Due to the COVID-19 quarantine, everyone’s at home to work or study. The work-from-home set-up gave everyone the excuse to “finally be themselves,” meaning no dressing up to impress or investing in appearances – unless you have to put a little blush for that Zoom meeting.
Despite the “relaxed” set-up of remote work, the prolonged hours at home can be challenging, especially for people who are active. As a result, many are facing a quarantine slump; they feel unmotivated, tired and lacking of self-confidence.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to improve your self-esteem. Whether it’s a quick lipo session with a local doctor or just dressing up at home, there are many ways to work on your confidence during this quarantine season.
Be Honest with Yourself
One way to exercise confidence is becoming very honest with yourself. For instance, when someone asks you what you do for a living or what you do for fun, if you’re unenthusiastic with your answer, evaluate yourself.
This could be an indication that you should either accept this part of yourself and own it or stop doing it.
This doesn’t mean you should share your life with everyone you meet. Stick to work topics when at work and share your hobbies with your friends instead. However, look for someone to share yourself with. When you stop hiding who you are, you’ll feel more confident with yourself.
Create a Routine
Spending most of your time indoors with nowhere to go can make you feel trapped, even if you’ve been in the remote work set-up for most of the year. Establish normalcy by creating a routine. Start your day like you used to before the pandemic: wake up early, take a shower, eat your favorite breakfast or read your horoscope.
Something as simple as following your routine can give you a daily structure to follow. When you have a structure, you’ll feel more in control of your day. Better control can equate to better self-confidence.
Dress Up Once in a While
Wearing your favorite sweatpants and leggings repeatedly can get old. Despite being comfortable, they don’t do wonders for your self-esteem or your productivity. Instead of working in your favorite jammies, dress up once in a while.
Dressing up gives you the feeling of being back to work or school – aka the way it was before COVID-19. Also, didn’t you feel more confident whenever you work something nice to work? The old saying “Looks good, feels good” is real.
It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing your favorite blouse or a new pair of shoes. At the end of the day, wearing something else than old sweaters will make you look and feel better.
Show Resilience
Searching for a new job can be incredibly challenging, if not discouraging, especially during the pandemic. Still, practicing resilience by applying to many jobs and running the extra mile in your job search will boost your confidence.
Step outside of your comfort zone and apply for different jobs, even if they seem out of your reach. No job is above you; you can apply for the jobs you set your eyes on.
Enjoy Physical Activities
Staying at home offers plenty of opportunities to lounge around. But if you want to get your endorphins up and running, you should physically get up and running. Increase your levels of happy hormones by exercising at least 10 to 20 minutes every day.
You don’t have to do a grueling workout. A few jumping jacks, a jog or anything that gets the body moving can help you feel better about yourself. When you’re stuck at home, it’s easy to feel stagnant. But when you busy your mind with exercise, you work toward a goal and take good care of yourself.
Discover New Interests
Improving your self-confidence is impossible if you don’t step out of your comfort zone and discovery new interests. As mentioned, quarantine life can become monotonous and tiresome, especially if you do the same thing over and over again.
To grow as a person, you need to try new things. For some people, a new interest involves new learning skills online. For other people, it may be discovering a new hobby like baking, cooking, calligraphy or painting. You can also try your hand at blogging, vlogging or podcasting – any activity that you may have a natural talent for.
The bottom line: the secret to becoming more positive during these trying times is to work on your self-confidence. The steps above are little ways you can break the monotony. If you spend more time on discovering your passion, learning a new skill or committing to a healthier diet, you’ll feel better about yourself.
