The number of boredom complaints I’d encountered about the Enhanced Community Quarantine is appalling at first. As a homebody who finds comfort in staying home, this is normal. But that is not the case for many. Some people are used to going out that a 30-day quarantine feels like a prison cell for them. Fret no more! If you are one of them, here is a list of the activities you can try to be beat the anxiety of staying at one place.
- Take the well-deserved rest.
- Practice proper handwashing.
- Stay alive and hydrated.
- Eat your fruits and vegetables.
- Take your vitamins.
- Look after the well-being of your family.
- Practice social distancing.
- Pray.
- Click on the #COVID19Bayanihan hashtag on Twitter to find ways to help during this crisis.
- Why don’t you start an online fundraiser?
- Read your saved articles on Pocket.
- Start a blog.
- Start a YouTube channel.
- Learn how to edit your videos.
- Curate a playlist on Spotify.
- Listen to free audiobooks on Spotify. Open Culture and archive.org also provide curated list of downloadable audiobooks.
- Listen to podcast on Spotify.
- Watch Netflix documentaries.
- Download free books from Open Culture and Internet Archive.
- Read the news on the impact of COVID-19 on the industry you are in.
- Watch Youtube videos in your Watch Later list.
- Attend free yoga classes online.
- Have a zoo experience with Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safari Facebook Live.
- Go to museum virtual tours and see famous works of art up close at Google’s Arts and Culture page.
- Watch virtual live concerts. NPR Music provides a daily list of concerts to watch online.
- Watch Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall for free. Redeem your voucher here.
- If you are a creative freelancer and/or influencer, continue creating.
- Or you can give lessons via Instagram Live.
- If you are an author, you can read a part of your book to an online audience.
- If you are an artist, you can give live performances via Facebook/Instagram Live.
- Tweet/DM your favorite author, artist, or celebrity. You might get a reply since they are also on quarantine.
- Take a free online course on your line of work.
- Spice up your Microsoft Excel skills.
- Learn how to code.
- Learn a new language.
- Learn how to play an instrument.
- Make music in Garage Band.
- Catch up on the movies and TV series you like to watch but do not have the time for.
- Challenge yourself to a movie genre you are not used to. It could be a classical one, a silent film is a historical comedy.
- Rewatch the movie that made an impact in your life.
- Reread the book that made an impact in your life.
- Read a book from your to read pile.
- Discover a new book/music/movie/TV series you will obsess over in the coming weeks.
- Start the personal project you’d been putting off for the longest time.
- Finish all your abandoned projects.
- Make a creative journal.
- Write about your thoughts and experiences about the pandemic.
- Write a poem.
- Finish the novel you’d started when you were 16.
- Or write a new one.
- Curate pieces of information you’d accumulated into a commonplace book.
- Start a small garden.
- Embroider your shirt to put a new spin to it.
- Make a patch to spice up your belongings.
- Bring out your sewing materials and upcycle your old clothes.
- Paint your shoes.
- Paint your phone. If that is too bold, paint your phone case instead.
- Make masks to donate to COVID-19 frontliners.
- Make zines and call them quaranzines.
- Learn a magic trick or two.
- Make your coffee even without a coffee maker.
- Bind your book.
- Try hand-lettering. Find free practice sheets here.
- Try coloring. Here is a list of places to download beautiful pictures to color.
- Exercise the brain through challenging games – from puzzles to Sudoku grids.
- Exercise. You may realize you don’t need the gym after all.
- Cook with whatever ingredients you have at home.
- Finally, try that recipe you’d saved a lifetime ago.
- Or cook without a recipe.
- Learn how to cook your favorite food from your mom.
- Try microwave recipes.
- Make your milk tea. It’s been ages since you have one, isn’t it?
- Emulate your favorite fast food. Jollibee chicken spaghetti anyone?
- Try woodworking.
- Do origami.
- Make a cover of your favorite song.
- Start a dance craze.
- Do an indoor picnic.
- Have a spa day with your siblings.
- Play with your pet. They also need exercise.
- Make a domino trail and make your cat participate.
- Volunteer to babysit your niece/nephew.
- Spend time with your children. Here is a list of the activities you can do with them.
- Host a movie night with your family.
- Host a board game day with your family.
- Have a storytelling session with your family. Ask questions. Listen to their stories. You might discover something about them.
- Do scavenger hunt at home.
- Have a tour of your house. You do not know what you might discover. A secret passage to Narnia, maybe?
- Catch up with family and friends through messaging apps.
- Do your chores. You won’t have time to be bored.
- Repair broken household materials – from clothes to furniture to appliances.
- Update your resume even if you are not applying for a job. It helps you reflect on the skills and experiences you’d acquired.
- Review your 2020 goals and progress.
- Organize your room.
- Organize your kitchen.
- Organize paper documents and put them in a central place.
- Organize your computer files.
- Go through your phone apps and delete the ones you do not use anymore.
- Go through your camera roll and delete photos to free up space on your phone.
- Check your email newsletter subscriptions and unsubscribe to the ones you do not read anymore.
- Clear your email inbox.
- Go through the souvenirs you’d collected in the past years and reminisce.
- Better yet find ways to organize them creatively.
- Organize your book or Starbucks collection or whatever you have at home.
- Watch the sunrise and sunset every day.
- Why don’t you do all these with friends? Even in this state of crisis and isolation, it is important to maintain social interaction. Designate that time of day when you do virtual meet ups with your peers – from work-out sessions to lunch dates to birthday celebrations.
Let this quarantine be the time for you to go deep into your core again, your true nature before the real world has eaten you alive. Young. Creative. Idealistic. For someone with the privilege of resources, utilize this blessing and get to know yourself, the people around you and the world better.
What are you doing now that you are on quarantine? What are the activities that you currently engage in? Let me know through the comments section below and let us have a chat.