By now, most of us are very familiar with what it means to quarantine. When it comes to dealing with COVID on the field, however, it can look a lot different and requires a bit more intentionality. Team Squash Sisters has been quarantined for 12 days now and it took us a while to figure out how to use this time wisely. Having an entire day to do whatever can be a beautiful gift or a slippery slope into laziness. We needed to find a balance between resting up for what is to come and being productive with all this extra time.

That being said, here are some Dos and Don’ts that we’ve discovered during this time:

DO Build a Schedule

It’s incredible how fast time slips away when you don’t plan anything. While you by no means need to have a rigid schedule that won’t ever budge, it is a good idea to loosely plan out a few things for your day. It helps keep you in the rhythm of life and get things done that you want to work on.

DON’T Sleep the Day Away

While quarantine is certainly a great time to catch up on some much needed rest, you don’t want to just sleep the entire time. Don’t let your body get in the habit of constantly being tired. Instead, push yourself to be productive and only take naps when you truly need them.

DO Keep Exercising

It’s so important to keep yourself healthy and stay in tune with your body. Quarantine isn’t an excuse to let yourself go; in fact, now you have even more time to try different workouts! If you’re new to exercising regularly, now is a great time to start (you definitely have the time)! My team members and I are very intentional about getting 10,000 steps every day and it has really helped boost moral and keep us active.

DON’T Give into Lazy Habits

We all have our go-to things that we use to shut out the world and numb ourselves. Make sure you know yourself and figure out what your weaknesses and temptations are. If you don’t even let yourself get in the habit of binging an entire Netflix show in one day, it’ll be a lot easier to adjust back to “normal” life.

DO Spend More Time with God

Have you been wanting to pray more or spend more time in Scripture or have your own worship session? Well now is the time! It’s been amazing to not have to finish my daily Bible reading at a specific time. I’ve been able to spend entire mornings just meditating on His Word. We’ve also made it a priority to spend a good chunk of time in prayer as a team. It’s been super helpful when it comes to growing spiritually and getting closer to each other.

DON’T Ignore Your Feelings

It’s okay to admit that quarantining isn’t your favorite thing to do. It’s okay to get frustrated or overwhelmed or feel any type of way you are. Acknowledge your feelings, but don’t dwell on them. Bring your emotions to God and work through them with Him.

DO Learn New Things

There’s so many cool hobbies out there! Learn to knit, teach yourself card tricks, practice calligraphy, find new recipes; you literally have time to do anything! For example, I’ve been spending some time each day on Duolingo to help me learn Spanish faster.

DON’T Feel Helpless

Just because you can’t physically go out and interact with others, doesn’t mean that you’re completely cut off from them. Write cards, use technology to connect, and pray for them! We’ve been using our team prayer time to pray for the community that we can’t physically serve right now. Even though we can’t run a youth group program, we can lift the kiddos up in prayer.

 I truly believe that we can always find something to do. There are so many ways to effectively use your time if you’re willing to open your eyes and step out of your comfort zone. If you’re bored, take initiative and embrace your agency.

Thanks for reading and for keeping us in your prayers as we wrap up our quarantine on Friday! Be sure to check out this amazing video made by the one and only Claudia Gruett.