There is negative news everywhere. We are all locked in our homes. Staying inside to protect ourselves from the global pandemic around us. But who can stop the toxic negativity reaching us through social media or news channels every morning as we open our eyes? Things look harder than they are. It seems hard to stay positive. Things look bleak. Data shown in the news is even scarier!

On the other hand, there are only two things that can break the chain. One is Social Distancing and the other – A Positive Attitude about this self-isolation. Here is my humble attempt to share 5 ways of staying positive during this coronavirus pandemic:

#1 Focus On Health

Physical and Mental health should be of utmost priority to everyone. If you are unwell, you are of no use to your family or your company. Thankfully, India takes it seriously. And as a country, we are putting economical growth behind the lives of our citizens. We should be grateful to our Government for taking preventive steps. And above all, our doctors and nurses.

To sustain our health during the lockdown, try workouts at home. Stay active by participating in house chores. Movement fuels movement. It is easy to get sucked into a sedentary lifestyle of lying around all day. But there needs to be a conscious effort to stay active and stay positive.

#2 Nurture Relationships

If you are living with family, cherish this time with them. Put down your gadgets and get to know your family better than you used to. Whether you are working from home or on a break, interact with family as much as you can. Don’t cut them out with gadget addictions coming in the way.

Surveys have suggested that the man’s biggest regret in life has been about not having given enough time and attention to loved ones. This is the time to make memories with your children, open your heart to your spouse or be of service to your parents. If you are living alone or separated from family during the lockdown, make generous use of technology to connect over video calls. Catch up with estranged close friends.

Here is a useful article with some fun ways to connect with friends or family that live apart.

#3 Push Your Career Ahead

Some of us fear layoffs and others fear pay cuts. If things stay as they are, it looks unavoidable. But you could always stay ahead of the game by being prepared. Instead of laying back and being less productive with work from home option, try leaning in.

Push through into high productivity. Prepare for meetings, projects in advance. Upskill yourself for the latest technologies and themes in your domain. Some useful links are here:

https://www.skillshare.com/

https://www.coursera.org/

https://www.udemy.com/

Make yourself indispensable at your office. Create a happy corner at home to work comfortably and without noise. And if nothing else works, open doors for freelancing using other skills that you have.

#4 Pick Up A New Hobby

We already talked about upskilling in the context of retaining your jobs, growing your business or generating income through freelancing channels.

But there is another perspective on this. Not every skill or interest is meant to generate income. Some are useful just as a hobby or pastime. There may be some skill that is useful in your daily chores. Consider joining online classes to add some fun and interesting skill to your armor. The kind of skill that amuses you while educating you at the same time. Here are a few suggestions:

Speed reading, Blogging, Yoga, Any dance style, Musical instrument, Digital Marketing, Data Science, Photography, Singing, Learning a language and so on.

If you cant find time to add a new hobby, polish an old one. Read more books, grow your terrace garden, finish that craft project you always wanted to do.

#5 Serve The Community

Do your bit for the society by contributing whatever is in your capacity. Here is a lovely video made by Indian Film industry veterans to contribute to the daily wage earners of the film industry.

But every individual can contribute by either donating to the PM Cares Fund or joining infrastructure support initiatives like CovidIndiaInititiative.org.

A public charitable trust under the name of ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund)’ has been set up. This is to undertake and support relief or assistance of any kind relating to the COVID 19 calamity.

The COVID India Initiative is run by a team of volunteers who have a strength of 100+ people working on multiple initiatives to help people at large for basic medical supplies to ventilator capacity and production.

If any of these tips resonated with you, don’t forget to send me a compliment by leaving a comment below.

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