Pornhub registered a massive increase in usage. This is because when people are bored they tend to fall into old, or new vices. In such a situation like the Coronavirus pandemic, where we are told to stay home and self-isolate, one can feel more solitude and feel more strongly about being isolated from friends and family. If you struggle, or used to struggle with an addiction to pornography, it may be possible that in this situation you would fall back into this addiction.
I wanted to share with you some ideas of how to reduce the chance of this happening, by staying occupied and decreasing the feeling of solitude as much as possible.
7 ways to keep yourself occupied while indoors
- Online Socialising: Social distancing and self-isolation, refers to keeping a safe distance from others physically, however it does not mean we need to shut away completely from those in our lives. We are lucky that we live in 2020 and we have plenty of online resources to stay in touch with our network. You can plan online dinners with your family, or even organise group chats with everyone checking in from their different homes.
- Bring out the pots and pans: We can look on the bright side of this situation, which has given us the time we never had before, to cook up healthy meals, using great recipes, and enjoying a healthy, fulfilling home-cooked meal. When this situation ends, we can also make use of the new recipes that we learned, and incorporate these meals into our weekly diets, to have a healthier life-style. You can also look forward to impressing your friends and family with your newly developed cooking skills!
- Check things off that pesky to do list: This is the time to get through your do list and make a plan to work on something every day. In this way you are both filling up your time in the present, while also giving yourself more free time when this is all over.
- Take care of others: Why not use your free hours to check in with others who also live alone? You can help out an elderly neighbour with their shopping, or check in on that foreign colleague that you have, that may be all alone. Helping others in such a situation is also beneficial for our own mental health. It also helps us to feel that we are part of a community or society, although we are living alone.
- Adaptation is key: This situation has brought with it a need for us to adapt. Things that are happening now are likely to affect our near future, and we therefore have to learn to adapt our daily lives, our finances, and our day to day running of our lives. Use this time to learn from this situation, to be better prepared for the future.
- Pamper yourself: Use this time to take care of yourself. Why not set up a few at home spa treatments for yourself? It’s the perfect opportunity to take care of your skin, your hair, your body. This will help both your physical health and hygiene, and your mental health.
- Learn something new: When was the last time you had time to learn a new skill? Use the free space in your schedule to learn a new language, a new skill or hobby. You can look up books or even courses online and get started on using your time for learning new skills. In this way you are keeping your mind engaged, while also filling up your day with something productive.
These were some ideas on how you can take care of your physical and mental health, by filling up your time with both creative and relaxing tasks, that will help to keep you away from clicking onto that porn website. Whether you make use of these ideas, or others that you think of, it is important to stay active and engaged in this difficult time, so that we can support ourselves as much as possible.
Matthew Bartolo is the founding member of the Willingness Team. He is a counsellor, sex therapist and business mentor.