Quarantine Tips for College Students (2021)

Researchers from Arizona State University discovered that 13% of College students have delayed their graduation and about 40% have lost a job or internship opportunity. Insidehighered.com (Click Here to Learn More)

Let’s face it. Zoom University sucks.

But that doesn’t mean you have to waste away on Netflix and Instagram.

This is the perfect time for you to make strides in the 5 most important areas of your life:

1. Physical Health
2. Craft
3. Relationships
4. Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Health
5. Fun 🙂

Don’t forget to have fun during Quarantine.

1. Physical

Let’s start with the physical.

Here are my two tips for you when you think about taking care of your body during this Quarantine.

Find something physical that you’re actually passionate about.

According to a 2017-2018 study by the CDC 40.0% of adults aged 20–39 in America were considered obese.

You don’t want to be part of that.

Do you like taking long walks outside and just breathing the summer air?

If you’re more of an indoorsy person, why not try some dance or yoga?

Perhaps you’d rather pursue the path of the Martial Artist and spend your weekends practicing Muay Thai.

There’s always a way to get moving when you’re passionate.

Here are some ideas if you’re stuck at home and you’re not sure what to do physically:

1. Virtual Sparring on YouTube
2. Follow along to a yoga section in your bedroom
3. Pop on your favorite podcast and head outside for a walk while you listen (don’t stop walking till you’re done)

Comment below what you’ll be doing this Quarantine to stay physically active

Change your eating patterns

The other major player in physical health is diet.

I know you love eating ramen and spam every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as much as I do.

As college students, we can get by with eating just about anything without feeling the consequences.

We are in our metabolic prime after all.

But if you want to feel good for the rest of your life you need healthy eating habits that set you on the right track.

Get some spinach in your diet, try kale chips, and make yourself a fruit smoothie.

You don’t need a grilled chicken breast, broccoli, and brown rice diet to get into shape.

But you do need to make small changes in your diet.

And more than anything, be consistent.

Listen, if you feel like you’re struggling with eating healthy believe me, I’ve been there.

As a senior in high school, I was 5 foot 10 inches and weighed almost 220 lbs. I wasn’t massively overweight, but I sure wasn’t healthy.

Make the changes that you need to for your diet, and I guarantee that you’ll feel a lot better in the long run.

If you’re not sure where to get started, you can click here.

Find something that you love to do physically. And find yourself a healthy eating pattern so that you can look better AND feel better.

2. Craft

Most of your productive time should be spent practicing your craft.

Here are two ways that you can do just that:

Learn a Lasting High-Income Skill

The most valuable thing you can do this Quarantine as a college student is learning a new skill.

Learn a new language, pick up computer programming, or maybe even start a blog 🙂

Whatever you choose to do pick it up and commit to learning it.

I know firsthand how easy it is to get caught up in Zoom University technicalities.

But this is the perfect opportunity to really devote yourself to learning something new.

Personally, I’ve chosen to learn Digital Marketing this Quarantine, and I’m committing a few hours every day to learn it.

That means that I’ve gathered resources to study Business and Marketing.

I’ve also set up little parts of my daily schedule that allow me to continue making progress.

You can do the same thing with any skill.

Say you want to start cooking.

Find cookbooks and recipes that you want to master.

Commit a few hours every day to research and learn.

Seek mentors online that you want to emulate on your cooking journey.

Then set aside time every day to actually cook.

Here is a list of amazing high-income skills that you can learn this Quarantine

1. Digital Marketing 
2. A New Language
3. Coding and Computer Programming
4. Accounting
5. Learning and Mastering an Instrument
6. Practical Medical Skills

Find a Part-Time Job (or Don’t)

With unemployment rates at an all-time high people are looking for a way to support their families.

You may even be one of those people.

These are challenging times for everyone.

Thankfully this is a great opportunity to learn what people are willing to pay for and why.

What do I mean?

I mean this is the perfect time to understand how YOU can deliver value to others.

Value is what people pay for.

Your boss doesn’t pay you because you stack the shelves and work the register.

She pays you because you help ease the process of increasing revenue.

This is the perfect time to analyze why YOU are valuable and leverage that value for better work opportunities.

There’s something unique about you that makes you different and worthwhile.

Learn why you’re valuable this Quarantine.

3. Relationships

One crucial aspect of my life that I’ve been neglecting this Quarantine is relationships.

It can be so easy to coop yourself up behind your computer or phone screen and never talk to anyone.

Even if you’re working hard and learning new skills you won’t have a balanced life if you don’t foster great relationships.

Here are two things you should be doing this Quarantine to ensure that you’re keeping your relationship game up:

Find a club or social group online

During Quarantine it’s hard to actually meet up with people that you want to spend time with.

Hanging out with friends can be difficult or even impossible in certain circumstances.

Luckily we have the internet.

There are plenty of online groups where you can share ideas and spend time with people that are interested in what you have to say.

A great place to find groups like this is through Facebook and Reddit.

Facebook groups are some of the best and easiest ways to find college students like you who are on your path.

If you search hard enough, you can find groups with people of your same faith or even people to play League of Legends with.

Reddit can also be a great place to hang out.

Reddit’s a little more casual (and crueler) than Facebook, but it still gives you an open floor to share your ideas with others.

There are other great connectors, like YouTube and Instagram.

Pro-Tip: Don’t use Social Media simply to scroll and check your feed. Use it to build actual relationships.

Remember, some of the best experiences in life are meant to be shared.

Connect With Your Friends and Family

What about your existing friends?

Give your best friends a call or hop on a Zoom or group FaceTime.

It’s always good to reconnect with people that you care about and check in on them.

Who knows, maybe they’ll hear you out on your new interests and be inspired.

Friends can help you out of a rut. There’s nothing like a good friend when you’re feeling stuck.

Now is also the time to be close to your family. It’s time to mend wounds and fix broken bonds.

Spend some quality time with your family.

Watch a movie or play a game.

These people are your flesh and blood.

Take the time to actually be with them and be present.

Who knows how much more time you’ll get with them in the future.

Connecting with people during Quarantine is a must.

There is nothing more satisfying than sharing great moments with people you actually care about.

4. Mental/Emotional/Spiritual

Now we move onto a different element of taking care of yourself.

We’ve already gone over how you should be taking care of your physical health but what about your mental, emotional, and spiritual health?

Here are my two tips:

Take care of your mental and emotional health by journaling, reflecting, and praying

Here’s the thing about emotions.

You can feel them without knowing why you’re feeling them.

There have been so many times when I’ve felt grumpy or depressed without knowing why.

Truth is, I never looked at the warning signs.

I was too busy doing to look up and realize that I was putting myself on the road of depression and emotional turmoil.

Take care of your mental and emotional health and set one habit that you can do every day to reflect and know yourself better.

One thing I like to do is a journal.

I love to just get my thoughts onto a page.

Sometimes I’ll journal and I won’t even read what I’ve written.

But I’ll feel a lot better for simply writing down my thoughts.

Set good habits up for yourself by taking the time to journal and write out how you’re feeling.

Set a routine for yourself.

I’m talking morning, day, AND night routines.

Let’s start with just one.

Pick a routine that you want to set, it could be just 10 minutes in the morning or 10 minutes at night.

Set good routines and you’ll find your life falling into place.

Be sure to set up good routines and reflect daily on how you’re feeling and why.

5. Fun!

We can’t forget fun, can we?

It’s Quarantine and you’re a college student. Clubs are closed so what do you do to unwind?

Here are two things that you can do this Quarantine to make your life extra fun and productive at the same time.

Pick 3 Things You Truly Love.

One of my favorite young Entrepreneurs name Richard Yu (check him out here) said this.

“How you do one thing is how you do everything.”-Richard Yu

If you fully immerse yourself in fun, you’re also going to fully immerse yourself in your work.

I want you to pick 3 things fun things that you’ve always wanted to do but that you’ve never had time for.

These can be completely stupid and pointless.

Some fun activities I’ve been thinking about are:

• Reach Division 1 competitive Fortnite
• Build the Empire State Building with post-its.
• Hang my own Punching Bag.

Now is the perfect time to get lost in fun activities that you’ve never had the time for.

As a fellow overachiever, I’m sure there have been moments where you’ve been on the verge of burning out (or maybe you have burned out before).

Getting burned out for productivity nerds is like breaking a bone for athletes.

Schedule a meaningful relaxation time.

You don’t want to be thinking about all the tasks you need to get done while you’re trying to rest.

Instead, carefully pick and choose the times that you rest, then rest hard.

The work hard play hard mentality really lives up to its name so take advantage of it.

Comment 3 fun activities you’ll be starting this Quarantine below.

Combine Hobbies With Relationships 

I know it’s tempting to allow your anti-social spirit to rule over your life.

Believe me, I’ve been there.

Use this free time to make real connections with people that you care about.

Then combine this time with friends with your hobbies.

Maybe you have a friend who loves to cook and bake as you do. Share some recipes with them and have a friendly competitive taste test.

Or simply play video games with friends that you actually care about to let off some steam from your workday.

There are plenty of ways and opportunities for you to spend a relaxing time with people you care about

Zoom University shouldn’t be all about work.

Yes, I know you need to grind to achieve your dreams, and believe me, you need to put in the work to get results.

But there’s no point in working hard if you’re going to be stressed and angry all the time.

Becoming a productive person is all about balancing your work with your play.

If you strike the right balance you’ll be making long-term progress while enjoying yourself.

Conclusion

Now that you have the tools that you need to create a great Quarantine experience, it’s time to take action.

Pick a tip from at least two of these categories and implement them.

You can choose to work on your physical health and your craft of your emotional health and your hobbies.

Take care and thanks for reading,

Chris Chan