We asked Glasgow Uni students how to keep themselves out of a depression pit during lockdown

Self-isolating is a hard time for everyone, to have your social life, work, hobbies, everything stripped away and replaced with being inside all day is difficult. In this environment where you’re barely seeing anyone, or doing anything, it can become so easy to end up trapped in a depressing mindset and absolutely miserable. To help you avoid becoming stressed, depressed, and a mess, we’ve spoken to other students and compiled the best tips so you can be the best-quarantined version of yourself possible!

Actually get up

Getting out of bed right now is difficult, there feels to be absolutely nothing to bother waking up for but waking up at a reasonable time and actually getting up can help you maintain some level of normality and give you time to do things you want to do during the day. If you need to, get a friend to call you at the time you want to get up. Then make your bed, it’s so easy and shown to have a great psychological impact (also you’re less likely to lie in it all day). There you go, you’ve already achieved one thing today!

Plan out your day 

Give yourself little goals to accomplish throughout the day, could be as simple as having a shower to something bigger like finishing an essay or project. These tasks will keep you feeling accomplished and motivated and not like you’re aimlessly drifting through this quarantine. Better yet, plan out your week and give yourself a little thing to look forward to every day like baking a cake or watching a film you want to see. Not only will this keep you motivated and busy but it also helps you keep track of what day it is.

Get in some exercise

As if being trapped inside all day isn’t bad enough, it’s going to be made 3000 times worse if you are feeling sluggish and bad about your body. Use some of your new-found free time to work out (even if just a little bit), try some fitness videos – I’ve been using Chloe Ting’s fitness program because the videos are good exercise but they’re also short, go for a run, go for a walk, just get your body moving and get those endorphins going! Even just get up every hour or so even to go get a glass of water. Just move, you will feel so much better, so much more productive, your body and mind are going to love you for it.

Use the internet wisely

Being online during quarantine is difficult because it’s a two-way street. On the one hand, don’t spend the entire day on your phone because that’s bad for you on so many levels; you’re left comparing your life against others, the time’s going to pass a lot slower, and your mental health is going to take a nose-dive. On the other hand, calling or face-timing your friends and family, using Zoom or House party is great! It’s so important to actually speak to others in your life, it releases endorphins, helps you maintain a bit or normality, and even though it’s not the same as seeing them in person, it’s significantly better than nothing. It also gives you the chance to talk to your friends if you’re feeling down and to check up on your friends and see how they’re doing, cause it’s important to look out for each other at this time!

Eat 3 meals a day

In times like these it’s easy to skip meals, or eat abnormally, but it is so important to eat enough to nourish yourself and keep your energy up. If you’re not eating enough you’re going to feel worse and you’re actually going to weaken your immune system, which is really not what you need right now. Just try and make sure you’re keeping yourself healthy!

Don’t be too hard on yourself

These tips are all well and good but some days you just can’t bring yourself to do some – if any – of them, and that’s okay! These are difficult and uncertain times for everybody and the important thing is to make sure that you are looking after yourself and keeping yourself mentally and physically safe. If you need a day in bed to emotionally recover, then take that! Just don’t allow it to become an everyday event.

I hope these tips help some of you even slightly manage the isolation blues. Stay inside, stay safe, and stay sane.