10 Things You Can do to Live Life to the Max in Quarantine
As cities and states begin hunkering down in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are forced to spend most of their days inside. Unless you’re an essential employee, get used to being a homebody for the foreseeable future!
No one can tell how long the pandemic will last or when it’ll be safe to resume normal daily activities. But that doesn’t mean you need to waste away on the couch waiting for things to go back to the way they were! Instead, look at this quarantine as an opportunity. There’s nothing standing in the way of you taking time to truly focus on yourself. No work. No school. No social obligations. Just you and the gift of time. Recognize this opportunity!
Here are 10 things you can do to live life to the max while you’re stuck indoors. See how many you can check off! And, more importantly, take time to reflect as you do these things, to find resonance and harmony in your life.
- Read a few good books. Reading can take you anywhere you want to be. It’s also a great way to stimulate your brain! Whether you’re a nonfiction lover or like to escape in fictitious worlds, reading should be at the top of everyone’s stay-at-home list.
- Clean your home. They say cleanliness is next to godliness, and you might just have a spiritual experience doing a deep clean of your home. Take the time to make your living space sparkle for a serotonin boost and the comfortable feeling of a clean home.
- Start a journal. In times of social isolation, it helps to get your thoughts and feelings out onto a page. Journaling is therapeutic! It doesn’t matter if you’re a polished writer or you let loose a stream of conscious thought—what matters is taking time for mindful writing.
- Learn a skill. The Internet is a glorious place where anyone can learn anything! Pop over to YouTube, Khan Academy, Udemy or any number of learning websites and learn a new skill—whether it’s how to juggle or how to code a website. Learning means improving.
- Learn a language. Learning a language takes time. Luckily, the one thing we have during a quarantine is time! Hop on Babbel or Duolingo, pick a language you’ve always been interested in and start learning. You’ll be surprised at how fast you pick it up!
- Take up yoga. Yoga is good for your mind and your body, and it’s a great way to stay fit when you’re confined to your house. Yoga has proven wellness benefits, which is something to be cognizant of as we try to #FlattenTheCurve against COVID-19!
- Create something. Creative expression is a powerful tool that everyone needs to harness during this quarantine. Whether you paint a picture, write a poem, build a website or do a little woodworking, creating brings beauty into the world during a dark time.
- Eat healthy. Now’s the time to brush up on your cooking skills and treat your body to homecooked, healthy meals. You’ll save money by not eating out and you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel with a belly full of fresh, healthy foods.
- Do what you’ve been putting off. We all have things around the house we’ve been putting off. Now’s the time to do them! Alphabetize your movie collection, clean the fridge out or replace those lightbulbs. If you can do it, do it and stop putting it off!
- Connect with people. You might not be able to go out and spend time with people, but that shouldn’t keep you from connecting with them. Have meaningful conversations on the phone. Video chat with them. Send a thoughtful text. Remind them they’re important.
Every day spent in quarantine is an opportunity to focus on yourself. It’s not ideal—there’s a pandemic happening, with no end in sight. But while we’re all spending time social distancing, cooped up in our homes, we need to make sure we’re finding the silver lining of this dark cloud. If anything, it’s a chance to reflect on our mortality and the opportunities we have in life, and recommit to being the best people we can be.
Imagine life after this pandemic is over, when we all venture back into the world as better people than before it happened. If everyone was even just a little bit better for it, it might be easier to put this whole scary situation behind us.
