To us, having the opportunity to finally stay at home, binge on Netflix and snacks, chill in your comfort zone and literally detach from this planet after occasionally turning down invitations to socialise is a privilege that seemed hard to attain. The only occasions when we might be spotted and chanced upon outdoors are probably during our trips to the grocer's, for work, for walks in nature, to the bookstores…I believe we can easily account for them. 

That is…before this quarantine period. 

It can be a strange realisation for us, especially when we can be particularly used to, and fond of, the idea of staying indoors. However, after the start of the quarantine, things gradually started to change, leaving some of us to wonder how, what, why, who, where and when we somehow got the slight, sudden and undeniable attraction to the outside world. 

However, just when we might be on the verge of freaking out, sometimes we just have to give in and accept our reality as it is. Sometimes, things can happen for no reason at all, and that alone, can be our only source of valid reason to start something new and meaningful. 

So…here are 3 ways we, as introverts, can do to stay productive while being indoors. 

1. Explore New Interests 

Some people would associate learning with places such as an educational institution, a cafe or a library, and expect learning to be confined solely within these avenues. However, we can sometimes conveniently forget about the valuable tool that all of us currently have all along - the Internet. 

Thanks to growing advancements in technology and a bustling pool of talented visionaries from the past and the present, we can not only connect and interact with individuals around the globe, but also easily access countless valuable resources and information online via mobile applications, websites and social media platforms at affordable costs, even at the comforts of our own home. Some of these resources also come from highly recognised professionals and educational institutions. 

After setting aside time for work and family commitments, you could explore topics that you are highly interested in, such as foreign languages, create a manageable schedule that you can keep to and revise whenever possible. Currently, i'm trying to master the German language, and self-study a range of topics such as psychology and programming from Coursera and EdX. 

Other than exploring academically, we can also explore hobbies that we are interested in, such as baking and exercising, through useful resources, videos and illustrations online, especially through Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. In the long term, more time spent on leisure activities can contribute to positive mental and physical state and benefits. For now, I am learning about  how to recreate a drink from the latest South-Korean trend, Dalgona coffee, and how to keep fit with HIIT. 

Einstein once expressed that: "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it." Learning is a lifelong process, so we should keep our options open, explore and heighten viable possibilities and learn as we grow. 

2. Cultivate Peace Within

All of us have our own fair share of bad days and hurtful memories that we would really like to completely forget. If we are HSPs, we can also be easily overwhelmed and triggered by certain, negative influences. Thus, it can be extremely difficult to divert complex and negative emotions and thoughts that arose from past experiences or from a present situation, and be unable to heal and move on for a long period of time in our life. 

Different individuals can have different ways of healing and dealing with their inner demons effectively. Some of us can be highly attuned to our inner psyche and spiritual selves. As such, we can make use of activities, such as meditation, yoga, tarots or a subconscious state, to help us access our deepest spaces of our soul and to regain clarity, peace and understanding of a thought or emotion from a situation, experience…or even a dream. 

There can also be some of us who are highly sensitive, and can easily pick up and gather information. We can process all the data that we have gathered from these life experiences, balance our usage of our own rational and emotional abilities, sort them out according to the timeline that it occurred, note their respective details in a journal, and visualize from multiple perspectives involved to try to understand from their perspective. 

To facilitate the healing process, we can communicate and share about our issues, with either professionals or trusted friends and family members. Hellen Keller once quoted that "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." By sharing the burden, we are able to learn from useful advice and other perspectives, and grow from it. 

However, in some circumstances, we have the option and the right to choose not to understand the person who hurt us, and why it was done to us in the first place at all, especially when certain actions done to us are unjustifiable on reasonable grounds. This is when we battle the most fiercely with ourselves in an effort to forget the irreplaceable damage that was done to us. 

We cannot let those who hurt us get the upper hand by keeping ourselves in this loop of self-hurt and hatred that will steal our precious energy and time away. Thus, we can emerge victorious from these battles only when we forgive, love and accept ourselves, actively pursue our own interests and beliefs, and live freely and passionately by our own accord. By overcoming your battles and growing to become this newfound individual, we can find a bit of calm in the storms within ourselves. 

3. Start a Meaningful Initiative

While not having any ideas on exactly where I will go in the next phase of my life after my internship, be it entering one of the local universities or hearing news from apprenticeships and jobs that I have applied to, I allocated some time to strategise and to come up with practical, sustainable and meaningful plans and alternative pathways. 

Initially, I got relatively anxious because for the first time in my life, I was left without any tangible or practical sense of direction. In addition, I was occasionally hit by waves of pressure and expectations to hear positive news of enrolment in any of the local universities from anxious peers and family members. 

However, as much as I am willing to devote my life and efforts to learning, I could not force myself to conform to certain rules and barriers, to suffer quietly with difficult teammates for some of the projects, and to study full-heartedly in certain subjects under the guidance of certain types of individuals. This was partly because I learnt to define my boundaries, to understand and defend my rights, to keep my options open, to live authentically and to respect other aspects of myself that I previously overlooked, during my growing journey to being 19. 

These emotions and thoughts were not explicitly disclosed with my family or friends, even though I was literally trying to cope with terrible storms and shipwrecks under the calm, zen-like exterior, because I feared that I could be bothering them in a way. However, in my journey to become 19, I did learn to take things easy on myself and to share a part of my burden with my trusted friends. This led them to become one of my key sources of strength, and allowed me to rediscover and to shape myself in many ways possible to become who I am today. 

Other than achieving these milestones, I became driven to empower like-minded individuals and to contribute practically, sustainably and meaningfully to our future and the world we live in. I started my blog, the Optimistic Eccentric, and aim to actively contribute to initiatives that can improve the world that we, and our future generations, will live in. 

Life never turns out to be the way we want it to be. As such, while actively pursuing your interests, enjoy living by our own definitions, contribute to social causes that you believe in and start building something that you have always wanted to…for that might be a positive, life-changing experience that we, and perhaps later generations, can remember forever. 

Quarantine might take up most of this year. However, be assured that it can also be a blessing in disguise in certain aspects of life for introverts like us. So…stay productive, be innovative, and prepared to make the most out of your life even in the darkest of times. 

The End