Tips for home confinement
Being at home for a long period of time can alter our daily life habits and can create a certain psychological discomfort. This is why the Office of Health, Safety and Environment (OSSMA) of the UB wrote a decalogue with a series of recommendations, since it has been a week of the beginning of the home confinement and the Government has extended the state of alarm due to coronavirus to fifteen more days. These are useful tips to keep calm and stay home in the best way we can.
Being at home for a long period of time can alter our daily life habits and can create a certain psychological discomfort. This is why the Office of Health, Safety and Environment (OSSMA) of the UB wrote a decalogue with a series of recommendations, since it has been a week of the beginning of the home confinement and the Government has extended the state of alarm due to coronavirus to fifteen more days. These are useful tips to keep calm and stay home in the best way we can.
Avoid sedentarism. Do not seat down for more than two hours. Try to do housework and phone calls while walking around the house. You can also do sport at home. UB Sports social networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) share recommendations and live sessions to do exercise at home. You can also check the recommendations given by the School of Physiotherapists of Catalonia.
Keep a healthy and balanced diet. The website of the Department of Health of the Catalan Government published basic tips to keep a healthy diet during the home confinement days.
Use technology in a responsible way. Internet, computers, tablets and smartphones are our allies to work from home, study, communicate and have fun. However, we should follow some recommendations when using these devices: keep a proper distance between the eyes and the screen, move the screen so that you do not get shades and reflections, blink constantly, look away for twenty seconds every twenty minutes at a 6-meter distance, and do not use phone devices two hours before you go to sleep.
Get information and share good information. Use the official information channels. If you use social networks, please support the information you share. Avoid sharing rumours and non-reliable information. Avoid talking about the current situation all the time and regulate your access to information: being constantly connected wonʼt get you the best information. It can even increase the perception of risk. Communication should be calm and serene: the emotional state can be transmitted to others.
Take care of yourselves. Follow the recommendations and prevention measures stated by the health authorities and the indications marked in case of doubt regarding the infection. Do not visit the doctor for redundant doubts so as to avoid overloading the health network. Do not take more precaution that the necessary ones: this would increase your fear and the one of those near you, especially children. Have some sense of humor: a positive attitude is essential. Recognize your feelings, accept them and share them with your closest ones.
Be organized at home. Try to follow daily routines: this will keep an order and can favour the feeling of normality. List a distribution of tasks, as well as the house logistics during the home confinement period (for instance, who goes to the supermarket and when, who takes care of family members, and having isolated spaces). In case the professional activity is carried out at home, set a proper space and a timetable for the circumstances, considering breaks as well. Talk about the working routine to your family and closest people in order to limit unnecessary interruptions and therefore avoid tension.
Be in touch with your people. This situation does not stop you from talking to others. You can call, send messages and make videocalls. Please do so by agreeing when to call and how. You will feel less isolated and closer to each other. Be supportive, we have to be with the most vulnerable ones.
Relax and get entertained. Accept there are circumstances you cannot control. Everyone has their own emotional response when coping with such an exceptional situation, we have to be empathic and avoid prejudices. Use your time to enjoy more free time and the free leisure you have online.
Silver lining. This is a time to stop and reflect. Take time to think, imagine, create and write. Remember this is a temporary situation, and once it is over, everyone will have learnt something important.
You can find further information in these links from the Department of Health of the Catalan Government (in Catalan):
Cinc consells per a un confinament saludable
Informació a la ciutadania sobre el coronavirus SARS-CoV-2