Let’s be real here, long periods of isolation aren’t exactly fun. Working in your pyjamas is a great novelty on day one, but after a couple of days it can really start to get to your head. Isolation can really bring out out your worst habits, so here’s how to avoid letting them get the best of you.
A really common quarantine problem is drinking more than you normally would. The GOAT Team has been working from home this week, and I’ve definitely noticed that I’ve been replacing my cup of tea with a glass of wine by 4pm. Or 3:30pm. Or 3pm. We’re all stressed and living in uncertain times with a lot of spare hours in the day, drinking makes sense.
When it comes to drinking less, there are two options you have to choose from really. One if that you can be incredibly strict with yourself and limit yourself to one or two glasses a day. If you’re like me though and find that any resolve is immediately gone after one glass, then it’s probably best to make sure you don’t have any in the house. Put your wine stockpile in another room and try not to touch it. You can’t drink what isn’t there.
This is the same way to deal with eating every single chocolate in the house as well.
Other habits are harder to break. Things like skin picking, hair pulling, nail biting, and teeth grinding an all spike when you’re stuck at home. Trust me, my arms and face are covered in red dots at the moment because I find myself absent mindedly picking away.
In cases like these we all just have to battle on by being conscious of the fact that we’re doing these things more often. I know how hard it is to just stop something like skin picking (damn near impossible, really) but by being aware and telling ourselves not to pick, or bite, or grind we an hopefully cut down on at least some of the damage. If you’ve got gloves that you use, bad tasting nail polish, or any other tools to help you kick it in regular life, be prepared to use those twice as much.
Things like learning a new skill or doing some home workouts can give our brains something else to focus on, and if we can minimise our bad habits getting to us during isolation, then that’s a win in my books. Stay safe out (in?) there.
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