Hello, my name is Kara and I am studying Philosophy & Economics at LSE. I'm currently in lockdown in France: whenever I leave my house, I need to sign a special form, and check off what I am doing from a list of pre-approved activities. When I go for a jog, I must stay within a 1km radius of my home and I can leave for an hour.
As frustrating as it is to not be able to see friends, I am lucky enough to be in lockdown with people I get along with well (and it’s not bad being quarantined with someone that does your laundry and cooks your food).
In these unique times, it can be difficult to find the motivation to continue with our studying. It’s difficult to study in the same house or apartment where you sleep, eat and hang out. When I’m in London, I can never work at my flat and always have to go to campus if I want to get anything done, so I initially thought that I would get nothing done as soon as I got home. I’ve ended up getting more studying done in the past two weeks that I’ve been home than I probably have in the entire rest of the term!
getting out of the house once a day helps to make me feel productive and pushes me to get more things done during the day.
What helps me most is making sure that I am in a routine. Depending on whether your government or self-imposed quarantine allows it, getting out of the house once a day helps to make me feel productive and pushes me to get more things done during the day.
I start off a typical day by going running. I then decide what I want to get done that day, work for a couple of hours and have lunch with my parents. In the afternoon, depending on how much work I decided to get done, I will work for varying amounts of time and spend the time I have left hanging out with my family or calling friends. After dinner, we either watch a movie or read a book. All in all, the quarantine means that I have been living quite a healthy lifestyle in contrast to my typical university one. I am getting more sleep, I have healthier eating habits, and I am actually getting things done.
On the whole, my quarantine situation has been quite a lucky one: I am with my parents, they live near a river that I can jog along, and my friends and family are all doing well.
Regardless, I look forward to this being over, as everyone does, and hopefully I will soon be sipping a Monaco on the banks of the Seine.
By Kara Jessup, LSE Undergraduate and Digital Skills Lab Tutor