Coronavirus: How to deal with months of quarantine, according to a former inmate turned prison consultant

'The first thing you have to do is recognise what you can and cannot control'

As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, millions of people have found themselves confined to their homes as part of global efforts to curb the spread of the disease.

For many, the self-imposed or government-imposed quarantines feel like a prison sentence.

According to a former inmate turned prison consultant, the comparison isn’t far off.

“There aren’t a lot of differences between federal prison and quarantine,” federal prison consultant Justin Paperny, author of Lessons From Prison and co-founder of White Collar Advice, told The Independent.

Fortunately, that means that some of the tactics he and his team use to help criminals serve successful prison sentences can also apply to those in quarantine.

From focusing on the bigger picture to following a routine, this is how to survive months of quarantine.

Recognise what you can and cannot control

“The first thing you have to do is recognise what you can and cannot control,” Paperny told us. “By doing so, you avoid fixating on things that won’t improve.”

According to Paperny, this means avoiding complaining - which is what he tells prisoners - because no amount of doing so will change your circumstances.

Part of this means embracing your reality, and not “living like an ostrich with your head in the sand like this isn't happening,” he said.

For those in quarantine, being aware of the overall situation, and the reasons for the safety precautions, goes a long way in helping you recognise what you can improve and what you simply have to deal with.

Master self-discipline so you don’t get distracted

While many people have found themselves unemployed as a result of the coronavirus, countless others have pivoted to a working-from-home strategy.

For those working from home to be successful, Paperny advises avoiding distractions.

“Much like prison, there can be numerous distractions that can derail you,” Paperny told us. “In prison, there are distractions like going to watch the track, watching TV, sleeping all day, complaining, making bad choices.

“It is really the same thing if you are in quarantine and understanding that is important.”

To avoid falling victim to these distractions, which can make working from home that much more difficult, Paperny says individuals in quarantine must “master discipline”.

“That’s really where it all starts,” he told us, adding that blocking out time in your day to follow your routine can be a beneficial first step.

According to Paperny, when he was in prison, he found he was most successful when he pretended he was getting ready for work, which included dressing the part.

“I would get up and go through the routine. I would shower, shave, get dressed,” he said. “I feel more productive when I'm dressed professionally and I have found most who go about that path feel the same way.”

Unfortunately, this means avoiding spending the entire day in sweatpants, even if your roommates or family members are the only ones who will see you.

“You have to master the discipline of having a routine and adhere to it,” Paperny said, explaining that the outcome can be worth it in the end.

He said: “It really requires discipline to be productive and those that do it well can advance their career and show leadership. Stand out and excel and when this eventually ends, those who focused stand to emerge stronger.”

Be open-minded and focus on one day at a time

For many people, one of the most difficult parts of quarantining amid the pandemic is not knowing when things will return to normal.

According to Paperny, this unknown is slightly different than what prisoners face, as they often know their release date.

“The benefit to a prison term, if you can say that, is you have a clearly defined release date,” Paperny said. “You have an end and you can create a plan.”

While we currently do not know when the quarantine restrictions imposed will be lifted, Paperny says it is helpful to be open-minded and think only of the day-by-day.

“In this case, we don't know so I would encourage people not to obsess over when will this end or waste time predicting, but be as productive as you can be today. And at some point this will end and you will be able to walk freely,” he said.

Rather than questioning when will this end, Paperny suggests those in quarantine instead ask themselves: “How much can I accomplish in the interim?”

If you aren’t open-minded or believe that you can’t do it - whether it is successfully working from home or simply committing to staying at home indefinitely - the time period can feel that much longer and harder.

“You can do it. Believe me. Even if it is so foreign to what you’ve done in the past,” Paperny said.

Be resourceful when combating boredom and remind yourself of the bigger picture

Whether you have work to distract you or not, eventually, staying isolated at home can feel like a punishment.

But, according to Paperny, there are numerous things that people can do to ensure they aren’t bored during the quarantine, which he reiterated first starts with understanding “what the person can control”.

“If they fixate on the fact they can’t leave or they’re bored, it can feel like an absolutely miserable experience and a week or month can feel like years,” he said. “Recognise pain and suffering is ubiquitous in life. We all face it and we're all dealing with it right now. The question is how we respond to it.”

For both prisoners and those in quarantine, boredom can be staved off by starting new tasks or doing things you’ve put off, such as reading or writing. You can also start an online class, organise, or find a new online community.

According to Paperny, in the end, it all comes down to your values. Right now, he suspects that most people’s values are health and the health of their families, which means making decisions with that in mind.

“If their highest value is family and health they will make the appropriate decisions and become resourceful,” he told us. “Federal prisoners become resourceful.

“Recognising your highest value forces you to make sound decisions. If you are bored there's always a new task but you have to be open to that idea.”

Many people find it useful to remind themselves of the things they should be grateful for and what they still have - such as their health - during periods of uncertainty.

“You have your youth, mind, health,” Paperny said. “Put it into perspective. Be grateful for what remains.”

As for when people can expect the pandemic to be over, Dr Simon Clarke, professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading previously told The Independent: “It is impossible to put a date on it.

“If anyone tells you a date they are staring into a crystal ball. The reality is that it will be with us forever because it has spread now.”

According to the latest figures, there have been more than 266,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally.