If you’re like me, then you’re probably stuck inside your house, teleworking and social distancing. If you’re also like me, then you’re probably getting pretty bored. In no particular order, here are few things that I’ve been doing to occupy my time during quarantine.
1) Start a journal
I was never a huge fan of journaling pre-quarantine. I never had the patience or time to sit and write down my thoughts and what I did that day. Now, however, I’ve found it very relaxing. Since I haven’t interacted with another familial face in person in over a month, it’s been a way for me to write down all of my emotions and what I was feeling that day. Whether I had a good day, bad day, boring day; what I worked on while teleworking, if I chatted with anyone on the phone, how my new exercise routine was going. I also doodle in it, write down my favorite quotes and cute little notes and things that I’ve gotten since I’ve had my journal. No one else is going to see it, so make it your own!
2) Take care of houseplants or start a garden
If you’re new to my blog, Hello! My name is Emmalee and I am kind of a crazy plant lady. I have over 50 houseplants and a mini patio vegetable garden. Since I’m home all day, my plants have been getting some extra TLC. At least once a day, I travel around my apartment and visit with all of my plants. I check them for pests, if they need to be watered, etc. It’s springtime too, so all of my plants are growing a lot and it’s been fun to watch them grow. I’ve written a couple of posts about houseplants and how-to grow a patio vegetable garden, so be sure to check them out if you’re interested!
3) Exercise regularly
This is probably the most important thing that you can do for yourself on this list. I know that’s it’s very cliche, but it’s true! If you’re stuck at home sitting on your couch all day every day for 6 weeks, that’s not good for your mental or physical health. It’s good to get your heart racing a bit and blood pumping. You’ll feel soooo much better afterwards, too. At the start of quarantine, I got two 5-pound weights and I use them for arm day, which I do twice a week, and leg day, which I also try to do twice a week. I do about 20-30 minutes of yoga and stretching every day. Stretching is important for me and my body; I also just love it and it helps keep my mind clear. In between weight training days, I go on long walks/runs around my neighborhood; sometimes, I even go on walks/runs on weight training days because it’s simply amazing to go outside.
This leads me to my next tip which is….
4) GO OUTSIDE!
It becomes incredibly boring, stuffy and un-stimulating to stay home all day, every day. It’s also springtime, so in many places like where I live in Houston, the weather is absolutely gorgeous! Going outside and getting some fresh air while listening to some music and walking/running outdoors for an hour or so has been so relieving for me. It clears my head and gives me some much-needed time outside of the apartment. I know that many people go on walks multiple times a day, but I personally don’t have that much time or motivation to do that; so, I just stick with one hour outside at least once a day (or every other day).
4) Get some face time with friends and family.
This is so important. If you’re like me, I live alone with my cat and haven’t seen another familiar face in over a month. I talk to a family member at least every other day and I video chat with my coworkers for about an hour every work day. I’ve also been sporadically chatting with close friends, probably one a week. It’s helped keep me social and get verbal interactions with a living being that isn’t my cat. Also, what else are you going to do?! Everyone has so much free time on their hands nowadays, so I’ve been chatting with my friends and family more frequently than when it wasn’t quarantine.
5) Be creative!
This is something that I wasn’t expecting to be as fun as it’s turned out to be. Make sure that a few of these creative things don’t involve a screen! Being creative keeps your mind stimulated and engaged on something that isn’t a screen and gives your eyes a rest from 24/7 screen time. A few things that I’ve been doing to get creative is working on puzzles, reading a book, sketching and creating art to put on my walls, and writing in my journal. I’ve also been writing posts for my blog, but that involves my laptop so I try to limit the amount of time that I spend working on writing, but I do plan out and outline posts on paper first, so that I get a break from screens.
A few other things that you could do to get creative is paint, crochet/knit/sew, practice your photography and video production skills, learn a new language, learn how to play an instrument, work on developing new recipes – the possibilities are endless! Just think about what you’re interested in and try it! It doesn’t matter if you’re good at it or not. When is the next time that you’re going to have time to try something new that you can become really passionate about?
6) Spend time cooking a meal
Some people aren’t chefs, and that’s okay! I’m not a chef by any means, but I still enjoy cooking occasionally. If you’re not a chef, try following an easy family recipe. There’s something calming about cooking yourself a meal. It takes time and care, and it’s hot and fresh once it’s ready to eat. It’s definitely not as gratifying to throw a frozen meal into the microwave as it is to cook a meal. I, personally, enjoy cooking with and for other people more than I enjoy cooking alone, but I have the time to cook for myself, so why not? We all have plenty of time to cook ourselves a delicious homemade meal.
It seems that the world is also getting into baking, especially loaves of bread. I would love to try baking a loaf of bread, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find yeast – an essential ingredient in baking. I’m not really a baker unless it’s Christmastime, so I can’t speak too much to baking, but I love eating baked goods, so maybe I’ll pick some things up the next time I make a grocery store run.
I hope that you and your family are stay safe and healthy during this time. Hopefully this becomes a crazy memory sometime soon.
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Thank you for reading! What have you been up to during quarantine? Let me know in the comments below and like this post if you want more like it!
Xoxo’s
Emmalee
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Emmalee Mauldin 
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