Quarantine? YES, PLEASE!
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I see a lot of people complaining about the quarantine, but honestly, I couldn’t be happier! There is not a single place on earth that I would rather be at any given time other than alone in my apartment. I believe that your home should be the central hub for all of the things that make you feel fulfilled and satisfied, so I take the efforts I make in managing my space very seriously. Now that the state is shut down, the government pretty much mandated that I be happy! There’s no more taking public transportation, no more dressing up for work, no more dealing with people – just me and my hallowed temple.
Since I don’t have to wake up so early and prepare for work, I almost have a circadian rhythm going for me. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I’m on the clock, but outside of that anything goes. Sometimes, I nap right after work and wake up around midnight and just climb back into my emails to finish a few more jobs. Sometimes, I just stay up until 2 a.m. and I still get to sleep a whole seven hours before work. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but before the quarantine, sleeping was the hardest thing to do. I’d be so anxious about having to go to work the next day, that I couldn’t sleep, no matter how badly I wanted to. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen the sun rise before I’ve fallen asleep. Now, I feel wonderful! I’m sleeping better than ever and when I wake up, I just slide right over to my desk and do my thing. I’m so much happier to work I’d almost consider it fun!
One of my favorite perks of being quarantined is the food! Since I don’t have to travel to and from work anymore, I always have the time and energy to cook. After a long day at the office, sometimes I didn’t even have the willpower to fight my way through the 1-hour commute to get home (and that’s if I hurry), so I’d just sit there and work for an hour or two after everyone else left until I felt better. Now, I can literally see my oven (not to mention my bed) while I’m working! I’ve been brushing up on my cooking skills and it’s just fabulous to have home-cooked meals every day. Not only am I saving money because I’m not having to buy dinner, but I’ve even lost some weight because I’m eating more regularly and better quality meals throughout the day. When is the last time you had a fresh stovetop grilled cheese sandwich at 1 p.m. on a weekday? If your answer is anything other than “today” you need to get your priorities in order – go make yourself one right now! Pro tip: low and slow is the way to go!
Speaking of staying energized, I’ve always hated taking breaks at work. How am I supposed to actually “take a break” when I’m literally at work? I can’t lay down to rest my back from being slumped over that desk all day, I can’t change into something more comfortable, there is always so much noise, there is nothing fun to do and there are too many people around! I’m the kind of person that needs their private time and space, but in my position, everyone’s always walking in on me or looking for me all of the time. Even if I leave the office, where am I going to go? Sit on a bench outside? NOT! Then when you get back to your desk, you are behind on all the new stuff that piled up while you were gone and now you have to make up for the hour you missed. That’s why I stopped taking breaks at work unless it’s really serious; it just feels like a waste of time! But, thanks to the quarantine, I’m comfortable and well equipped to manage my stress. I found out about this show called “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and I’ve been binging that all week while I work (seriously, it’s hilarious; it’s probably even better than “The Office”)! On the days that I’m overwhelmed and I need to take an actual break from “work mode,” I just switch over to a videogame. Even one 10-minute game of Call of Duty is a HUGE boost to my overall mental state. It really helps to keep plugging away throughout the day.
The only thing that I don’t like about the quarantine is my cellphone ringing. I HATE having my ringer on. My phone is basically just a tool for me to access the internet wherever I am or for people to contact me in an emergency, but now that I have my office phone forwarded to my cellphone, I have to turn on that god-awful ringer for a minimum of eight hours a day. It drives me crazy!
All in all, they can leave us quarantined for a few more months. You won’t hear any complaints from me. I’m living a dream that I didn’t even know that I had!
— Anonymous