Cabin fever is defined as the feelings of boredom, restlessness, or listlessness one gets after being cooped up inside in a single location for days or weeks. You may have trouble getting out of bed, a lack of motivation, an irritable mood, and a hard time concentrating.
With many of us doing our part to slow the spread of coronavirus and staying indoors indefinitely, you might be well acquainted with cabin fever and going stir crazy.
But—
There are ways in which you can reduce, or even get rid of entirely, your feelings of cabin fever while working from home, studying from home, or otherwise forced to remain indoors. Whether your cabin fever is from COVID-19 or otherwise, keep reading to learn how to stay sane when cooped up in your apartment.
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Here are our top tips for how to avoid cabin fever when stuck inside:
1. Maintain Your Social Life
One of the worst parts of working or studying from home is the lack of social interaction, and not seeing your friends, coworkers, classmates, and family members definitely helps to make you feel down and negatively impacts your mental health.
However, you don’t really have to lose out on your social life, not really, especially if you get a bit creative. You just have to adapt to your new surroundings and go for virtual alternatives, such as having a virtual happy hour, joining an online book club, or attending a video yoga class over the internet. We’ve got a lot of great options in our blog post!
Related Read: 10+ Ways to Stay Connected Socially While Stuck at Home Due to COVID-19
2. Give Your Hobbies Some Extra Attention
Hobbies are fun, sure, but they can be beneficial for you in so many other ways, as well. Depending on your hobby of choice, they can boost your mood, help in your career, keep you from going stir crazy, increase your creativity, and reduce your stress.
Got a personal blog? Write up a new post, perhaps one longer than usual since you’ve got all this extra time on your hands.
Are you a photographer? You might not be able to do much outside right now, but you can learn some new photography techniques or master your closeup game.
And if you’re a whiz in the kitchen, now’s the time to try those more difficult recipes you’ve been putting off!
Other ideas include board games with family members, taking some online courses to develop personal skills, and reading up on the news.
3. Get a Workout In
One of the best ways to release all that pent-up restless energy is to hit the mat, pick up those dumbbells, or do some pushups!
There are tons of ways you can get a great workout checked off your list even while being stuck at home, and you don’t even need equipment. For strength training, do body weight exercises, such as pushups, sit ups, and squats. If you’re looking for a more cardiovascular workout, search YouTube for some virtual aerobics workouts you can do with an instructor.
Related Read: 10+ Tips on How to Stay Healthy Studying or Working From Home 🏡
4. Read a Book
Reading a book when I have cabin fever is my personal favorite. I love escaping my reality and transporting myself into the middle of a crime scene investigation, quest for extraterrestrial life, or a suspenseful domestic situation.
If you need ideas, check out these curated reading lists:
You can travel virtually without books, as well. Dozens of national parks, famous museums, and historic sites around the world have a website where you can tour the place online, sometimes in 3D!
5. Play With Your Pets
If you have a cat or a dog cooped up in your apartment with you, give them more attention than you normally would had you been able to go to the office or class physically. Not only will you get the benefit of bonding with your buddy, but you’ll also help to knock out any feelings of restlessness they might have, as well.
I have a cat who’s always begging for attention, and I know it helps Pickwick as much as myself when I take a break from my tasks to play with him or just carry him around on my shoulder 🙂
6. Study or Work Even Harder
Sometimes, being forced to work or study from home feels more like taking time off rather than actual office or university life. Though it might have been fun at the beginning, it can definitely make you feel stir crazy after a while.
So, if working or studying from home is causing feelings of restlessness or cabin fever for you, try working or studying even harder during those times that you do. Then, when you finally end your class or vocational time for the day, you can properly let out a sigh of relief and relax for the rest of the evening as you deserve!
Related Read: 25+ Studying & Working From Home Tips for Productivity and Success
7. Learn or Try Something New
While you are stuck indoors, why not make the most of your time? Consider learning a new skill or dusting off an old one that you had let fall by the wayside. Bring out your Duolingo app to continue learning Spanish, practice interview questions and answers for your upcoming job search, or get the guitar out and learn some new chords.
Not in the mood to educate yourself at the moment?
Then just try something new, instead! Order food delivery from a new restaurant to try a new cuisine, pick up a new book genre to read next, or find a different online game to play, either alone or with friends. The choices are endless!
8. Advance Your Career
We just mentioned that you could use your time wisely by practicing some interview questions, but there are quite a few tasks you could accomplish to help yourself professionally while you’re stuck inside.
Here are a few things you can do to move your career forward:
- Apply to 15+ Virtual Intern Programs Still On Despite COVID-19
- 10 Leadership Tips to Master if You want to Learn How to be an Effective Leader
- How to Find & Get an Internship Through Goodwall in 5 Simple Steps
- How to Use Goodwall’s Web Profile to Land a Job or Internship Opportunity
- Internships 101: Everything You Should Know About Internship Programs
- How to Prepare for an Interview: 10 Ways to Get Ready for Your Big Day
9. More Options
The above ways to avoid cabin fever are some of the best, but they are by no means the only things you can do to rid yourself of restlessness and from going stir crazy.
Here are a few other ideas:
- Relax & Unwind – Take up meditation. If you’re a beginner, there are hundreds of free lessons online and mobile apps to get you meditating in no time.
- Do Chores – Is there a room that you’ve been meaning to paint for ages? Wanna get that spring cleaning over and done with? Now’s your chance!
- Plan for the Future – Perhaps plan that world trip for when travel opens up again. Or a great date you’ll take your significant other out on.
- Volunteer Online – That’s right, you don’t have to be able to leave the house to do some good. From sending postcards to doing research, there are many websites where you can find virtual volunteering opportunities.
Finally, just embrace your alone time!
Your cooped-up state shouldn’t last too much longer. So, for now, enjoy yourself, either with some of our ideas above or with one of your own.
That’s it for now on our tips for reducing restlessness for those of you stuck at home, and we hope it helps! Got any questions, feedback, or other ideas on how to avoid cabin fever? Let us know below in the comments, and thanks for reading!