Manolo Pedrosa has read 41 books while in quarantine

Reading is Pedrosa’s passion

The quarantine has been a “tough” and “crazy” period for everyone, GMA 7 actor Manolo Pedrosa said. But just the same, being stuck at home has led to valuable realizations and learnings, especially when it comes to setting goals and maintaining an efficient work routine to achieve them.

“I didn’t want to get bogged down in this quarantine but, alas, I can’t do anything about it, I’m stuck at home! What I can do is change my perception; create purpose—this is an opportunity to work on myself and my goals,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post.

Having a regular schedule for activities is crucial, Manolo stressed.

“Organizing your day by instilling desired habits at specific time blocks can help make things automatic to do. With the quarantine, we’re virtually living in repetitive days and such an environment is conducive for creating systems,” pointed out the former “Pinoy Big Brother” teen housemate.

One of the things that has been keeping Manolo busy is reading books. He has finished 41 while in quarantine and even he is surprised. His reading list includes “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius, “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl and “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.

“It’s not the amount of books [you] read that’s important—it’s the knowledge gained,” he said.

Another passion of his is fitness. But he had to come to terms with the fact that resources are limited and that he needed to find new alternatives.

“With the restrictions of quarantine, for example, I couldn’t go to the gym, which is my No. 1 passion,” he said. “I accepted that and learned to be creative on how I can still train effectively. I realized that you could get away without requiring much—I was even able to build muscle!”

Manolo Pedrosa

“The only thing I can’t be content with is the lack of haircut,” jested the 22-year-old actor, who moved to the Kapuso network in 2018 and was last seen in the 2019 drama series “Inagaw na Bituin.”

Manolo also opts to limit his time on social media to avoid distractions and commit to his tasks. True enough, he has posted only seven times this year on Instagram.

“To do this, I had my phone off most of the time, which means not much social media. With enough practice, you can enter a flow state. And you will be wondering where all the time went [while] actually enjoying your newfound habits,” he elated.

And while he considers himself as an introvert, solitude—although a familiar territory—is still a challenge to him during the quarantine.

“Self-communication is an underrated skill. You got to master yourself first, before anything else,” Manola said, adding that solitude may be important for self-growth.