8 Personal Goals for Social Distancing

Let’s get one thing straight: nobody has to write King Lear during social distancing. “Productivity” is not a priority. If your social distancing means chilling and/or taking care of the day-to-day and/or just focusing on surviving, then that’s what you should do.

For me, with my individual personality and disposition, setting goals is a form of self-care. I know what kinds of structure I need to feel okay, and working towards some improvement is one of those structures. Goals make me feel less helpless and more motivated, and I’m fortunate that my life circumstances allow me to pursue them. So I’ve come up with a few goals for this stint of social distancing, with the understanding that I will be kind to myself if they don’t work out.

I have other goals in addition to these–obviously, I’d like to keep my husband and me safe and healthy and to do my best to support my family and friends. I’d like to act in a way that’s responsible to my neighbours and my community; to keep supporting my students in their learning through the end of semester; and to connect with the people I care about, whether they live with me or are far away.

But those are the Big Goals. It’s hard to look at the situation and say, yes, I’ve met that ambition and completed it! Here in this list, I’ve focused on observable, finite accomplishments. I’m also including only those goals I wouldn’t have considered without social isolation–so none of the things I was already working toward.

1. Learn to meditate

This has been a vague goal of mine for, oh, at least five years. That’s how long ago I first downloaded Headspace, an app designed to guide newbies through beginner meditation. I am restless and impatient; it would do me good to at least try these skills.

Before social isolation, I never managed to practice meditation more than one day in row. Yes, I know: “one day in a row” isn’t a thing. That’s exactly my problem. I’d try it for a day and then forget about it as my work or social activities or leisure projects stole my attention back.

So far, I’m doing much better at making mindfulness a daily practice. I can consider this period of weeks or months my test run. At the end, I’ll know whether this is a skill that helps me, and (I hope) I’ll find it easier.

2. Get buff!

I was going to the gym before COVID, but lack of access to some fitness equipment has made me see the places where my regular gym routine wasn’t pushing hard enough. Besides, now that all my workout gear is just two steps away, I have no excuse to avoid exercise. So here are my mini-goals:

– Do wide-grip unassisted pull-ups.
My pull-up skills have regressed since I checked them off my list of New Year’s list. And it’s hard to figure out how wide my grip is supposed to be at the gym. The doorway pull-up bar I bought makes it easier to get the right grip width.

Now that I have more resistance bands of different sizes, I can progress more gradually. Also, I’ve read about people who work at pull-ups at home by trying one every time they pass the bar, which feels way less intimidating than trying to crank out a bunch every few workouts.

– Work up to 3×10 sets of regular push-ups.

Before my arm problems started, I used to do a bunch of push-ups every gym session. I’m pretty sure my form was terrible, because I didn’t know any better, but I’d do 3 sets of 10 for each of 3 different hand positions. Anyway, once my nerve problems started, I stepped away from push-ups, so to speak. It hurt too much to put weight on my bent elbow.

Last summer-ish, I added incline push-ups to my routine. When I couldn’t go to the gym anymore this month, I couldn’t figure out how to get low enough to my latest incline version at home. So I tried a regular push-up on the floor…

… and found I can do them again. Hooray? … I guess that means more push-ups for me. *groan*

– Manage my diet more consistently

When I have other time-specific commitments (like classes and appointments), I don’t eat the way I want to that makes me feel physically good (aka my stomach doesn’t feel yucky). I end up buying myself “treats” like fast food and choosing food based on what’s most portable rather than what I actually planned to eat.

We don’t have as much junk food available now that I have to plan groceries a couple weeks in advance, and we have plenty of more nutritious options that keep me full for longer and make me feel better in both short and long terms.

I can already feel my body getting re-sensitized to “treat” food: we ordered deep-fried delivery as a special dinner a few weeks ago, and I could eat only about a third of what I used to before the heaviness made me sick to my stomach and I didn’t enjoy the taste anymore.

3. Start doing yoga regularly

In order to achieve #2 (see above), I’ve put together a schedule of two days on, one day off. One day strength training, one day cardio or core, one rest day. As my body gets more used to this routine, I’d like to make my rest days active rest days. And by that, I mean: yoga days.

I’ve never done YouTube yoga before, but what better time is there to try it out? I was pleased to find that my cheap Bluetooth earbuds work with my computer, so I can use my big monitor without bothering Husband while he works from home.

4. Read all my e-comics.

I love the idea of buying e-comics from Humble Bundle, but I’m not so good at following through and actually reading them. Mostly, I can’t do it easily on my phone, and I don’t enjoy reading on my desktop set-up. Reading comics requires me to use my Surface as a tablet, which I rarely do.

But I have The X Files seasons 10 and 11 (the comic-book version which came out way before the actual TV run and seems to be, in terms of mythos and character development, about a bajillion times better). I have a bunch of random stuff I got in a couple bundles, and they all seem really fun.

So maybe it’s time to actually read them.

5. Read my tsundoku books and journal articles.

I have about three books/journal issues that I’ve been meaning to read to improve my teaching and academic skills. As above, what better time will I have?

6. Catch up on the TV shows I recorded on PVR.

Basically, that’s the latest season of Ducktales with the whole Della Duck arc and also Gravity Falls, which I started recording and then switched to watching on Disney+ when it became available.

I also have the Blu-Ray set of 1960s Batman (a birthday gift from Husband and my sister) that I’ve never watched all the way through. Maybe now is when I can most appreciate those Biff! Wham! Pow! after-school vibes the most.

7. Cut my own hair (and not look like I had an accident with a weedwhacker)

In this, it seems like I’m lucky that I prefer “men’s” styles. When I search online, mainstream women’s style articles are like, “DO NOT TOUCH YOUR HAIR. YOU’RE GOING TO MESS THIS UP AND HAVE TO WEAR A PAPER BAG OVER YOUR HEAD FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. OMFG.” And men’s style articles are like, “WANT TO SAVE $$$??? CUT YOUR OWN HAIR AT HOME!!! I’VE BEEN DOING IT SINCE I WAS 5!”

There’s still a ton of skill that goes into cutting conventionally masculine hairstyles, obviously. No way will my best efforts will come close to the work of my fantastic and talented hairdresser. But can I use clippers, trimmers, and scissors in the meantime to keep my hair from driving me bananas? And still look like an adult human being? Probably.

Besides, it seems like fun. What’s the worst that could happen? I have to give myself a buzz cut after I screw up? I’m okay with that. It’ll grow back within, like, a month.

ETA after first attempt:

Not only do I look… presentable from the front (don’t ask about the back), it was kind of fun and… freeing. Next time, I think I can do a better job if I use the sharper mini-clipper from the start, maintain my cut every week, and set myself up so I don’t have to hold the mirror while trying to do the back. Still can’t wait for when I can get back to the barbershop though!

8. Do exercise videos and martial arts lessons on YouTube

Again, I’ve never been a big exercise class/video/YouTube fan in general. But I need to get cardio somehow, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that I’m lazy. Without a coach or instructor to tell me what to do and when, I won’t do the exercise for thirty whole seconds/keep going without a rest/push myself.

So I’d like to learn how to integrate workout videos into my routine. So far, I’ve gone back to boxing with some shadowboxing and boxercise workouts. I’ve also found a few martial arts lessons that look like fun. I can’t make it all the way through without pausing yet, but I’m looking forward to discovering new resources and having fun finding out which work best for me.