What I’ve learned from Quarantine

At the beginning of the quarantine I found it very difficult to stay on track with productivity instead of slowly spiraling into laziness and inactivity. The gym was closed, I didn’t feel motivated to do anything, on some days I found myself sitting around all day with my phone and keeping my mind distracted. As this was going on I felt like more negative thoughts were creeping in as well, which in turn would lead to me wanting to distract myself even more. This is why I wanted to share some of the things that helped me get back on track and some things that I want to take away from all this, even after the quarantine.

Perspective

We need to remember that there are a lot of people right now (including my wife Andy!) that are still going to work and exposing themselves to the virus in order to help others and there are also people that are struggling with money because they’ve lost their jobs or their businesses. I’m personally very lucky and grateful that I have my Patreon supporters that are helping me immensely during these times, so at this point I have to say thank you guys so much for supporting me! It’s important to remember to be grateful for what you have. I’ve seen people complain online about being bored and stuck inside and I don’t think that’s fair for those who are actually on the forefront of all of this. Make use of the time you have, it might be your chance to make a change in your life!

Sleep

Since I don’t travel for shows at the moment, I have much less difficulty with keeping up a regular sleep schedule. I go to bed when Andy does at around 11pm and we get up at around 7 in the morning. Our bodies work best when they’re in sync with the cycle of the sun and when we’re getting enough sleep to rest and recover. Sleep is not a waste of time, because if you don’t sleep enough you will be less efficient and more likely to get distracted. Plus when you go to bed and wake up at around the same time, it’s pretty much always easy to fall asleep when you need to and to get out of bed in the morning.

Meditation

One of the things that I have been doing on and off for a few years now is mindfulness meditation and I could always tell that I was feeling better when I was doing it consistently every day, but then when I did feel better I was slacking off again. In this extra time I have at the moment, a time where it’s especially easy to fall into negative thought patterns I wanted to take the time to get back on track. I started with 10 minutes of guided meditation per day (I use the app “Headspace”) and I often just keep going after that. This practice helps me get some room in my head and helps me deal with negative thoughts and strong emotions when they come up. It teaches you to understand and recognize thought patterns and feelings and gives you control to choose to come back to the present moment instead of letting those emotions control you. This time I really want to keep it going even when things return to normal, because I’ve been feeling the short and long term effect more than ever.

Walking

Me and my wife have been going on walks almost daily and in addition to just making us move, it’s also been a great opportunity to take time off our phones and connect with each other, to talk about different topics and ideas that we wouldn’t come up with when we’re actively doing something at home or are distracted by notifications. While we were walking without a destination we also discovered a lot of places that we wouldn’t have come across normally and we’ve come to realizations about how close we are to some places, for example one of our favorite restaurants!

Exercising

Since the gym is closed at the moment I found myself sitting around most of the day and not moving my body. Initially I tried to just jump around in the apartment a bit every day, but it didn’t give me the same energy and satisfaction that I would get from a good gym session and additionally I think our neighbors probably don’t exactly love it when someone is running around on the floor boards above them. I used to absolutely hate running, but it ended up being the only choice I had. So I went on Soundcloud and made a playlist of Neurofunk tracks since I was thinking fast BPM music would be perfect for it and maybe it could help me stay motivated to keep going. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! The first time it was difficult and I was out of breath quickly, but the speed of the music was so perfect and taking in the world around me while stepping on the floor on beat with the music was such an amazing experience. At first I wanted to run every second day, but the more I did it, the more I felt like it was just feeling so good not only during my run, but also when I took a shower after and when I got back to working on music that I do it almost every day now. Give it a try!

Food

You guys know that I like to talk about fruits and vegetables and it’s for a reason! I’m extremely lucky that my Andy is so great at cooking and we’ve been having some super nutritious salad bowls with a lot of veggies and coconut milk sauces. Eating vegetables and fruit gives your body the nutrients it needs and makes your immune system stronger. Before I started getting into eating healthy I couldn’t believe that a healthy body would have an influence on my mind and my thoughts as well, but it really does, so that’s another thing that helps me stay sane and positive. The number one thing that I think we should do is to stop consuming dairy products – and I know cheese is so delicious, but it’s made for baby cows to grow up and not for humans, so I’m not surprised that it’s not good for our bodies whether we care about the animals or not. Once you get used to a healthy diet, you will notice that after a meal instead of feeling sluggish and tired you actually feel energized, so that helps me massively to have energy during the day.

Social Media

I found that restricting my usage of social media and my phone in general by setting limits for myself (using the “screentime” feature on my iPhone) helps me mentally because even though I can easily deactivate it again, it’s an extra step that makes me think if I really need to use my phone at that moment. Scrolling through the various endless feeds makes me compare myself with others and often just gives me negative thoughts. I also don’t get notifications from those apps during the downtime, so there’s less distraction while I’m working.

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Conclusion

These are some of the things that worked for me. I think it would be useful to try those things for yourself, but in the end you will have to find what works best for you! Feel free to share some of the things that are helping you, I’m always open to trying out new things. I would like to keep these practices going as much as possible when the world slowly goes back to normal, because I can really tell how much I’m benefitting from them.

Much love,
Christian / INFEKT