How to utilize your quarantine period and make the best out of it?

So are you also confused about what to do with this unexpected time you have been given by Corona? 

Have a lot of things in mind but eventually end up doing nothing at the end of the day?

Here's my piece of advice on how you can make use of this time. You can continue binge watching Netflix or embark upon your journey to self-improvement and self-awareness. Use this time as a gift to be proactive.

To start with you should have a clear goal in mind what would you like to accomplish at the end of this quarantine. Are you looking to learn or improve your skills, knowledge, develop a hobby, try or start something new or all of it? Even if you have work from home it's still possible to do one of these things if you are motivated enough.

Well, it's difficult to do all the things at the same time as it happened with me and I ended up actually doing nothing at the end of the day. So it's recommended that you stick to 2 or maximum 3 activities per day to make your day productive.

Learn a new skill or do online courses

Always wanted to do that course or learn a skill that could change your life forever, well now is the ideal time to learn it. Start picking up and completing courses from online platforms like Coursera, Udemy, edX, Linkedin, etc in your area of interests and start earning those certifications for free as you can easily complete a course in one week as you have all the time in the world. Not sure what courses to do, here's a list of some trending topics you can explore further:

• Machine Learning
• Google Analytics
• Digital Marketing
• Programming and Computer science
• Web development
• Graphics designing

Don't wanna get into technical stuff, you can always try these things:

• Learn a new language(Duolingo is a great app for this)
• Learn cooking(will help in future for sure)
• Learn a new instrument 
• Develop a new hobby

Try securing a work from home internship

Given this quarantine period, many firms have resorted to providing work from internships. You can apply to these interns at Internshala and other websites, or do apping through Linkedin. Doing an intern will help you keep busy and at the same time, you will also get to learn something new definitely.

Improve your existing knowledge and skills

Already know what you wanna do in near future? That's great. Now would be a great time to dive deeper into it and start climbing that ladder from being an average to becoming an expert. Interested in finance, start reading books and learn more about different financial instruments, get your hands dirty with trading. Interested in coding, start competitive coding, start your own project(there are plenty of datasets available online). Wanna improve your public speaking skills, try speaking up in front of a mirror for 2-3 minutes daily and start to notice the improvement. There's plenty of other things, you know yourself better.

Don't forget there's always room for improvement and now is a great time to improve upon your skills and knowledge. 

Don't feel like doing any of the above things, here's something that may interest you:

Travel the world from your room

Here I found a great website which will take you to virtual trips around the world.

Start eating healthy and working out at home

It's high time that you understand the importance of eating healthy and working out. Given the quarantine, most of us are sitting idle on the sofa with next to zero physical activity and more of eating snacks all the time. It's healthy to drink juice daily. There are many apps available like Home Workout, Fitness and bodybuilding available on Play Store that will help and guide you layout a workout plan at home. 

Start something new

Always has that world-changing idea in your mind or wanted to start something of your own. Now the world has provided you with all the time to work and develop upon that idea. Work with your friends to bring that billion-dollar idea into action and ready to launch at the end of quarantine.

Get into the habit of reading

"Reading is to mind what exercise is to the body"

It's said that a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies and a man who never reads lives only one. In terms of fiction or non-fiction, there are endless stories that can both broaden your understanding of the world or help you get through a sticking point in your life.

Here is a list of books to get you started with.

Reconnect with your old friends and make some new ones 

In the end, friends are all that matters right. You need them at every point of your life to celebrate your success, to be there for you always. Try reconnecting with your school friends, college friends and ask them how's it going for them. I am sure you will end up cherishing some old memories you made with them.

"Your network is your net worth"

Start connecting with new people over Linkedin and get to know more about their work, seek guidance from experts in the sector you are interested in, try helping other people if you can.

Introspect yourself

“Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing” – Lawrence Bossidy

There’s nothing wrong with a little introspection. Take some quiet time to assess where you are in your life and career. Contemplate if you’re happy with who you are and what you’re doing. Be honest with yourself. Try recalling some situations and think about how you could have handled the situation better. You can't grow without introspecting yourself.

In the end, all that matters is that you come out of this quarantine period with something new. It could be anything.  Instead of feeling helpless, sorry for yourself and complaining about the current state of affairs, you’ll gain control over your life. When you look back at this period you should be happy and self-satisfied that you did something and didn't waste your precious time. 

Happy quarantine :)
Stay safe!