By Dr. Iman Sadri
April 6, 2020
Now that a majority of people are at home self-quarantining it doesn’t mean you can veg out on all day. Use this Staycation time to Be PRODUCTIVE. Work on a career, self-improvement, educational task for 45 minutes and then reward yourself with a 10 minute music or entertainment break.
#5) Educate Yourself on the Platforms You Use to Entertain Yourself
On Youtube instead of watching 45 minutes of music videos at 11 am on a Tuesday during a quarantine, watch a 45 minute Youtube video or a Webinar related to your work, between 9-5 and then related to your hobbies after 5 pm. Watch more educational videos related to topics that you like. (Cooking, History, Career Related, Biographies) and even then ones your don’t like (Taxes, Retirement) – instead of an episode of a TV show, for example. Be Productive for 3 hours and then watch 22 min of a TV show or a 15 min social media break as a reward. Learn, improve, acquire knowledge, a skill and grow and then reward yourself with a TV, movie, social media break.
#4) READ
There is so much to read and learn the amount is actually infinite. If libraries are closed in your city then go to a Barnes and Nobles. Purchase 4 books, both non-fiction and fiction that you are interested in reading. If the book stores are also closed then you may have unread books at home. You can be New School and read via Kindle, online, or any platform / tablet that has books on screens. Another option are audiobooks – which also fall into the #5 spot. Many of these are free on Youtube. PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY FOR 90 MINUTES WHEN YOU READ. And then check your phone 10 min as a break.
#3) Wellness / Exercise / Nature
WELLNESS I went from 201 lbs to 173 lbs in a span of 10 weeks. How I did it was cutting out all bread, rice, pasta, and high starch carbs. Practically I cut on 90 % of the carbs I normally ate. In a quarantine Cut Out Bread, Rice, Pasta if you’re trying to lose weight or not put on extra weight. If you drink beer daily, decrease your alcohol intake, limit it to one beer per week, on a cheat day only. If you are cooking more and have extra food, try intermittent fasting. Only one meal a day essentially. Either a big breakfast and no lunch or dinner. Or no breakfast, no dinner and a medium breakfast. While still cutting out bread, rice, pasta and noodles.
EXERCISE – If you are forced to work from home then you are going to be more sedentary and walk less. Most likely you moved around a bit at work if you didn’t work from home before. Gyms are closed. That’s why I put a heavy emphasis on watching what you eat. But you can still run outdoors, do 50 sits up and 50 push ups three nights per week. Run for 30 minutes three times per week. Do 50 jumping jacks 4 times per week. The whole point is to be active and get your body moving. At home by watching Youtube you could learn to do Stretching Exercises, Pilates, Aerobics and Yoga (read our Q+A with Samin-Yoga here) http://www.persianobserver.com/2019/06/qa-with-yoga-professional-samin/
NATURE – The coronavirus may have forced millions to be quarantined, but it is important to realize that nature will go on. The Corona Virus can’t stop Spring. The Birds will still Sing, the Flowers will still Bloom, and the Sun will still shine.
http://www.persianobserver.com/2020/03/the-corona-virus-cant-stop-spring-or-the-persian-new-year/
Spend time looking at flowers, trees, walking your dog, and going outside. If you have a bike, combine nature and exercise by riding along the trails and parks near where you live.
#2) VISUALIZE AS IF YOUR FUTURE GOALS HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED
Spend this time working on a vision board. My mentor Jack Canfield lists this as one his most important Principles of Success in his book with the same title. Visualize as if your goals and dreams have been achieved. Create a vision board by cropping out pictures of your FUTURE SELF – as I call it. Put a picture of your head on top of an ideal body. Try to Photoshop it as well as you can. Then look at the image 100 times per day. Imagine already having the body you want to achieve. Suddenly your hunger can become less. Your cravings can decrease. Then you may subconsciously start taking action to build muscle and burn fat by doing simple exercises and eating less.
#1) WORK ON YOUR CRAFT
As a dentist we’ve been mandated to only do life-threatening dentistry. This is unfortunate become there are many patients suffering with life-altering but not life-threatening dental needs. But due to the risk of potential Covid-19 spread among patients and staff the ADA and CDA have gone off the CDC guidelines to decrease exposure. This, however, doesn’t mean that I can’t grow as a dentist. There is so much dental science, online webinars, online CEs, magazine articles and videos to watch, learn and grow further.
Work on your craft by learning, practicing, studying, networking online, looking for new global opportunities, figuring out how to get your talents out locally, nationally and here for the world to enjoy long after we have left the earth.
Dr. Iman Sadri is the founder of @ThePersianObserver. He can be reached at ThePersianObserver@Gmail.com
