Quarantine has been a hard time for many of us. School has been in this system that makes our bodies hurt more than usual, we can’t talk to our friends in person, and there’s a virus still looming over our heads in a political climate that can hurt your head to muddle through each day. But don’t stress, because there’s a lot you can do to take care of yourself in these hard times. Here are a few tips if you haven’t been feeling your best during this time.

• Distract yourself – And no, this doesn’t mean you should deny that there is a virus, because there is one and you need to be careful. But that doesn’t mean it should be consuming your thoughts either. So try not to think about it too much. As an anonymous student posts, “try focusing on doing the things you love inside, while thinking about what you’ll do when quarantine ends” Other suggestions include reading books, looking for funny things online, or watching movies.
• Be with the people you care about – Despite what many people thought beforehand, human beings are social creatures. We depend on face-to-face communication to make things easier, and not just those in our family either. So connect with the people you care about, whether it be chatting without your voice, video calling, or meeting in person (at a respectable distance of course). When you’re having problems, after all, you should “talk about your feelings to whoever you are comfortable with,” as another student states.
• Take breaks from the news when you can – This has a bit to do with the part about distracting yourself, but this is doubly important. While it is important to stay informed, especially when things are going wrong, sometimes it’s bad for people to pay attention all the time. When things are bad, it’s good to change the channel, and find something better to watch. Taking your mental health into consideration is important after all.
• Give yourself something to anchor you – An anchor is something that you can do to stay rooted in your schedules, to make what’s going on seem a bit more normal. If there’s something you can do once a day, you should do it so things pass by easier for you. Along with this, you can, as another student states “keep a schedule for everything, it makes you less stressful about forgetting things,” so you have a way to get things done, and not let the time slip past you
• Most importantly, do things to keep yourself healthy outside, and the inside will follow – Just do what will help you get in a good headspace. Go on walks, exercise a bit more, go outside! There’s so much you can do that doesn’t make you leave your neighborhood, or even your backyard, that you can do to help yourself out! 

I hope these tips help all the readers who are having a difficult time. Just remember, we’re still in this together!