Controlling a Quarantine

So as you all may know, the world is currently under attack by a deadly virus, known as COVID-19. The Co being for “Corona”, the VI being for “Virus”, the D being for “Disease” and the 19 being for..2019. This disease has all but forced the world to find shelter in wherever they can for the forseeable future. This future has shifted from a few days to weeks to potentially the rest of the year. With the uncertainty surrounding COVID, from the start of Quarantine, I have had the desire and motivation to finally cease the day.

Due to this Quarantin-ing happening during my last year at the University of Virginia, I knew I would never have this opportunity again to really live without any responsibilities before the real world takes over. As I have realized over the past couple of weeks, the biggest road-block in my pursuit of success has been the word “opportunity”. It’s ironic, the one thing stopping me from creating opportunity is by other opportunities. For me, I have long had the symptoms of the infectious “FOMO”, the Fear of Missing Out. This is the idea that someone, in the worry of being left out of the joy of other plans, leaves his or her own plan to join another. This was something that was always in the back of my mind throughout college. I always wanted to do what others were doing, never what I felt I wanted to do. So this quarantine I decided that I would take matters into my own hand and find my passion and talents. Below you will find a list of daily and weekly tasks I have assigned myself in hopes of pushing my creative, educational, social and spiritual boundaries to the test. There will be weeks where I faulter but that is the human in us.

Daily Activities

• Create 1 tiktok: The reason I am pushing for this is because I know there is a creative outlet within me and I do believe that Tiktok is the best platform for me to initiate this. Although Tiktok has an extremely controversial foundation, as does everything.
• Excercise for at least 30 minutes: This goes with my goal of becoming more physically fit and happy with myself. My workout usually ranges from just cardio to cardio and a series of indoor activities. My hope is to lower my weight and increase my muscle to fat ratio.
• Code for 30 minutes: My major is computer science. I never really loved it but I jnew the potential the material has and I’ve always wanted to learn it on my own. For me, this is the perfect chance to really push my own interests with computational material I already have a foundation of.
• Read for 30 minutes: It’s been years upon years since I’ve read a book on my own will. Due to the aforementioned reasons above, I never had the time to really recreationally read. Now is the chance to expand what I know and think and books are what can open a million doors for me.
• Stay up to date with the news for 30 minutes: There is so much going on in this world currently, from Coronavirus to the elections to everything in-between. I hope to push myself to stay aware of my surroundings and use proper resources towards staying active in the daily events of society.
• 5 Daily prayers: One of the biggest aspects I have hoped to upkeep in my time at home is my spiritual side. The most accessible, recordable way is to continue my 5 daily prayers, something that is required upon all Muslims.
• Edit a photo: Whether it’s a photo I take that day or a photo I’ve taken before, I want to develop my editing skills as well as my photography skills and having myself edit a photo each day, I know I will gradually improve my skills. From Apple stock editing to Lightroom is the goal!
• Daily journal writing: The last daily item on my agenda is a journal I write in. The purpose behind this is to keep a daily record of my emotions, opinions, and just random thoughts throughout this period. I hope to come out of Quarantine with a first person record of my experience, something I can look back on and really appreciate.

Weekly

• Release 1 journal article: I guess this is part of the weekly goals. I have always felt that I know very little about a lot of things but not a lot about a few things. With these journal articles, I hope I can write articles that are curtailed to various topics that push me to research and learn subjects that I previously may not have thought of.
• Read 1 book: As mentioned above, I have wanted to read books for so long and I finally have the chance to. So why not? By pushing for a book a week, I increase my WPSR (words per second read) while simultaneously diversifying the books I read.
• Reach out to 5 friends I haven’t talked to in months: This is something I am proud of doing. I truly believe that the reason I failed to do a lot of the things I have mentioned in this article is because I spend so much time trying to socialize and meet people. The flaw with this is I sometimes prioritize quantity over quality of relationships. By reaching out to 5 friends that I have not talked to in months, I hope to revisit old friendships and reignite why I became friends with them in the first place.
• Complete a personal/professional project: This is the professional development I hope to accomplish throughout quarantine. Some of thes personal/professional projects so far have been learning how to cut hair (a skill that has saved me $30 so far), creating my own website, and I hope to further go into endeavors such as entrepreneurship, coding and other projects.
• Apply to 5 summer opportunities: The last item on my list is summer oppurtnities. There is a slither of hope in my intestines, in my sternum, in ever part of my body that this terrible disease ends by summertime. Although it is increasingly looking unlikely, I hope that I at least put myself in a position to cease the availability of the summer. This would be one of the last times before working full time and I do hope to travel and experience things I haven’t before. Who knows, I definitely don’t.

I have been doing this daily and weekly schedule for the past couple weeks and will be reporting back to Medium now that I have a monthly subscription. I hope to look back at these months and appreciate the growth I have had. Even if I fail in areas, I know that I am passing by this time in ways that I personally find happiness in. I would love to hear how you all are passing by the months!