What is the best thing you have done for yourself in quarantine?

[Valerie Christine Knapp]

Hello and Happy Friday from Padova, Italy!

Today's Friday Fun is a topic I saw on Twitter that I thought it could be fun to discuss. What is the best thing you have done for yourself or to look after yourself in quarantine?

There is a lot of talk, as there rightfully should be, about taking good care of your mental health and trying to cope with what is understandably a very different and potentially stressful time for a lot of people.

What I want to know is, in practical terms, what are you actually doing to take care of yourself? I have found that doing a little crafting, or reading a book to wind down, at the end of my work day can provide some of the same outlet that my cycle commute used to do, without the stress of being in traffic! I am curious as to how other people have adapted their home working routines. 

Here are some photos of my attempts at crafting, including a cross stitch map of countries I have visited or lived in, a paint by number, and some of my bread!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fd1C5rW1AY39gi8i6

[Scott Englund]

Very impressive, Valerie! Love the colors on that map.

One thing that I've done from the start of quarantine is keep a regular check-in with different friends. And since it's all on Zoom/Hangouts, it's just as easy to catch up with friends in your city as it is to call friends who are further away. 

And a big component on our hangouts is watching movies together. For group watches, I highly recommend Netflix Party (https://www.netflixparty.com/) and Two Seven (https://twoseven.xyz/).

Hope everyone is staying safe and sane. 

[LarryBrock]

Great topic @Valerie Christine Knapp !

Two new things that I've taken up while sheltering in place ...

Meditation/prayer - The peace and and calm from just focusing on the good things that are happening and how much stronger family relationships and friendships have become is a tremendous balance to all the bad blasted at us all day, every day.  A bonus is the world around where I live being much quieter, it's great to sit outside while and take in the sounds of nature instead of the sounds of cars, construction, etc.

My wife and younger daughter have make it a priority to enjoy virtual-brunch with family every other weekend.  Sometimes it's with my older daughter and son-in-law, sometimes  parents, sometimes my cousin in Tennessee, or my uncle in San Diego.  We put the iPad on the end of the table, the other party does the same and it's much like being there in person.  These are really fun and sometimes will last 2hrs+.

Looking forward to what others are doing!

[Monique vdB]

I have a weekly happy hour with friends across the country! It's something we never thought to do before, and it's been wonderful to reconnect with this group of friends. Virtual brunch sounds awesome too @LarryBrock , I may have to try that this weekend!

@Scott Englund I'm doing hangouts with friends similarly but we're playing board games over Zoom via boardgamearena.com or Jackbox.tv. 

Great topic, @Valerie Christine Knapp and I hope you're doing well in Italy! 💙

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I'm English, so... PUB!

But virtually.

[Poorvi Jhawar]

Fantastic topic @Valerie Christine Knapp

I hope you are doing well! Mental health is so important, but not discussed often :) 

So, here is some fun stuff I did do: 

- I took this opportunity to improve some of my skills which weren't directly related to work but certainly helps. I am terrible at Mathematics and wanted to improve because maybe in the future I would want to sit for my GMAT and pursue an MBA. 

- I caught up with my friends whom I haven't spoken to in years because I am not someone who stays in touch regularly. But with Houseparty, Psych and Zoom I caught up with friends I absolutely loved it because otherwise time difference always comes in the way. 

- I played Poker with my family every single evening for about 2 hours. And all the money we exchange would be donated to the PM'S Relief fund in India. 

- I also happened to do some fun Zumba sessions with my brother-in-law over the weekends. So that was awesome :)

- Cooking is a therapy for me, so I cooked up a storm in my kitchen sometimes out of compulsion and sometimes out of want. 

- Its just my husband and me in a new city with no friends and this quarantine we were there with each other in a completely different way. So I was lucky to have this too. 

- I fell in love with my work all over again, found myself working because I wanted to and not because I had to (which I think can happen over time). Working on the weekend out of choice so that on weekdays I had room to include those 'extras'

[Dharma Ramos]

I did some coding courses to dust off the cobwebs. Did a lot of cooking, egging and baking. Also, I've been reading a ton of books, thank goodness for Overdrive. 

[meghna_singh]

Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures @Valerie Christine Knapp 

I have become more grateful for the means and people I have in life. I did regular virtual catch-ups and with friends over zoom, house party, Netflix party, etc. I planted a couple of plants that are now growing into herbs and tiny veggies. Disciplined my body and mind with Yoga and mediation.

Continuing to stay humble and washing my hands obsessively :) 

[edwin vasquez]

I’ve continued learning and was able to get an Azure certification and continued to learn about Azure. I’ve also been able to maintain a diet while in quarantine. 

[Jimmy Seddon]

This is a great question! I've been slacking off for a couple of weeks.  I think the best thing I have done for myself is the weekly retrospective articles I'm writing on the Atlassian Community (I know I'm really lame).  The reason is that some weeks I have ended the week with a really crappy day at work or my son has been in one of his moods that week and neither my wife or I have been able to get much sleep.  However, when I sit down and start thinking about all the good and bad when I'm writing the article it really helps put things into perspective instead of just what the most recent feeling was.  This also gives me an opportunity to examine what I have control over and what I can change that might make things more positive.  I think that is what has allowed me to survive the past twelve weeks with most of my sanity intact.

[Monika Rani]

Great Topic @Valerie Christine Knapp , love all the pictures that you have shared.

In quarantine, I have worked on my health, I did a lot of exercises including cardio, yoga, and dance too. I love to dance :) I lost 5 kg and now I feel lighter than before.

I uploaded more videos on my youtube channel related to JIRA SOFTWARE and completed all the free courses provided by Atlassian University!.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Cold water swimming! My friend and I have been doing social-distancing swimming since April in -2C water (the water is 10C degrees now) It is so exhilarating, an experience I can not describe, a sensory overload/feeling alive! It really broke up the monotony of the pandemic, and has been something to look forward to each week :)

 

[Jan Szczepanski]

A remote dinner evening with friends where you order stuff not for yourself but for another one... interessting to see what people think what your favorite food is. Great experience and great fun :-)

[Gonchik Tsymzhitov]

This summer I was in Baikal, social distancing was with forest and with deepest lake in the world