With such an array of apps and free online fitness classes, there is no excuse not to get your fitness fix every day.
To give it a fun angle, why not try something a bit different than your usual exercise regime? Perhaps a dance class or a little pilates.
Have some fun with it and you may just find it becomes the highlight of your day.
Bake Something Special
At all of our luxury Signet apartments, you have a fully fitted kitchen with all the equipment you need to rustle up any meal your heart desires.
During your quarantine try to bake something that makes the space feel more homely. After all, nothing truly beats the smell of freshly baked cakes.
Whether it’s a recipe that reminds you of a family member and brings back happy memories or a recipe you’ve been longing to try – now is the time.
Keep a Quarantine Diary
Hopefully, this will be your first and only time you’ll ever experience quarantine, so why not keep a diary about this strange time.
There is so much to be learned from this experience, and you might just amuse yourself at some of the things you write down, or things that become memorable in your day.
One day you may look back and be thankful that you managed to keep a diary of the weird and wonderful time you had. And who knows, it may even become a best seller in decades to come.
Enjoy Cooking
In pre-covid times, how much did you enjoy cooking? Or was it something that frustrated you that you felt you had to rush?
As you’re no longer in the rat race of ‘normal’ life, take this time to hone your cooking skills and get back to truly enjoying the creation of a home-made meal.
Cooking is a wonderful way to help keep our mind busy and ignites the senses as we have to touch, smell and taste things. Cooking is actually known to be a very mindful exercise which is also great for our mental health.
During your time in quarantine create yourself a menu of all the lovely dishes you want to try and cook, even adding in a few that you’ve never done before.
No matter the ingredients, you can order online and have it delivered to your apartment.
Get a Take-Out
If you’re feeling in the mood to relax then you may want to avoid cooking at all costs and instead treat yourself to a take-away.
In Cambridge, we still have an incredible array of independent and chain restaurants who can deliver food straight to your door – which means you’re spoilt for choice when comes to dining in.
Check out our recent blog on the ten tempting places to eat in Cambridge as many are currently doing deliveries.
Organise Your Digital Life
There’s never been a better time to get your digital life in order. You know what we mean!
From getting your email inbox to zero and archiving old emails, to finally transferring photos from your phone to your computer and even sending some to be printed. There’s a whole host of digital decluttering to do.
Use your time in quarantine to get your digital life in order and you will come out of your days feeling like you’ve got your life organised. It’s amazing how good it feels.
Take Control of Your Life Admin
The constant juggle of work and life means much of our life admin either get forgotten, or we get super stressed because it’s something on our to-do-list that quite frankly, we don’t want to do.
Instead of being that person who forgets their car MOT, or their great aunts birthday; use this time in solitude to organise all of that life admin. Yes, most of it’s boring, but it will keep you busy, and your future self will thank you for it as when lockdowns are finally lifted you can spend time doing fun stuff rather than doing boring life admin.
Whether you put dates in a diary, set-up notifications on your phone, or even spend time pre-ordering or pre-booking things so that you don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the year – set aside a day for life admin and take back your time.
Watch a Movie Classic
To keep viewing interesting when you do decide to sit on the sofa, perhaps choose a film you would never pick. Or pick a classic film to watch that everyone raves about, but secretly you’ve never watched it, and you would dare not tell anyone.
If you want to watch a film related to your stay in Cambridge, we’ve listed ten films and TV shows that were all filmed in the area. So while you can’t walk around the beautiful city, you can at least get a taste of it from these award-winning films. Plus some of them may surprise you.
Start an Online Course
With all this time on your hands, you have the perfect opportunity to enhance your skills or even just dig deeper into a lifelong passion.
There are now hundreds of free online learning courses where you can learn absolutely anything. From nutrition and gardening to space and biochemistry; there are an array of online learning platforms that will keep your mind busy, and help you to grow your CV.
The beauty of these courses is you can complete most of them during quarantine, so what new skills do you want to come away with?
Plan Your Bucket List
While the covid-19 pandemic does feel like it’s lasting a lifetime, the truth is, one day all of this will be over and some normality will come back.
To keep your spirits up and your mind on the positive things to come, use your time in quarantine to come up with your bucket list. What experiences or things do you want to achieve in your life?
If you want to make it even more fun, choose something from your bucket list and start to plan it out. Even down to the very finest of details.
You can view our apartment quarantine service here
