Even though I don’t work, I’ve been struggling to maintain the same sleeping schedule, but have been working on myself through personal development.
However, ever since the lockdown began, staying at home has taken a bit of a downer on me. I can’t go to different parts of the valley, visit my friends, hold weekly club meetings nor have “Boba Fridays” (half-joke) with my close friend. While I do practice social distancing, it doesn’t feel great to stay in one place for a prolonged time.
Looking at the positives, having more time to be at home has benefited me. For instance, I’ve been reading more, learning new skills online, listening to podcasts, working on personal short-term and long-term projects, revisiting past unfulfilled passions, improving my oral and written fluency in Spanish and many more.
I’ve also been bettering my mindset and forming new habits. For instance, I’ve been attempting to write on my agenda planner every day, finishing a book per week, exercising and more.
And, of course, there’s the sleep aspect, where I would sometimes sleep really late at night and wake up late in the day. This is something I need to change so that I sleep on time and wake up with the “rise and shine” attitude early in the day.
In the past, I would almost never watch Netflix. But in April, I binge-watched “Money Heist” for two days. I have not finished the series, but I don’t think I’m going to finish watching it all just so that I can avoid being locked into a screen.
Before that, I did watch a 2011 movie called “In Time,” which has transformed how I perceive time.
I’ve also been attempting to do ‘dopamine detox’ at least once per week. This is where someone doesn’t utilize electronic devices that lead to high dopamine production in the brain, such as playing video games, binge-watching a show, watching YouTube videos and scrolling through social media.
According to other people, the ‘detox’ helps recalibrate the brain to be more motivated to do the ‘lesser-liked’ activities.
Now, I’ve been heavily invested in politics since 2015. I love reading and learning about it, as well as what goes on in the U.S. government.
But looking at how many COVID-19 cases the country has compared to other countries has been a bit scary. So, I try to minimize the amount of information I take in because that is always in the news.
In more positive aspects, my close friend and I have been keeping our “Boba Fridays” tradition by having them on Saturdays instead.
Only this time, I would use the “Uber Eats” app to order and pick it up at my place to avoid going further out. Then we would have a video chat about whatever topics we want to talk about.
While my academic classes aren’t too difficult, there are extra ‘classes’ that I’ve put myself in that aren’t academic.
For instance, learning from YouTube, online courses, podcasts, etc. on topics I’m interested in, and then incorporating that information into my life.
And lastly, I’ve been thinking about what truly drives my core in life. While journalism is one of my biggest passions, I do enjoy writing, editing and filming videos.
Later, I do want to involve myself in public speaking and coaching, both I’m not that good at right now but feel I have a calling to do.
While the pandemic has obvious downsides, I’ve just been taking the time to do self-reflection, grow as a person, learn new information, and bring myself closer to the life I want to live.
For now, I’ve been more aware of time, practicing self-care, progressing day by day and continuing despite obstacles and setbacks.
And as ‘they’ say: You are the author and writer of your own book.