14 Lessons from 14 Days in Self-Isolation
By: Maddy Chen
Tags: Quarantine, Life Lessons, Self, Covid Diaries, Coronavirus

14 Lessons from 14 Days in Self-Isolation

#4. Physical separation helps create mental separation

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

There’s no doubt that coronavirus is a crazy time for everyone. For me, I dropped everything in the middle of college to fly from California to Taiwan.

Per Taiwan regulations, I had to self-isolate in my room for 14 days before I was allowed to interact with people (including family).

Here are 14 lessons from 14 days in self-isolation:

1. Being physically alone does not mean you’re lonely

If I were alone, it would’ve been me against everyone else in the world. That’s false. In isolation, I wasn’t alone. I have a family that was bringing me meals. I have friends that were thrilled to set up video calls.

It was just me against my room walls.

2. You will adapt to a new “normal”

For once, I had an empty schedule with no meetings, no lunch dates, no pressing deadlines, and limited responsibilities. As someone who swears by Google Calendar, I felt lost. However, as time passed, I adapted to a new, lone “normal”.

3. Setting a schedule provides a sense of fulfillment

I pulled out an old whiteboard and wrote a schedule for the day. This completely transformed the rest of my isolation. By creating structure and accountability, I changed my mindset from bored and alone to productive and useful.

7:20AM wake up

8:20AM create this schedule, include urgent tasks

8:30AM start working on the most difficult assignment of the day

11AM video catch up session

5:30PM YouTube fitness class

7PM Netflix & dinner

10:20PM nighttime meditation

10:40PM bedtime!

4. Physical separation helps create mental separation

I allocated certain areas of my room to specific activities. The floor was for exercising, the desk for work and meetings, the bookshelf for dining, and the bed for video chats and sleeping. This made me feel like the space was bigger because I was mimicking the way we separate a house into different living areas.

5. Exercise for the mind not the body

Despite the highs and lows of my day, I always knew that when 5:30PM rolled around I’d be transported to the world of tricep dips, squats, crunches, and sweat. My mind was clearer, my energy improved, and I felt ready to finish the day strong (no pun intended). These were the mental benefits of exercise!

6. You spend way too much time on your phone

My first “screen time report” was 33% higher than usual. As someone with terrible eyesight, this was appalling news. I set a 40 min time limit on social media apps that were particularly harmful to my productivity. The first day, I unpleasantly found that I reached my limit by 11AM. Then, every subsequent time I opened the app, I knew that I’d made a conscious decision to spend time on social media.

7. Create 25 mins of productivity with the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method where you work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. I used this to force myself to start a task I was procrastinating on.

8. Technology is a godsend (for human connection)

As a Gen-Z, I’ve grown up with social media and technology. In isolation, it was my phone and laptop that reminded me that I was loved by others. When I couldn’t figure out how the curtains worked, I FaceTimed my mom. She stood outside my closed room door and shouted instructions through the door (and my phone).

While I still strongly believe that technology cannot completely replace human interactions, technology is still a powerful tool.

9. Being alone is not the worst thing in the world

I enjoy company. The warmth of a good hug, the bellowing laughter from a shared meal, and the silence of good company. We often forget that we don’t need to rely on others to make us happy, enjoy the little things in life, and honestly, being alone sounds a lot harder than it looks!

10. Take responsibility for adding fun into life

One of my friends had a birthday not only during quarantine, but during isolation. We changed Zoom backgrounds to where we were “traveling”, shared a virtual rager, cake, and drinks!

11. Mental preparation can do wonders for your emotions

From the moment I decided to come back to Taiwan, I started preparing myself for those 14 days. I envisioned what foods I‘d eat. I thought about activities to pass the time: people and Netflix shows to catch up on, personal projects that I’ve been putting off.

Often there are numerous tasks that we just “wish we had more time for” — this became my time to do so (including writing Medium articles!)

12. Proactivity > reactivity

In the past 2 months, I’ve finally learned that it’s in your favor to be proactive rather than be reactive to get what you want. This is the go-getter and take initiative attitude.

With coronavirus, thousands of deaths could’ve been prevented if social distancing measures were put into place earlier. Even in non-public health situations, this often holds true. In sports, if you act reactively, you risk getting a foul. In academics, you study before not after the exam. In job searches, you reach out to the company or your network to find opportunities.

13. Peer pressure works

This is why there are support circles and study partners. The ability to share experiences, connect, and push through are easier done together than alone. The peer pressure of knowing that my high school friends were also diligently staying at home for 14 days made it easier for me to accept that this was a rite of passage into Taiwan during this time.

14. Personal sacrifices are worthwhile for the greater good

Taiwan’s been able to conquer the tragedy of the common situation. This is a situation where a share-resource system is threatened because individuals act in their best self-interest. Taiwanese citizens have been extremely careful in enforcing public health measures such as temperature check, hand sanitizing hands, and mask wearing in all enclosed spaces. They’ve also mandated that all potential and actual carriers isolate and fess up. As a result, during this global pandemic, Taiwan is not under lockdown and still one of the safest countries to reside in.

These inconveniences are personal sacrifices that everyone endures.