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Something I noticed as I was making this list is was that there were lots of opportunities for self-improvement within the list. Of the four ideas I felt were the most important, three of them directly relate to focusing or bettering myself. When we’re spending so much time at school both stressed out and around others, it’s sometimes difficult to find the time to take a step back and make sure we’re doing O.K.. By devoting time to even seemingly mundane tasks like getting a dent out of my car or learning to photoshop, I get some time to focus on improving myself.

I decided to define success as the development of new and creative ways to overcome the challenges placed on society and yourself from social distancing. I split my concept board’s vision into the bolded categories displayed above. I also acknowledged that addressing the effects of social distancing in regards to society and your personal life are two completely different topics, so I organized my ideas based off that as well.

I think quarantine is such an interesting time in our lives as it has so many conflicting and confusing emotions. Everytime I work on this project I start to view quarantine as an opportunity to do things I usually wouldn’t or couldn’t. As soon as I am not working on this though, I find it too easy to constantly check the news to see if there are updates, or get down about the situation. I think the fact that coming up with so many ideas was not nearly as difficult as originally thought, shows how if we find a way to keep our perspective in a goal orientated positive mindset we could accomplish so much over the next few weeks. The things I decided to highlight are all things that I think will lead me to feeling my best and continuing to try to stay in that positive mindset. I think it is important that these are things that are sustainable and will help us strive to stay in the positive mindset. For me, many of these things are ways in which I can uplift other people or share something with others. While we are changing the way we share things with others, we can still find ways to do that.

Environment around you

-Make my own workspace

-Bring out the patio furniture for an outdoor space to hang out

-Clean the house

-Make my bed everyday

-Do laundry

-Reorganize my room for a new feel

-Go through old stuff/clothes

Connection to others

-Zoom Hangouts

-Social Media

-Calling friends

-Texting

-Reaching out to someone I haven’t talked to in a while

-Reconnecting with my family

Personal Health and Self-care

-Shower Everyday

-Wash my hair

-Workout 5 times a week

-Social Distancing

-Go on walks alone

-Eat healthy

-Cook my own meals

Use of technology

-Limit time on Netflix/Social Media

-Facetime

-Explore other online learning programs

-Begin reading again, maybe ebooks

As I brainstormed different activities to do during social distancing, I began to realize that this whole quarantine may actually be a good thing. My life moves so fast and is pretty chaotic at school, running from practice to class to a meeting, etc. I never really take a day for myself. I don’t practice self care at school because I really don’t have the time to do so. I spend every weekend practicing/competing then catching up with friends, rather than focusing on myself. 

In quarantine, I have realized that there are a few things I’d like to become better at or improve about myself. One of them being picking up reading again. I used to read for leisure all the time in high school and I just stopped doing that in college. I forgot how fun it actually was to sit down and just read a book all day long. I also realized I have too much stuff. I don’t wear half my clothes and don’t use all the things that clutter my room, so I began to clean. I am excited to donate and sell these items in order to both give back and simplify my life. I hope that through this process I become more relaxed and feel more fulfilled.

1. Go on a run/walk every day 
2. Reorganize all of my drawers 
3. Reorganize my basement 
4. Donate old clothes I don’t need anymore 
5. Go to sleep earlier 
6. Wake up earlier 
7. Get out of bed 5 minutes after waking up (the latest) 
8. Make MY OWN healthy meals 
9. Schedule a time to facetime my friends 
10. Finish unpacking my car 
11. Facetime my grandparents and other family members I don’t see that often 
12. Try meditation (again) 
13. Do yoga every night before going to bed 
14. Try to watch tik toks and go on social media less 
15. Allow yourself one movie only per day 
16. Family game night/ movie night at night time 
17. Start planning my classes 
18. Look for jobs 
19. Go for drives a few times a week 
20. Create something useful 
21. Do something fun outdoors with family 
22. Sit outside by the fire and relax 
23. Get homework done by noon 
24. Don’t online shop because you’re bored 
25. Don’t bored eat
26. Have a spa day → SELF CARE 
27. Think of the positives of the situation 
28. Start watching the news more to stay informed 
29. Play with my little sister 
30. Help my brother with his homework 
31. Help my mom out with cleaning 
32. Clean your room 
33. Do puzzles 
34. Tan on warm days 
35. 6 week 6 pack 
36. Journal my thoughts 
37. Tie dye old clothes 
38. Make new clothes out of old clothes 
39. Go out and take pictures 
40. Try doing yoga outside 
41. Try to create a random recipe (be creative in the kitchen) 
42. Letting my little sister teach me tik toks 
43. Help my little sister with her “play” she’s putting on over zoom with her friends 
44. Get in tune with your emotions 
45. Catch up/ Get ahead on homework 
46. No makeup to let skin breathe 
47. Make homemade makeup 
48. Draw something 
49. Order an adult paint by number book 
50. Help my little sister with her science projects

I was surprised that I did not find it that difficult to write this list of things. I think something that helped me during this activity was that I have a little sister. She is 9 years old and I think that her creativity and energy is what is keeping us all moving every day. This reminded me of child’s eye In a way because she doesn’t see this pandemic as a problem, but as an opportunity. Yes, she is blind to the sad effects of it right now, but she is being optimistic and making fashion shows to keep herself busy and is never sitting doing nothing for one second.

Another thing that I noticed during this activity is that the things that I found most important had to do with self care (they are bolded). I think that self care is good for the body and soul and is what should be focused on the most during this time.

Sing “What a Wonderful World”
Learn a song on the piano
Go for a run
Go for a walk with a friend
When you drive wave towards people
Pay it forward for someone in the drivethru line
Bake a new recipe
Cook dinner for mom, something no one has had before
Have happy hour with appetizers
Play cards
Open all the windows when it is pretty out.
Call grandparents
Send cards to people you love
Read the News
Pray for those suffering the most
Donate clothes
Donate old toys
Have movie marathons
Buy flowers and start planting gardens to prepare for Spring
Get dressed every morning to feel motivated
Youtube a Zumba class and do it with the family
Have a bonfire outside
Reach out to professors
Clean out the garage… if you are really desperate
Write in a journal
Go hiking
Bike in the neighborhood
Order take out to help mom and pop shops
Smile whenever you can
Send little inspirational quotes to friends
Keep laughing at memes and videos people continue to create
Prepare for internship in summer
Start a Netflix series with family
Think of inventions, nows the time to start
Continue learning how to code
Take dog for a walk to make up for all the times you were to busy too
Bring a book to a beach in warm weather
Zoom classes outside
Cook and grocery shop for neighbors who are older and very stressed about the illness.
Put down the phone
Learn
Go for long drives
Train for half marathon
Hug family
Have Taco Tuesday
Eat cookies and milk
Ask questions
Write poems
Make your bed
Read a book and then watch a movie and compare

Environment around you

1. Make my bed in the morning 
2. Help clean around the house 
3. Keep my room clean 
4. Go outside whenever possible
5. Go on walks
6. Organize clutter
7. Sell/donate things I don’t need anymore 
8. Find a designated work space

Connection to others

1. Have daily family meals 
2. Facetime friends often
3. Go on walks with friends when possible
4. Call grandparents and other people who are alone right now
5. Family movie nights
6. Give pets attention/take dog on walks
7. Look for opportunities to help others during the crisis

Personal Health and Self-care

1. Eat healthy foods
2. Drink a lot of water
3. Try to wake up early
4. Focus on the positives/ focus on gratitude
5. Do yoga in my room
6. Go on walks
7. Stay hygienic/ feeling fresh
8. Try to limit Netflix/youtube/instagram

Use of technology

1. Limit screen time
2. Use it to connect with friends/facetime often
3. Learn new things/how to paint/new songs on ukulele
4. Follow yoga/work out tutorials
5. Learn how to cook
6. Facetime friends and family that I don’t usually contact often 

I really enjoyed brainstorming different ideas for social distancing. A lot of these ideas and goals float around my head throughout the day of what I want to accomplish, but having them all in one place was very empowering and now I feel like I have a concrete set of tasks. I am excited to turn to this list when I feel like there is nothing to do or when I see myself spending too much time doing mindless activities. I highlighted keeping my room clean because this can be a struggle for me, but I want to maintain a nice environment that doesn’t create any added stress. I also highlighted go on walks because I know how much going outside of the house improves my mood. I then highlighted help others because I know it will give me a sense of purpose and I will feel good about contributing what I can. The fourth one I highlighted was trying to wake up early. I struggle with getting my day started without a previous commitment, but whenever I do, I love the extra time that is added to my day. Finally, I highlighted limit screen time because often when I am tired or bored or unmotivated, I relent to going on my phone or laptop to pass the time with netflix or social media. I want to cut down the unnecessary time spent on screens so that when I do watch it, I can feel more relaxed and less dumpy.

1. Be active and workout everyday
2. Create a routine (classes, homework, working out) 
3. Read books in leisure time
4. Maintain my routine
5. Go on hikes and walks (enjoy the outdoors) 
6. Drink lots of water
7. Facetime/Zoom my friends to stay connected
8. Make a Spotify playlist
9. Walk and play with my dog
10. Help cook meals
11. Help clean the house and my room
12. Eat healthy – related to making my own meals
13. Sleep in less – routine
14. Wash hands & remind others to do so as well!
15.  Complete abroad application
16. Go to bed earlier – routine
17. Be nicer to my family – we are all in quarantine and no one is to blame
18. Limit time spent on phone and social media
19. Dress up/put on real clothes
20. Color and draw
21. Go on long distance runs
22. Clean out closet and donate clothing
23. Learn something new
24. Netflix party with friends and family
25. Call my grandparents and relatives more often
26. Go on long drives
27. Make my bed every morning
28. Fix my resume
29. Spend more time with family (not only watching TV)
30. Redecorate my room
31. Watch the news
32. Become more involved in 2020 Election
33. Try a 30 day workout challenge
34. Bake with family 
35. Bleach old clothing
36. Fix Linkedin profile
37. Support local businesses when possible (order food?)
38. Find time to relax (self-care)
39. Partake in social distancing & encourage others to do the same
40. Reflect on my day (maybe keep a journal)
41. Create a To-Do list
42. Complete homework at desk or table (not my bed) 
43. Go through old photos
44. Delete photos on my phone 
45. Communicate with professors
46.  Do not nap
47. Do a puzzle
48. Apply to summer jobs/internships
49. Find a way to help local community
50. Listen to new music and podcasts

I found this activity to be extremely challenging. It may appear easy, however, it was difficult to come up with 50 ideas. The first 30 ideas were easy to come up with, as those were many of the ideas that I was already interested in doing during quarantine, or have already begun to do. I found the last 20 ideas to be more challenging, as I had to think beyond my original ideas. After this activity, I found that the majority of my ideas are related to an active and organized lifestyle. I also found that many of my ideas contradict one another. Some of my ideas focused on limiting my technology usage, while others encouraged technology for communication. I want to create a balanced lifestyle where I am able to remain in contact with friends and family, and also engage in activities that do not include technology, such as reading and hiking. 

I honestly found it pretty hard to brainstorm lots of things that I could strive to do during these times, but I pushed myself to think of 50 as I knew it would be beneficial for me. I had my concept board next to me while I was typing out this list, as many of my brainstormed ideas branched off the images I’d put on my concept board. I got pretty specific in this list, and I think that’ll help me actually bring these ideas into fruition during my time at home. A big idea that I’m taking away from my brainstorming is the idea of staying positive. With staying positive, comes self care, and many of the things I want to try and accomplish have to do with that. I also want to strive to keep in close contact with my friends, both from college and high school, and spend as much time talking and hanging out with my parents as possible. Some things that I’m currently doing now are experimenting with cooking and baking, and I want to keep doing so in the future. I think learning how to make food for yourself is extremely important; it also makes me feel good about myself and increases my positivity! 

For my brainstorm, I had a lot of overlaps with the concept board. The biggest things I wanted to focus on were the goals that I highlighted, and they align with my concept board. They all have to do with improving my excercise or improving my friendships which are both challenging things to do when I’m supposed to stay at home all day. I think it’s important for me to keep these things up because if I don’t it’s going to really bother me and I’m gonna feel like a failure.

During the brainstorming activity, I found it helpful to keep my mood board up next to my list of brainstormed ideas. This helped me to stay focused and brainstorm ideas that were related and would help me achieve the ideas I put in my mood board. I focused on brainstorming ideas that would help to keep me busy at home just as if I was at school. I found that I would brainstorm ideas similar to each other and then jump to a new topic randomly. I tried to just let my ideas flow without judging them before putting them onto the paper. After I brainstormed 50 ideas, I tried to focus on ones that I thought would be attainable but were not small tasks that would be completed after only a few hours. My main focus was to pick ideas that would be continual and habitual in my everyday life. The four ideas that I think will be the most impactful in my life are 1. Be active physically and mentally. I would imagine this to be doing creative activities, brain power activity, as well as exercising regularly. 2. Stay in communication 3. Set goals for my days. 4. Follow a schedule. 4. Do puzzles/draw/read instead of watching TV.

I really enjoyed the activity of brainstorming, and attempting to come up with 50 ideas just made me have a more positive outlook overall that there were even 50 things I could possibly do. A lot of my ideas and brainstorming were focused on concrete activities or goals I could accomplish, such as getting outside everyday, spending time with family, getting dressed and up/out of bed, FaceTiming and staying connected to friends and family, and watch new shows. However the ones I highlighted were more overall activities, and they include setting and keeping a daily routine, stay positive, carve out time for self-care, get back into beading and selling jewelry, and reflect on the positives of the situation and radiate this to others. The last one I think I am already doing by coming up with 50 ideas for coronavirus season, I just have to go forth and explain the positivity of the situation to others.

The one concrete one I highlighted was getting back into beading and selling my jewelry. This is something I literally always want to do, but I typically only really have time for in the summer because it’s such a meticulous activity and I tend to be an incredibly busy person. I think not just for making a profit would this be a great activity to begin right now, but also because I actually love doing it.

As I have mentioned, I am always someone so busy or on-the-go, so I rarely ever have time for self-care or self reflection. Having this unbothered time by really anything to do other than school assignments is incredible, and I really believe that this could be an extremely beneficial activity for myself as we continue social distancing. I am always so social and hate being alone, and therefore I think this goal is a good one to push me out of my comfort zone a little bit, and get comfortable with the idea of being alone more / be more self – dependent. Going along with this, I think setting a daily routine for myself will be really good for the positive mentality I want to keep.

When brainstorming how I could achieve my vision on my concept board, it was very helpful to use categories to brainstorm within: the environment around me, my connection to others, personal health and self-care, and the use of technology. All of these categories are very relevant in my everyday life and are especially important to me during this pandemic. 

I think that the category of health and self-care applies most to the goals that I included on my concept board. I stated that I wanted to do more physical activity. I think a good way to achieve this would be to wake up earlier so that I can set aside a time to workout. And, I could workout on the Peloton bike that I have in my basement. When I am home, I rarely workout at home and I usually enjoy taking SoulCycle classes instead. However, I of course cannot do that while social distancing. I think that using my Peloton would be a great option for me because it is a similar concept to SoulCycle. 

Another thing that I wanted to do is create art at home. I think that setting up a space to do this would encourage me to draw and paint in my free time. I already have a ton of art supplies at home that I could use, and I could possibly make my desk in my room a space to make art. In order to do this, though, I would have to reorganize my desk and probably my room as a whole. Therefore, when doing this, I could also clear out my closet, which is something I have been wanting to do for a very long time.

Lastly, I think that a good way to connect with friends more is to plan/ talk about activities that we can do after social distancing is over. This could include trips we can take, projects we can do, or new restaurants we could eat at. I think that discussing these kinds of topics with friends would promote communication and give us something to look forward to.

1. Workout 6 days a week
2. Run once a week
3. Read a book a week
4. Drink 8 or more glasses of water
5. Stop eating junk food
6. Drink a fruit smoothie everyday
7. Study a week and a half before my exams
8. Eat more vegetables
9. Organize my closet
10. Clean my loft
11. Put away all my stuff from school 
12. Change sheets once a week
13. Don’t play Xbox before 7 pm
14. Finish the family monopoly game
15. Play board games with family
16. Take Murph, my dog, on longer walks
17. Zoom with friends from Bucknell 
18. Zoom with friends from home
19. Watch classic movies
20. Listen to informative podcasts
21. Watch documentaries
22. Reorganize my garage to its former glory
23. Study poker
24. Limit time spent on phone 
25. Eat 3 plus healthy meals a day
26. Don’t look like a slob
27. Plan schedule for next semester
28. Figure out how to get extra credits for CPA exam
29. Look into abroad programs for winter break
30. Don’t stay up until 3 am every night
31. Wake up before noon
32. Cook more 
33. Learn new recipes
34. Don’t leave dirty clothes on bedroom or bathroom floor
35. Help my brother with his homework
36. Read the newspaper everyday
37. Stay updated on COVID-19
38. Social distance yourself
39. Keep in contact with family
40. Prepare for internship
41. Relearn piano
42. Find a way to make money
43. Stretch daily
44. Bodyweight exercises everyday
45. Stay positive 
46. Find a new, productive hobby
47. Learn how to make music on garage band
48. Don’t get COVID-19
49. Be responsible with health when in public 
50. Be nicer to family

For my list I looked to make improvements in my own life with regard to physical and mental health. I made an emphasis of being more healthy by working out, eating well, and not over sleeping. I also looked to give my day to day schedule more structure by giving myself weekly goals such as the number of days to work out and reading a book a week. This past summer I spent a great deal of time learning at my internship and listening to historical podcasts. Since I am going to be living in the real world soon I figure that I should be educated like a real world adult not a college student who just learns because they have to. Continuing with the theme of becoming an adult I want to learn or improve my life skills such as cooking, reading the newspaper, and waking up before noon among other things. The most important thing on the list is not getting COVID-19 because I don’t want to put my family at risk. It seems pretty intuitive but with the estimates of the percentage of people that will be infected it is a difficult task to not get it.

While I feel like a lot of my brainstorm was obvious stuff, I think I came up with some good stuff. I thought it would be hard to come up with 50 ideas, but once I started, the ideas just started flowing out. I tried to single out ideas that would allow me to be more creative and get outside in safe ways. I also wanted to focus on staying connected to others and live a healthier lifestyle. I really want to do the ideas I came up with surrounded my art, like sketching everyday and painting once a week at least. I think this exercise also helped me realize that I want to work out more, which is something I can do with all this free time.

For the brainstorming portion of this assignment, I decided to focus on things that would keep me busy and improve my life with every goal accomplished. I set each goal within reason so I can feel accomplished by doing each one, with the exception of large, ambiguous goals like “[Being] better than you were yesterday, everyday.” It took me a while to figure out exactly wha to put, but when I started it came to me very easily. In choosing my 5 top goals, I selected things that are ambiguous difficult to gauge. Instead of picking things that I can start and finish in a day, I wanted things that I have to constantly strive towards. I picked goals that only I will know when I accomplish them and achieve honest content. Even with organizing my room, I feel like I’ll continuously re-organize it until I feel thoroughly satisfied. I want to view the time I have at home as a time to build and better myself, not a time to worry and focus on the negatives, and I feel like these five goals will help me achieve that.

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This activity got me really motivated to start doing more things with my days. Usually, I feel defeated in the morning because I don’t think there is anything to do. In reality, there is, I just have to sit down and put some thought into it. I started by writing some things that would get me into more of a habit, such as waking up and going to sleep on time, stretching, etc… I think the most important piece of that is making a to do list every morning. I miss running errands during the day because they made me feel like I had a purpose. Now, I need to give myself that purpose by listing out the things I want to accomplish that day.

My second idea is reteaching myself guitar. I was inspired to put this from my concept map because I used to really enjoy playing but never found the time to keep practicing. I want to stop being lazy and pushing things for “later” and this break is the perfect time to identify things that I push.

I always feel happier and more productive after I do a workout, so I highlighted taking an online exercise class. It’s hard for me to do a workout on my own versus a class because I feel more motivated if someone is telling me what to do. It holds me more accountable than just stopping whenever I want if I did it on my own accord.

Finally, my last idea is to stop putting so much pressure and focus on doing everything perfect. If I know I can’t do something right, I end up not really every trying to do it instead of failing, practicing, and getting better. For example, I won’t start cooking because I am afraid to burn it or waste food if it tastes bad. Or, I won’t start journaling because I’ll tell myself “You’ll never keep up with this, it’s stupid!” I need to focus more on just starting things and giving them my best shot rather than fearing it not be perfect.

One of my fears about the next 6-12 weeks is the idea that I will be continuously bored. I tend to get into a routine or habit and then don’t necessarily branch out easily. If I don’t see someone every day, I’m never gonna be the one to send a “how are you?” text. That’s something I want to change while I’m stuck in a state of quasi-quarantine. I don’t want to spend the next few weeks/months of my life being bored and then regretting absolutely everything that happened – instead, I want to try to turn this period of time into one of personal growth and positivity. The ideas I circled are ones that force communication by having phone calls or skype calls that would require me to check-in and spend time with people I don’t often talk to if I don’t see them (namely my friends, my grandparents, and my brother), or ones that will force me outside of a routine by trying new things or directly preventing me from falling into old habits such as watching tv or spending all day alone listening to music. This is a really tough situation, but I think it can offer a lot in terms of personal growth by forcing me to spend that time on myself when I otherwise would deem it too bothersome.

For this brainstorming activity, I looked at my concept map and each picture, and thought about the possible actions that would fall under what I was trying to convey with the image. For example, for the picture of the girl that is relaxed and laying on the couch, I thought of me practicing the piano because that is something relaxing to me. Another example is for the picture of all the people who are connecting different ideas etc, I thought of collaborating with classmates, friends, and professors. As I explained in my concept board reflection, I plan on being very productive in terms of being successful in my studies as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle so I really just thought of the different ways I could do that while social distancing and in quarantine.

The ideas that I circled I felt were more important things to me when staying motivated in my academic and personal goals. It was fairly easy for me to come up with 50 ideas because for the past 2 weeks my mind has been racing about all the things I’m going to have time for now that I’m not on campus anymore. I definitely enjoyed making a physical list of all these things I want to do.

When doing my brainstorm, I put down every idea that popped into my mind, no matter how ridiculous it was (there was no way I could ask my parents to get me a dog or a new car). When looking at the list, I saw that there were many ideas that were very similar, just slight variations of one another. I kept looking at my concept board the whole time and would try to look at individual pictures to give me ideas. The central themes that I saw from the list were around organization and structure, being active whether it be fitness or getting outside the house, or ways to do things that make me happy.

From the fifty, the five ideas that I want to do is first clean up and organize my room by putting away all my stuff from college that I brought home and haven’t unpacked, and then organize my life by creating a schedule for myself. I then want to be more active by choosing to do 30-day challenges, whether it be food, health, or fitness related as a way for me to have short term goals and challenges I can work towards. The next one would be to have more social distancing hangouts and adventures with friends. Whether it be taking beach walks 6 feet apart or hanging out in a parking lot sitting in the trunks of our cars, just being able to have more human interaction and make life seem more normal all while being safe. Finally, one idea that might be a little more out there, but one that I would still like to try is to go and stay in my aunt’s and uncle’s house in Maine and see if I am more productive there than at my house. I think being home makes me less productive because of how I might associate it with vacation and not really school work, so I would like to see if a change of scene would make me more productive since I could pretend like I am more at school.

For this brainstorming exercise, I treated every idea that crossed my mind as equal. I wanted to make sure I was using the stream of consciousness strategy to make the most out of any spark, even if it seemed unrealistic to me. Throughout brainstorming I noticed that there patterns in thinking of ideas. It began with smaller realistic goals like a to-do list, which trailed off into goals that I have set aside for a long time for one reason or another, to the less structured goals like learning how to be a source of comfort for people. Once I completed the list of 50, I realized there was a general theme to my list: motivation. I believe that I am subconsciously worried about staying motivated during this time. Reflecting on the brainstorming process more, the goals that I have highlighted as most important also relate to motivation. However, one goal that is particularly important to me right now is learning how to be a source of comfort for family, friends, and whoever needs it. I always want to be this person for everyone, but I often find it overwhelming. I want to learn how to be a source of comfort, but also not internalize other people’s emotions.

To make this list, I thought of things that I personally have been doing as well as things that I would like to do myself. I focused a lot on different things that can be done with technology such as video chatting as well as research and entertainment.

I also focused a lot on activities that one can do from home, because the most important thing we can all do is stay at home. I even found inspiration by looking around my room and thinking of things I could even just do in here. I then thought about different aspects of my house and things I could do there.

I also thought a lot about ways we can better ourselves during this time, like eating right and exercising. In addition to this, I thought about different way that we can get out of the house during this time like going out in nature. I thought about things we could even just do in our own backyards.

It was definitely difficult to come up with 50 ideas. After about the first 15 or 20 I got very stressed thinking about how I was possibly going to write 30 more ideas. I really just thought about things that I personally would do to make a positive change in my lifestyle during this time that I also think other people might like. I also looked at my concept board a lot for inspiration. I tried to think of the overall themes that my board conveyed and think of as many ideas as I could from this.

Picking my top five ideas was actually very difficult for me, because I really like a lot of them and feel they could convey the message from my concept board. I decided to go with video chat friends and family, take an online class, update social media on positive activities you are doing, get a grocery delivery service, and take time for mental health checks. These things focus on both technology as well as finding as many ways as possible to stay home. Another aspect of these ideas is that they encourage a positive attitude and for people to be mindful of how they are doing emotionally. This is extremely important when everything you are doing is from cooped up inside your house. I think these tie well to my concept board because they involve connections, technology, as well as social distancing.

For this assignment, I initially starting brainstorming ideas by thinking of the activities that I am currently implementing into my daily life that I am finding productive. I then thought of ways in which I can make my daily life even more productive, such as outlining for myself a daily routine and going to bed and waking up at productive times. The first 20 or so activities were easy for me to come up with. It was difficult for me to think of 50 productive activities when I am confined to my house, with only my parents and my two dogs, and the roads in my neighborhood for me to walk.

When I had completed my list of 50 ideas, I struggled with picking 3-5 ideas that would be most useful in helping me achieve my vision outlined in my concept board. I wanted these 3-5 ideas that I circled to be important and broad instead of easy and specific. However, I realized that each of the ideas on my list are important, so I focused on the ideas that can help me remain sane and active with my friends and family as well as keeping myself and others safe.

Creating this list was not just beneficial for me to submit as an assignment, but I plan on actually implementing these ideas into my daily life and I will refer to this list especially when I am bored and out of ideas for things to do.

I think that one of the most important and productive goals for me is staying on top of my school work and assignments as well as keeping up communication with professors when I have questions or concerns. I want this new way of learning to be as productive as it can be and that means that I need to understand my priorities which is not only maintaining my health but also maintaining my academics. Another goal that is essential for me is maintaining communication with those who are not within my household, such as my friends from Bucknell, my friends from home, my grandparents, cousins, and neighbors. Whether this means shooting them a text saying hello or FaceTiming with your friends, it is important to not completely isolate yourself.

With this brainstorming activity, I struggled with where to start. I wasn’t sure of what I wanted my end result to be, and then I realized that I shouldn’t be starting with what I want the result to be. I then started by separating everything into the categories of the environment, connection to others, technology, and personal health and self-care. This helped me to think about separate areas and ideas for my current situation in life. In separating into these groups, I was able to categorize the things that I felt were most important in my mind for every aspect of my life at home.

After writing out my 50 ideas, I struggled to pick just 2-5 main ideas to highlight and ended up unintentionally highlighting 7. I felt that the ones I highlighted were the most important and stuck out to me to be the most helpful for creating a concept board.

Under the environment around me category, the ideas I found to stand out the most were opening the blinds each morning and keeping my clothes and closet organized. I felt that this was important because it will help me have an organized and happy environment in my room which is where I am going to be spending most of my time doing my work and just relaxing. In having a positive and clean environment, I will be more open to inspiration and different opportunities that are brought to me.  

In connecting with others, I felt that doing new and different activities with my family that I haven’t done in the past or I wouldn’t usually do was essential. Being that I am going to be home for the next couple of months, I will have much more time on my hands that I otherwise might not have ever gotten. In having this time, I think it will be beneficial for me and my relationships with my family members to spend more time together doing things we wouldn’t usually do, like watching movies or doing an online workout class together.

I had the most amount of ideas for the personal health and self-care category. Since being home so far, I have been trying to focus on self-care by doing daily routines that enhance my energy and overall health. I highlighted trying new things including yoga and meditation because I have never really gotten into yoga or meditation in my life and feel like it would be beneficial for my physical and mental health especially in this time period. I also highlighted the idea of writing out my plans, feelings and thoughts each day so I can stay on top of my daily routine and my thoughts through this process.

With using technology, I have already started taking advantage of the technological advancements we have with zoom, facetime and other social media platforms. I highlighted using zoom and facetime to stay in contact with my friends who I might not see until I go back to school. This is especially important to me because I have established strong relationships this past semester that I really care about and want to keep up with. I also highlighted keeping up with my online class schedule just to ensure that I stay on top of what I need to be doing with school and everything that is being posted online to help me succeed.

I highlighted rather than circled 5 of these ideas that seem like they would be most impactful to helping me achieve my vision I created with my concept board.

I really enjoyed this module because it allowed me to be more mindful and reflective about the power I have in shaping my own life and how we can make those changes to make positive change.

For this brainstorming session, I set a time limit and sat down to start getting down ideas in a few different categories. At the very end, I stopped, then revisited my list the next day to see what still stuck and got me excited. My idea to make a photo collage and hang up photos on my wall in the new photo frame I got stood out because it connected to how I wanted to surround myself with positive and cozy decor in my concept board and to still feel connected with my friends without being able to physically be with them.

Spending quality time with family on weekends/after work also stuck because so far, it has been tricky to balance work and family time with my parent’s work schedules because they have been working late into the evenings on meetings and calls so it has been hard to spend quality time together. On my concept board I stressed the importance of people rather than things as well as being crafty, so this connects perfectly.

Doing online yoga and workout classes at the studio that my friend from home and I work out at is also something I want to continue. She pointed out that they had recorded classes online to do from home, and after trying one, I loved it. This connects to the brightness, self care, and health on my concept board.

Setting a “reading for fun” goal with books to read is something I have tried to do in the past but could get difficult time wise because of all the distractions and fun activities on campus. Now that I am at home and have more time by myself, there is no better time to sit down and read what I want. My love of reading is shown on my concept map as well.

My last top idea is to learn a new skill(s) or practice them (painting, using adobe, cooking). This is shown on my concept map with the spice jar that is an “anything spice”, representing that you can add spice to any aspect of your life and you can introduce something new to spice things up. I think trying new things will be a great way to have fun, continue learning, to engage with others who enjoy that hobby or know that skill, and to keep things ~spicy~.

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Module 2 brought a lot of interesting challenges for me and was a way to help me shape a plan for what I wanted my home life to look and feel like in these crazy times. After looking at the concept board I had created, I decided to try and sit down and set a time limit of 30 to 40 minutes to flesh out 50 ideas that would work for my personal life and things I could work on it to make my situation as best as possible and grow. The list talks about a variety of things ranging from how I can interact with friends to how I’m going to be able to eat. There were 5 ideas that I found to be the best opportunities to help me achieve my vision that I set out on my concept board. The first idea of creating an in home gym is very key for me. My board shows multiple pictures of working out so it’s safe to safe it is very important to me to maintain my strength and conditioning during a time where no gym is available to me. I must be able to stay up date with the competition so I don’t let my team down and myself down come season time because there are no excuses. Creating my own work space along with treating school like I’m at college are two very important ways to achieve my ideal at home vision. Just because we left school doesn’t mean we are in summer mode, and it’s honestly harder to lock in and take school serious in an environment we are used to being school free in college and a place for vacation. Creating a work space with no distractions from my parents, sister, or especially my nephew is huge to being able to focus and get my work done, as you can see on my concept board it is one of the bigger images. Creating a strict class schedule and sticking to it will bring structure to somewhat “free” at home life as well. Taking at least an hour outside everyday will be huge as the outdoors is a big part of my life. I have depicted a couple outdoor activities on my concept board because I feel as though it is essential to get fresh air, run around, do whatever you need to to keep your mental health and just health in general. It is also a great way to take see friends at an acceptable 6 feet apart. Lastly, help family and friends stay positive is big in my life. I show a lot of family and friend interaction in my board, and just being able to check in and make sure all my people are okay will help me feel better about the situation and have a better positive outlook on it. Whether that be digitally or through safe social distancing practices, it is big for me to stay in contact with my people.