Lydia Chan,26, Business Analyst/Product Owner, Ontario, Canada
With ONE word, how do you hope to come out of this quarantine?
"Alive"
What was the effect of COVID-19 on your routine?
"7 weeks since the quarantine began, and I had to start working from home."
What is one realization you’ve had about yourself or the world?
"I realized that I really don't need to go out that often, and when forced to stay home, I'm very good at keeping myself entertained and busy. I also realized how important having good family relationships are, and being able to communicate well with my parents."
What works and doesn’t work while in quarantine? (open-ended)
"No one should be forced to "be productive" during quarantine or put extra stress on their selves. For me personally, I like keeping busy and doing lots of fun things to avoid the plague of boredom. I try to keep my workout schedules the same and have found it easy to stay motivated when I work out virtually with my boyfriend. I actually work out even more now, since there's so much more time. I started to do an online course that I have been putting off, I cleaned out my closets, and I spent a lot more time playing video games, cooking, and baking. Its been fun. Whenever I feel down, I always feel that it's important to connect with friends and family. My boyfriend and I have started a "3 Daily Happies" project where we input 3 things that we're thankful and make us happy during each day, so we can put things in perspective and remind ourselves of all the awesome things that we experienced that day. What doesn't work is similar to what I said before, where no one should be forcing themselves to "do more", since Covid is a stressful time for everyone. It's not an "eat pray love" period of time for people who are truly going through some tough times."
In what ways have you shown self-improvement?
I've definitely learned to be more thankful for what I have. When it comes down to it, I have everything I need in life. This has been a great bonding time for all my relationships - my friends and family always stick together to provide support. Living with my sister has made me try harder to be nicer (haha). It almost feels like I talk more to people, than pre-quarantine, because there's no activities that are happening while we're hanging out anymore, so we're forced to just talk. Its been great to listen!
If you had to give your “pre-quarantine” self a piece of advice, what would that be?
"Stop feeling bored when you're at home and feel like you have "nothing to do". It's so easy to keep yourself entertained at home! Aso learn to be a better cook."