—
The pandemic has and is still changing our lives. Restrictions and lulls come and go and, for the more unfortunate ones, the same happens with jobs and so on. While the main issue is definitely financial stability, there are a couple of other things that could seriously affect someone’s life.
It goes without saying that the other important things that one must pay attention to are loneliness and stress – both of which can be extreme in nature and can affect the mind, as well as the body of any human being.
If you’re one of the many that are currently experiencing one of the two, or both at the same time, here are some tips, tricks, and ways to escape loneliness, relieve stress, and also get rid of that stuck feeling!
Feeling Stuck
It’s clear that this whole pandemic ordeal has put an end to the near future plans of many people. Some wanted to move abroad, or even to a nearby town – but the closing of borders and the increasing unemployment rate forced the majority to choose the more stable way of life, despite their plans.
As a result, they had to give up on the things that provided them with a sense of freedom. Naturally, more and more people are now feeling stuck – despite having more free time, since most of them work from home.
But there are ways to fight this feeling – here’s how I did it!
Home Improvement – Sort Of
Getting out of the house less and less might have made some of us miss certain things. For example, some enjoyed their morning coffee and breakfast at a certain coffee shop that they loved, while others miss the routine takeaway pick-up they used to do on their way to work.
Since, in most cases, these are not available anymore, you could bring a bit of what you miss into a corner of your home – or on a balcony if you have one. Instead of having your coffee sitting at the good-old kitchen table, pull a chair onto your balcony, add a small table, create a nook in a sunny corner of your lounge – and the options are endless.
Given that quarantine periods can last for quite a while, one should always be ready to redecorate their home (or parts of it) a little bit in order to avoid monotony/boredom.
Picking Up New Hobbies
Quarantine, restrictions, and remote work mean that we now have more free time to spend by ourselves at home. Naturally, this also means that there is a higher chance that we will lose our sense of purpose, so to say.
More free time calls for picking up one or two additional hobbies that you could enjoy. Many people have picked up knitting, for example, which can be done during work meetings as well. Overall, people now have the opportunity to practice any one hobby they never had time to perfect in the past – painting, programming, web design, writing, and so on.
Staying Away from Pills
Before moving on to how to escape loneliness and stress, it’s worth mentioning that taking certain pills to help you in these situations is almost always a no-no. If you’re a socially active person, then the opportunity to take a pill and calm yourself down will present itself multiple times an hour but you should fight it if you can!
Since you might have a lot of free time that you spend doing nothing, anxiety might also kick in. Still, you have to stay away from pills that you could become unnecessarily reliant on. Instead, try tea varieties that could help with both stress and anxiety or, if you want something more specific, try Joy Organics products – as they’re specially designed to relieve stress in a more natural and healthy way.
Escaping Loneliness
Depending on the level of restrictions in your country, it’s likely that you didn’t have any human interaction for quite some time. Naturally, this can affect one’s mind. A simple period of stress or the start of an anxiety attack can make people really question their current condition.
In short, once you realize that you’re living in loneliness, so to speak, it’s quite hard to escape that feeling/state. Fortunately, there are ways to combat this:
- Choose one of your hobbies and join an online community – believe it or not, an online community revolving around a certain thing or subject can really help. Simple chat messages soon turn into sharing pictures, voice messages, audio calls, and ultimately, actual video meetings and the planning of in-person meetings.
- Plan online meetings with your group of friends – if you’re all stuck at home, then meeting in the online environment is very easy! You can set up a simple video call or if you’re the type to get bored fast, play some Kahoot or literally any other game/video game that you want together.
- Chatting with total strangers online – this particular thing is still popular (it didn’t end in 2017-ish). Chatting with a random stranger online keeps your mind busy as you’re focused on learning new things about a new person. If you don’t want to invest in a hobby or a themed group, for example, daily talks with strangers can help you escape loneliness.
Naturally, these aren’t all the things that you can rely on to escape loneliness. If you enjoy video games, for instance, buying a virtual reality headset can help you take down two birds with one stone. First, you become more physically active (which is a great stress and anxiety remedy). Then, you get to interact with people on a whole new level.
Escaping Stress
While loneliness is often easier to deal with, stress is a different issue. Stress can pretty much ruin someone’s life, especially if not treated in time. Here are some of the things that one can do to escape or avoid it:
- Daily, constant exercise – if you want to clear your mind and relieve stress, then we can’t stress how important exercising daily is. If you move, get tired, and end up simply relaxing in bed after a workout, then you’ll forget about stress.
- Yoga – even though some of you would never think of doing yoga, the pandemic gives you the opportunity to start and enjoy significant benefits from it. It’s already clear that yoga prevents stress build-up and also relaxes muscles (most of which are tensed from stress).
- Breathing exercises – if sport or yoga aren’t for you, then breathing exercises are a must. You usually do them before sleeping so that you can relax both your body and mind and fall asleep easier. Some of you may be skeptics, but I assure you that 30 seconds of deep breathing before sleep is enough to prevent an anxiety attack and help you sleep well.
The Bottom Line
In the end, if you’re affected by all of the above, but in a moderate way, then you can simply use these methods to escape while in the comfort of your home. However, they are not to be ignored if they become more serious.
As such, if your anxiety levels are over the roof, then it’s recommended that you see a psychologist/therapist that can provide you with much more essential information on how to control loneliness/stress and handle that stuck feeling.
—
This content is brought to you by Michael Keating.
Photo: Shutterstock
