So, you find yourself stuck at home under quarantine, like so much of the rest of the world at this particular moment in time.
Obviously, this isn’t exactly a dream scenario for anyone – and it can be both jarring and frustrating to not have regular social interactions with other people, or a sense of stability and normalcy in life.
All the same, there are certainly things that you can do while stuck at home in order to spend your time wisely, and to ensure that you have the best possible chance of ending the quarantine period with something positive to show for it.
Perhaps one of the most meaningful and effective things you can do during this time is to reflect on the course and trajectory of your life as a whole, and to do some meaningful goal setting.
Here are a few tips for effective goal setting while you’re in quarantine.
Begin by addressing necessities and planning accordingly
The first step in any goal setting operation should be to choose a task and project management system that you think you can stick with, and to make a note of all the basic obligations and necessities that need to be addressed in your life in both the short term and the longer term.
It may be, for example, that you need to contact an asbestos removal specialist when things get back to normal. Clearly, noting things down and making a general plan to get them done as and when the opportunity arises is essential for your own well-being and that of your family.
In the shorter term, you may need to do things like organise your home and tidy up your immediate environment before you have the wherewithal and mental energy to pursue more ambitious goals.
Try to detach yourself from your current circumstances, and to visualise your ideal life and situation
It can be very difficult to get a sense of perspective on the general trajectory of your life, never mind where you would ideally want to be in the future, if you are too caught up in the moment-by-moment stresses and preoccupations of the present day.
In order to practice effective goal setting for the future, it’s necessary to detach yourself and your current circumstances as much as you can, and to spend some time visualising your ideal life situation.
What would the ideal job look like for you? How would you like to spend your leisure time? What sort of hobbies would you have?
It’s only by getting truly imaginative that you can start piecing together strategic goals and plans to pursue them.
Consider writing letters to your future self
One of the things that most often makes goal setting redundant, and that undermines our dreams and potential, generally speaking, is the tendency to lose a sense of accountability to our future selves.
In other words, we may like the idea of a certain goal, in general, only to then end up getting overly fixated on the practical considerations of day-to-day life once more.
A great exercise for maintaining a sense of perspective is to try writing letters to your future self – for example, one year from now, three years from now, and five years from now. Describe what you want to achieve and how you plan to do it. Then open the letters when the right amount of time has elapsed.
Simply doing this exercise can help to keep you feeling accountable to “future you,” and can therefore keep you on track with your goals.
