Don't give in to coronavirus quarantine perfectionism

No, you aren't about to win a Nobel Prize by redirecting those two hours you used to commute per day — and that's OK

New York's streets have been unusually empty since bars, restaurants and cafes were ordered to close (EPA)

When it became apparent that I, along with thousands of people across the world, would be spending the next few weeks at various stages of confinement, I – like everyone else – didn’t know how to react. I’ve been in isolation for seven days now and I’ve oscillated between worrying, feeling sad, worrying some more, finding solace in random acts of humour and kindness, and – oh yes – worrying.

But you know what I haven't been doing? Working towards my future Nobel Prize. And no, I don't feel bad about it.

I say this because one unintended consequence of thousands of millennials going into quarantine across the world has been "containment perfectionism". In simple terms, this is the idea that I should be reading inordinate amounts of books, finally going through the classics (Is this my chance to finally finish Jack Kerouac’s On the Road after a series of failed attempts in my teenage years? We’ll find out!), and perhaps even write a novel, now that I’m stuck at home. I should also probably be joining a free entrepreneurial webinar, mastering meditation and catching up on my podcasts, in between cooking delicious home-cooked meals with my stockpile from Target.

DID YOU KNOW, my Twitter feed keeps asking me, that William Shakespeare wrote some of his most illustrious works during the plague years? Well, I’m thrilled for Shakespeare, really, but as of now, all signs point to me not writing the next King Lear any time soon.

Confinement, for me, has so far manifested itself in a myriad of non-interesting ways, which include: 1) figuring out my work-from-home routine, since I’m lucky enough to be able to do my job remotely ; 2) worrying for my loved ones and spending significantly more time calling them; 3) consuming approximately three to four hours' worth of additional news content each day, even when my brain is begging me to please, get off Twitter ; 4) getting, still, too little sleep (it turns out even when you work from home, you never get enough sleep.)

And you know what? It’s OK. These are unprecedented times. We’ve all had to do things, and worry about things, we never thought we’d have to process in our lives. It’s acceptable – perhaps even warranted – to stop worrying about being productive for a while. If we don't give ourselves a break in the midst of a global pandemic then, genuinely, when are we going to?

As it turns out, the perfect life wasn’t just waiting for me to be stuck at home to become a reality. Shocking, I know. Instead, I still have work to do and chores to go through. My ability to multitask hasn't magically changed. I have yet to launch a multimillion-dollar, fully remote business in the two hours a day I would otherwise have been commuting.

There are some genuinely positive sides to the lockdown, but they have very little to do with my productivity. We’re finding ways to connect remotely, and to share cultural experiences with one another even when we can't physically share the same space. Organisations such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera have decided to broadcast performances online. Singers such as John Legend and Chris Martin have also live-streamed concerts. My workout subscription app has taken to offering video workouts now that going to a facility is no longer an option. Ditto has my dad’s gym in Paris, France – meaning we’re left with the exciting prospect of perhaps being able to work out simultaneously, even while in isolation on two different sides of an ocean.

What else? Oh, yes, of course, the books. Look, I love, love, love reading, so naturally, it didn’t take long for me to resolve to tackle my unending pile of unopened books – you know, now that I presumably have so much time. And it’s not just the books, either. There are films to watch, TV shows to binge, and albums to listen to. All of this I am grateful for and intend to pursue. But I'm not going to put pressure on myself to have a Pulitzer and seven new novels by the time the lockdown lifts in a couple of months' time.

Certainly, we want to take care of ourselves. But that means giving yourself some space instead of putting pressure on yourself to live the perfect confinement life immediately. Perhaps that means getting more sleep. Perhaps that means watching reruns of your favourite TV show because you find them reassuring. Perhaps that means calling your friends and family on the regular (I know I haven’t spent this much time on the phone since I was a teenager in the early 2000s).

Whatever it is, do it. Confinement perfection can wait. Just OK confinement is still remarkably good. Let's not turn even the coronavirus into a competition.