Now that COVID-19 has literally “rocked” our world, it leaves us with the confusing question of… “how do we/ I move past this? “. As a country, this will be dependent on the laws and policies that our leaders come up with, taking cognizance of our peculiarities. As a person, this is not a question that anyone can answer for you. It is a question that everyone must answer for themselves.
COVID-19 has made us experience a new situation, one that many people in Nigeria today have never experienced before. We are now forced to do things differently, for instance; work from home, attend religious activities online, get married using online platforms etc.
All this can be very overwhelming, and indeed I was overwhelmed for the first 2 weeks of the lockdown. I thought I could be productive by reading my books, I mean, the numbers were few and this would be over soon (or so I thought). Well it’s the 6/7th week of staying at home and the light at the end of the tunnel still seems so far away.
Throughout most of April, I couldn’t help but wonder, “what would happen to the aviation industry now?” “What would happen to tourism?” “Some businesses will make serious losses – how will these business owners survive?” And a host of other unending questions. Everyday there’s a new webinar or Instagram live and if you’re not careful, you may suffer from information overload.
Now I’ve moved past all of this. Thanks to some knowledge sharing sessions, I got more clarity. If you felt the same way, or you’re currently feeling the same way I did, I have some tips that will help you maintain calm and make the best use of your stay-at-home period.
- Commit to learning something: I know you’re probably tired of hearing things like you should take online courses. While I advise that you don’t pressure yourself, it’s great to keep your mind alert by learning something everyday. It could even be learning more about yourself!
To make things a bit more interesting, you can share what you’ve learnt everyday on your WhatsApp status. You will probably get a word of encouragement or two from family and friends.
- Read a book: One of the things I’ve done this lockdown period is to read books that are out of my field – Law. I’ve read books on history, mystery and even crime. I read at least one chapter a day and this could be for 5 minutes. Since I’ve been able to break the book down, it’s easier to read and again, no pressure!
If you love podcasts or audio books, this is also a great option. You can listen to books and interesting content while doing chores, working out etc.
- Be intentional about trainings online: If you eventually decide to take online courses/trainings, I advise that you be very intentional about it. What skills are you looking to develop? How relevant are they to you in the next 6-12 months? Avoid jumping on any and everything, time is precious and you should make the best use of your time.
- Sleep: Sleep well! By the time thing get back into full force, you’ll remember all the time you had and didn’t sleep *winks*.
- Meditate and exercise: Get that much needed exercise! It could be a 10 minute jog, or even dancing. Meditation is also great for the mind. It’ll help you during self reflection and also help your imagination. Personally, this lockdown period brought back so many sweet memories especially as I’m bonding more with my brothers.
- Call some people: I can’t stress this enough. There are surely some people whom you’ve lost contact with. It could even be as far back as your primary school friends. Look them up on Facebook and say hello, call their numbers if you have it. Give them a pleasant surprise. After this pandemic period is over, you will need to leverage on people more than ever. I personally, am very lazy with calling people, but I’ve been making a conscious effort to adjust. I’ve also had some people call me, and it felt so good hearing from them after a long time. Try this! You’ll be glad you did.
Overall, I wish you a very productive time. Cheers to a better version of you after this!
