Do the Opposite #55 - Coronavirus: How to Prepare, What To Do During Quarantine, First Vaccine Trial, Boosting Immune System

Good News Everyone!

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2020: Coronavirus, Quarantine & Invitation to Do The Opposite

The times are tougher this year than before, there is no doubt. However, as people who pride ourselves on doing the opposite of the majority, let's not panic, take the circumstances into our own hands and own them, and develop a positive outlook on life despite the doom and gloom we see around.

First of all, if you are at a place where there is no quarantine and mass panic yet, I strongly urge you to go to the store and buy some food supplies: enough to last you (and the people who live with you) for 2-4 weeks (ideally, 2 months). Do this before the panic hits. Go for long-lasting products like canned foods, rice, potatoes + toilet paper, hand sanitizer, etc.

Don't over-stock as well: remember that other people also need to get these items and it serves no one if some people have too much food + sanitizing products, and others have next to none.

Distance yourself from other people minimize all unnecessary contact. If you are currently in an area unaffected by the virus, take all the precautions mentioned above and treat the risks very seriously. It can go from "business as usual" to "lockdown and quarantine" in a matter of couple of days.

Here in Toronto a lot of people currently work from home, many events are cancelled, most public places are closed. It all happened in the span of Thursday/Friday last week as Coronavirus cases started surging.

What to Do During Quarantine: Activity Ideas

OK, having said what I needed to say above, I promised less doom and gloom and more positive attitude so here we go!

If you have to stay at home for 2+ weeks you can take it differently: either be bored, panicked and miserable, or catch up on the things you wanted to do for a while, but didn't have the time.

Here are some ideas:

1. Catch up on movies and TV shows you've been missing out on.
We all have that list and now you have enough time to actually go through it! If nothing comes to mind, I suggest you watch some fun shows to bring up the mood: "Brooklyn 99", "Santa Clarita Diet", "Silicon Valley".

2. Rest and relax.
There's never enough time to rest in our day to day lives. We often sleep 6 hours and less, thinking we're going to catch up on sleep soon, but instead just keep going in endless cycle. Now is the time to chill! Plus, the more energy and the less stress you will have the better your immune system and health in general will be.

3. Video call your friends and family.
You already know who you should call! What about that good friend you rarely talk to these days? What about your parents or grandparents, children or other family members? Both get a tea or a coffee and spend some quality time together! Good apps for this: Facetime, Google Duo.

4. Clean and declutter your home.
You are going to spend more time here than you usually do and you want your home to be a place where you feel calm, clean, secure and in control. Which items do you want to take into your future, and which items you can let go of?

5. Learn.
This is probably the most useful activity you can do during quarantine. There are many online course platforms like Udemy or edx, where you can pick up new skills and improve the existing ones.Start learning a new language, for free, with Duolingo app.

6. Finish your personal project.
Now you have no excuses about not having the time :)

7. Play games.
If you live with someone, you can play board games together or do a jigsaw puzzle. You can also catch up on the games you've been meaning to check out!

8. Cook and experiment with new dishes.
This can be your opportunity to vastly improve your cooking skills, as well as delight and impress your family. Making and enjoying food is a perfect way to stop worrying and just enjoy the moment.

9. Pick up a new hobby.
You probably already have one that you've started one day and then life got in the way and there was no time to get back to it. Maybe it's playing the guitar or drawing, but no matter what it is, you will not regret spending time on it!

10. Read.
Reading is a supremely underrated activity! Get a book, be it e-book, a physical copy or an audio-book, sit in a cozy spot with a hot cocoa or some coffee or tea and you will have the best time!

Articles

1) "US Just Started The First Human Trial of a Vaccine For The New Coronavirus" by Issam Ahmed
Amid all the negative news we hear from every possible channel: TV, Social Media, conversations with friends, here is a piece of good news. The title speaks for itself :)

2) "Can I Boost My Immune System?" by Tara Parker-Pope
These days the best thing we can do is to work on strengthening our immune systems. This awesome article illuminates the factors that suppress our immune system so we can focus on eliminating them from our lives, as well as shows us some proactive ways to boost it.

3) "How Giving Up Refined Sugar Changed My Brain" by Michael Grothaus
A curious exploration of what it feels like to stop eating refined sugar for some time. An interesting twist is that throughout the experiment, Michael didn't eat fewer calories than before, he just swapped refined sugar to naturally occurring sugars from fruit and berries.


Videos

1) "Mind Control: How to Win the War in Your Head" | Owen Fitzpatrick
This is a super cool talk on the power of inner dialogue we engage in every hour of every day. It's about triumphing over Resistance, the voice inside us that tells us that we are not good enough and all our achievements are worth nothing, etc. Plus 2 huge bonuses: 1) the whole talk rhymes 2) 3 separate times throughout the talk Owen raps the dialogue going on between the two voices in our minds.

2) "3 Reasons You Aren’t Doing What You Say You Will Do" | Amanda Crowell
Most of us have a habit we've been trying to acquire for years, with intermittent success - we take a stab at it every now and then but are unable to sustain it for a long period of time. Why so? There are multiple factors that Amanda shares with us in her talk, among them our mindset (growth vs fixed) and our image of ourselves (Am I the person who does things like this?). Amanda illustrates the concepts using a story of how she's been trying to start exercising regularly for years.

3) "DAFT PUNK on Large Singing TESLA COIL"
It is what you think it is. It sounds way better and looks way cooler than you think it's going to.


Tweet of the Week

Bonus tweet


Ethos

Quotes

"When prescribing one of the drugs I take, my doctor warned me of a common side effect: exaggerated, intensely vivid dreams. To be honest, I've never really noticed the difference. I've always dreamt big."
― Michael J. Fox

"Optimism is a cure for many things."
― Michael J. Fox

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up."
― Stephen Hawking

"Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities -- always see them, for they're always there."
― Norman Vincent Peale

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Keep doing the opposite,
Alex Kallaway
Website: dotheoppo.site
Twitter: twitter.com/ka11away