The 10 best tips to stay productive & positive during the quarantine!
By Wietske & Mark
We are living in such a weird time, that is one thing for sure. A true AEGEEan loves to travel, to party and to do 200 things at the same time. During these times we cannot travel and there are no real-life parties. We just have to wait… (and a bit more). However, there is plenty of time to do other stuff! Therefore we provide you the 10 most wonderful tips to stay productive and positive during these hard times!
1. Maintain your social life!
But how? Welcome to 2020, the year of feeling isolated, but you aren’t alone! Call friends, family and people you barely know every single day to maintain your social life! In these times your life is probably not that exciting as before, but you could always play online games or have online social drinks! No excuse for not coming to that (online) party while staying in your bed!
2. No excuses, time to exercise!
Yes, we know… you don’t have to get ready for the summer body this year. We might skip the summer after all. Gyms are closed and the weather… it’s never ideal for a run. But, there are many online courses or even apps which can motivate you to exercise. Even if it’s just 10 minutes a day, it gives you a good feeling!
Tip: many gyms are sharing workouts. Like gym Springs shares their workouts in their Instagram stories, and also ACLO has online classes!
3. Plan & schedule!
When there is nothing on your calendar, you do nothing and you don’t feel productive. How about including some days in your ‘’busy’’ schedule when you are actually doing something! You can dedicate just an hour to learn a new language, or start putting small things in your agenda like your phoncalls . It will help you a lot! And it will give you a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day. Use colours, and reminders to do stuff and don’t forget to do what your calendar tells you to do!
4. Time to build that CV!
Your resume & your Linkedin profile are critical for applying for a job! So update it. No excuses not to do it! Now it’s the time to follow online courses and to learn languages with Duolingo or with help of the AEGEE language interest group! Also the Redcross has an online first aid course for free, also in English. You get a nice certificate for completing this.
5. Read that book or listen to podcasts
We always had the excuse like, yes I wanted to read that book but… See, now we cannot use that anymore. Reading is fun and we have all the time to read that one book we always wanted to read. You have these free ebooks you can read from ‘thuisbieb’! Also sites like boekenkraam.nl and boekenwinkeltjes.nl have a lot to offer and you can even find many cheap books.
Tip: ask other AEGEEans to exchange some of their favourite books!
You have all the time, so you could even use your time to listen to very interesting podcasts. There are many you could find on Spotify, but also on Youtube there are many different kinds you can listen to. Even Duolingo offers conversations that could help learning a language. Also apps like Storytell offer free audiobooks that are enjoyable for your ears. With so many different categories there is always a book for all likings, as well asmany ebooks.
6. Find the birds!
Let’s say that it’s rather quiet on the streets. So there are many… many birds everywhere and you could search for them! The Dutch National Bird Protection organisation (Vogelbescherming) offers a free course to learn how to spot a lot of different kinds of birds! It is in Dutch though.
7. Kitchen Garden (Moestuin)It’s spring, the sun is shining and it’s time to use your green fingers and explore the beauty of growing fruits and vegetables by yourself! Don’t need a huge ass garden to start this. Your balcony will do. You could even make your garden vertically, to use your small square meters very efficiently!
8. Volunteer work
You have way too much time, but you can still be productive! Help others and contribute to our society. Especially during these times! There is even a site for internationals, where you can find an overview of volunteer work in Groningen, like for example donating blood. Another nice organisation is ‘Heel Groningen Helpt’. They are searching for people who do small tasks like doing groceries for the elderly.
9. Baking – Heel AEGEE Bakt!
You want to impress someone? So far you only know to make ‘chicken tonight’? Improve your baking skills to earn respect and to show off. Other AEGEEans will be amazed when you are the one who can make the biggest pies and the most delicious cakes. You just need to practice and enjoy the results afterwards.
10. All you need is to binge watch!
Since there are many different streaming services it’s your duty to explore them all. With Disney+, Amazon Prime and Netflix you find many series, documentaries and movies. There is literally way too much to see, so therefore check our Netflix recommendations to start right away!
