How to Stay Sober While Social Distancing

How to Stay Sober While Social Distancing

Published March 2020

“Patience is not the ability to wait. Patience is to be calm no matter what happens, constantly take action to turn it to positive growth opportunities, and have faith to believe that it will all work out in the end while you are waiting.”
― Roy T. Bennett

For those who are now having to work from home, recently got laid off, are trying to homeschool your children, or are still going to work every day and coping with the stress from the current economic and health pandemic, this one is for you.

We understand that this is a difficult time, and there may be days you feel a wave of temptation to reach for substances to cope with the discomfort and dreaded sense of boredom. However, every one of you has the power within yourself to conquer even the most challenging obstacles, even staying sober while social distancing. It would help if you didn’t slip back into old habits, relapse, or lose hope in your goals, future, and purpose for your life. If you or a loved one is struggling with a substance abuse-related issue, please call Passages today at (888) 397-0112.

If you are currently away from friends and family, it’s essential to stay connected through texting, emailing, FaceTiming, and social media to feel so lonely. Communicating daily with loved ones is a great way to share, laugh in times of difficulty and talk about your day and what you’re up to. This is also helpful in keeping you accountable and on track in sobriety.

To properly self-quarantine, you must practice social distancing, take more significant measures to stay healthy, and change your normal lifestyle so that you can safely protect yourself from illnesses. This requires a new level of isolation you might not be used to. If you’re now working from home, you may find that you have a lot more time on your hands. The best way to make the most out of this time during self-quarantine is to spend more time on things that help you grow, learn, and become an even better version of yourself than you are right now.

This is a great time to start reading a new book, practice some fun recipes, FaceTime with your friends and family, do a puzzle, or write that book you’ve been talking about writing. Investing your downtime into productive things that also provide your mind, body, and spirit with the uplifting healing it needs can be a great way to benefit from this time of change.

Here are several things you can do during self-quarantine while stuck inside.

1. Start a journal or blog about a specific interest.
2. Pick up that guitar sitting in your living room that’s been decor for years; dust it off and start playing.
3. Complete a puzzle after your workday to help you relax and ease anxiety.
4. Make TikTok videos and jump on the dance bandwagon.
5. Have a daily workout routine such as yoga, free weights, or shadowboxing.
6. Evening meditation with calming background music to help you unwind from the day.
7. Spend more time on your skincare routine.
8. Declutter and organize your closet and living spaces.
9. Clean your house as you have never cleaned it before. Disinfect your surfaces, floors, door handles, etc.
10. Learn new skills with the help of Skillshare or MasterClass.
11. Create a vision board on Pinterest.
12. Get crafty and pick up knitting, painting, pottery, or gardening.
13. Interview your parents or Grandparents. Record the audio and save it or make a little documentary out of the storylines.
14. Go through your camera roll and create a photo book for the coffee table or as a gift to give when you get out of self-quarantine.
15. Make a list of everything you are grateful for.
16. Review your budget and finances and eliminate any subscriptions you don’t need so you can save money.
17. Make a list of all the places you want to visit and things you want to do when things reopen.
18. Rearrange your furniture to mix things up and change your indoor scenery. This could also shake up some static energy that has been stuck in place for a while.
19. Watch a documentary.
20. Deep condition your hair and put a face mask on.
21. Whiten your teeth.
22. Add content to Hootsuite or Buffer to automate your social media posts.
23. Try on makeup you don’t usually wear.
24. Dress up for yourself and have a mini photoshoot.
25. Wash your sheets, blankets, and pillowcases.
26. Fill up your to-do list for the next day.
27. Write a letter to your younger self.
28. Write a letter to your future self.
29. Listen to a podcast.
30. Create a new playlist.