Everyone knows that Filipinos have three favorite past-times to let our hair down: socializing over a meal, going to the mall to chill or watch movies, and a day or weekend trip to a new place. Unfortunately for most of us, none of these options are available as of the first week of June.
If you're like most people, you're probably looking for a way to unwind and de-stress. In this post, we've gathered a few alternative options for de-stressing and relaxing during quarantine. Read on to find out more.
Part of taking care of your mental health is taking time off from your regular routine to unwind and de-stress. For most Filipinos, this means sharing a meal with friends and family at a restaurant, going to the mall to hang out or watch a movie, or driving to the nearest beach or trail to get some fresh air. Sadly, even though restrictions on our movements have been relaxed this month, none of these options are available to most people. Restaurants are take-out and delivery only, cinemas are closed, shopping malls are warm (and don't have wifi!), and traveling between provinces or in and out of major cities is not yet allowed.
Additionally, it is now much more difficult to "switch off" from work or school because of a permanently-connected phone and laptop stationed a few steps away from your bed or couch. Anecdotal evidence suggests people are actually working or studying longer hours than normal because of the lack of a commute and a defined start and end to the work day. This is why it is actually even more important to make an effort to engage in activities that allow you to rest and recharge your batteries on a regular basis.
You might say that foodpanda and GrabFood have replaced the big meals together nowadays, and Netflix (and Netflix Party) has replaced the cinema, but unless you're sharing your home with 20 other people, these alternatives really miss out on the social aspect of our pre-Coronavirus lives.
With that in mind, we've collated a list of four alternatives that will allow you to relax, recharge your batteries and socialize at the same time. Read on to see the list.
Challenge Your Friends, Family or Colleagues
Invite your close friends, family or colleagues to partake in a challenge. By creating a fun and interesting challenge, you can engage with each other in a way that benefits everyone that joins in. Creating a challenge also makes you more accountable to others and will make you more likely to stick to whatever it is that the challenge is about.
However, creating and participating in a challenge is an instance where the old saying "the more, the merrier" might not necessarily apply. I've found that groups that have fewer than 15 participants works best, since having a group bigger than that ends risks being impersonal (or even worse, brings out the competitiveness in some individuals).
Choose a challenge that everyone in your group can participate in
Take stock of everyone in the group that you've formed, be it a family group, friends from college or high school, or colleagues from work, and choose a challenge that is appropriate for everyone in the group.
Some challenges that have worked for us in the past are:
Walk 5,000 steps per day for one month
Cook a meal that you've never cooked before.
Read three new books in a month.
Do five random acts of kindness in one month.
Hold a 2-minute plank by the end of the month.
If you've got a group spanning multiple generations in the same family, then it's likely your older titos and titas or lolo and lola might not enjoy being challenged to walk 10,000 steps a day. On the other hand, if you're creating a challenge for a team of professional marathon runners, then 10,000 steps is probably not the right challenge for that group.
Make it challenging, but not overly difficult
Remember to make the challenge exciting and somewhat difficult, but not so much so that people will give up halfway through. If the challenge requires taking 2 hours out of each day to accomplish, expect that almost nobody will be able to complete the challenge. On the other hand, if the challenge is too simple and easy, then it isn't much of a challenge.
Check in with each other on a regular basis
Create a group chat specifically for the challenge where you as a group discuss only your updates to the challenge, whether it's a screenshot from your phone of the number of steps taken, or a photo of you reading your second book in a month.
A weekly zoom call for sharing (or bragging) about progress and encouraging each other will also go a long way in making it more social and enjoyable.
Optional: Add a consequence
If you really want to increase the stakes, create a consequence for the ones who don't meet the challenge. We're not talking about anything serious here, but rather something lighthearted.
A good example of this might be the three people with the fewest steps in the month will buy dinner for the entire group (once quarantine is no longer in effect). Even better, would be for the ones who are unable to complete the challenge to donate a predetermined amount to COVID-19 front-liners once the challenge is finished.
Have fun!
The point of this challenge isn't to beat everyone else in the group. More than anything, it's objective is to have a shared, fun experience within a group of people, so don't take it too seriously. If you're noticing that people are not really enjoying the challenge, then perhaps a different one is called for.
Conclusion
The current situation we live in is a big adjustment for all of us. Many of us are unable to enjoy the things that we used to before quarantine was put in place. However, even at a time when we're asked to stay indoors and socially distance from our family, friends and loved ones, it is still possible to engage in a shared experience that is fun, will help in relaxing and de-stressing from day-to-day life, and in some cases improve our physical well-being.
Check out our next post where we provide another Coronavirus R&R Alternative for you to try!