How To Make The Best Of Social Distancing, According To Introverts

10. Start journaling.

“I journal anytime I can get a peaceful, uninterrupted half hour or a few hours. Since starting Morning Pages (Julia Cameron’s method of journaling three pages of longhand stream of consciousness), I have come to see journaling as a time to hang out with and know myself better. The magic is in the process.

First, it enables a ‘brain drain,’ giving you a place to put those top-of-mind thoughts and worries instead of leaving them unacknowledged. It rids you of blockage and allows you to get at the inner voice that is truly you. Second, writing allows you to clarify and articulate your ideas, your thoughts, and even your own life story. As Ingrid Bengis famously expressed, ‘words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.’

So, where to start? Use a pen (the slayer of perfectionism) to write three pages in stream of consciousness: ‘I am writing Morning Pages. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to write, but here I go. I’m sitting in bed right now after another day in quarantine … Finding it hard to concentrate lately with corona, but here’s why I love journaling…’” ― Annemarie Allen from Alaska

11. Get your life organized.

“I organize. It’s relaxing and very versatile because you get to decide how big of a task you want to make it. Don’t want to spend any more than 30 minutes? Go through a drawer. Want to spend a few hours? Go through your closet. I don’t organize just to get organized, I also do it to familiarize myself with my belongings. Organizing a bookshelf might lead to hours of browsing through old books. There’s something wholesome about that. To add to the experience, put on some music or a podcast, depending on what mood you’re going for. I like putting on ‘spa music.’ I’m serious.” — Lana Blakely from Stockholm

“As an introvert programmer/entrepreneur, I like to tie up all of the ‘loose ends’ in my life when I get a chance to myself. I like the fresh feeling when I wake up and know that I don’t have tons of backlogged tasks that obstruct me from starting a new venture. I’ll organize my files, back up data, catch up on bookmarked web articles, get my finances and budget sorted and understand my retirement plans and investments. Sometimes it’s not immediately apparent what ‘needs to be done,’ so I will take long walks, removing any distraction (no listening to podcasts), so that I can just ruminate on loose ends in my life and reprioritize as needed. ― Patrick Shyu, who lives in the Silicon Valley in California

12. Learn choreography at home.

“I’ve been having a lot of fun learning choreographies from dancing studios on YouTube. They’re fun and challenging. I’ve recently been practicing ‘ON’ by BTS. I think it involves just the right amount of movement and I also really enjoy the rhythm. Others I love are ‘Say So’ by Doja Cat and ‘Roxanne’ by Arizona Zervas.” Aya from Morocco

“One thing that always brightens my day is dancing. That’s why I recently started doing dance challenges on Tik Tok. Like a lot of introverts, it’s easy for me to get in my head and start overthinking if I focus only on cerebral activities, like reading. Dancing gets me into my body. Learning short, easy routines to share on social media is a fun and satisfying challenge!” ― Michaela Chung from Ottawa, Canada. Chung is the author of “The Irresistible Introvert” and creator of introvertspring.com.

Responses have been edited for clarity and style.



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