Quarantine Blues - 20 Things To Do To Make The Isolation Bearable
Doing nothing but resting during this period of isolation is perfectly fine but I know most of us are bored already. If you’re feeling restless already, these are 20 things you could try to make isolation a little more bearable:
Finally try those IG cooking videos you’ve saved. Now’s as good a time as any tbh. Experiment with the ingredients you have and try new combinations. You might turn out to be really good at it aqnd become social media’s new big chef (If you do, make me your manager please). It’s also a fun date idea because you can have online cooking dates with friends or your partner where you try out recipes together.
Read. If you have any physical copies you haven’t read yet, now is the time. If you don’t, there are a lot of people sharing pdfs on Twitter. iBooks is a good source of books, and Amazon kindle has great deals on pdfs. Audiobooks are great too, they allow you to multitask.
You can also start an online book club with your friends where you assign a chapter to the group every week and have discussions via video call during the weekend.
Write a book. Yes you, the aspiring author who “always wanted to but has never had the time”, guess what you have now? Time, time, and a whole lot of time.
Video Dates. For those in isolation without their partners, look at it like you’re in a long-distance relationship (I’ve had a few of those, and if you put in the effort it’s actually pretty great). “Go on a date” with your partner or finally ask out that person you’ve been meaning to shoot your shot with because getting to know new people is a really good way to pass the time.
Dress up, set your dining table with candles, someone play music in the background, get a plate of your favourite food and a glass of something non-alcoholic (Guys please try to stay away from alcohol at this time) and dine together. Create your own fancy vibe.
You could have movie dates (A FAVE) where you both watch a movie at the same time. They can be a little tricky because of the timing, but what we used to do was countdown to press play at the same time and periodically check in to see if we were on the same level.
House parties via group video call. There are apps that allow multiple participants in video calls (Skype, Whatsapp, FT i think, Zoom, HouseParty). A solid playlist + the right company and you might miss Bloom a little less than you do right now.
iMessage games tournament. I know some of you bet on them tsk tsk. You could make a whole thing out of it where multiple people play and the winners of those games play each other to get the overall winner.
Or you could just play solo games with one person till you eventually get bored and start playing with someone else.
Start your YouTube channel or podcast. We are all interested in online content now (For the love of God and all things pure, please leave the fake accents out). There are online resources for podcasts, so you don’t need to be in the same place to record with other people. A quick Google search should sort you out.
Workout. A lot of exercises don’t require equipment. You can walk/jog in your compound, skip, do pushups (LOL) or planks (Double LOL). You can finally try your hands at yoga too, there are plenty online classes and video tutorials on procedures and techniques. Someone I follow on Twitter who works out a lot suggested Anabolic Aliens on Youtube for those looking for effective home workouts without weights.
Text your ex. Jk, please don’t.
Learn stuff. Not just academic things, general knowledge. Research Kamasutra, learn how to contour, take a free online course on something (Check Udemy). Learn a new skill or improve the talent you already have. If you’re still in school (any level), remember that when all this is over you’ll still have to go back. Keep studying.
Watch movies. Binge-watch series, go through the entire horror section on Netflix.
Cleaning is therapeutic for some. This is the perfect time to declutter your closet and spring clean your house. Try your hands at a few D-I-Y Home improvement projects too - there are many IG, Youtube and Facebook tutorials on easy decor projects. It’s time to finally turn that closet no one uses into a home for your pet.
Online therapy. Many therapists have virtual sessions, so if you already have one, you don’t need to stop seeing him/her. If you’ve always wanted to see one but haven’t had the time, well - now you do. Seeing a therapist is a solid 10/10 move at every point in time.
Count the tiles on your bathroom floor.
Finally go through your IG/Twitter/Facebook message requests. Reply those 2018 Christmas wishes.
Bond with your family. That nice woman who looks vaguely familiar’s name is Mom, go say hi.
Catch up with your friends. I in particular have been Face-timing my girls non-stop. You will probably run out of things to talk about after a while but till you do, it’s a solid way to spend time. It would also be a good time to reach out to old friends (not the kind that you cut off for valid reasons), find out how they’re doing, sort out any minor differences that may have caused you to drift apart, stuff like that.
If you’ve got it (and by it, I mean brains) like that, and are up to date on what the kids are learning these days, volunteer to homeschool people’s kids (via video call of course). You could even charge. It’s a win-win because you’re making money and you’re taking the pressure off parents who are either in no position to or would honestly just rather not do it.
Livestream your church or place of worship’s services. Check their social media pages for streaming links.
My biggest distraction so far has been social media. We’re all bored and bonding. Join Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or Facebook and make new equally bored friends. There's always something new happening online.