Are you feeling it yet? The boredom? The absence of normalcy? The weight of it all?
It has been at least a month, if not more, for most of the country now being on some sort of Safer-At-Home/Shelter-In-Place/Self-Isolation order. And it looks like we’re all in for at least several more weeks of quarantine.
Everything in the outside world has been postponed, canceled, or closed altogether ranging from graduations and weddings to sporting events and schools.
It’s enough to make even the most grounded and sound-minded feel a little off-kilter. As we all know, as we are taking the appropriate measures to keep our bodies safe, it’s crucial that we take care of our mental health as well.
Although most of us have been told to stay inside — with the exception of a much-advised walk or bike ride — there are plenty of ways we can fight boredom and going stir crazy.
This blog may not bring any new information to light, but it may help you to cultivate some bright spots throughout your day. With that, we give you 25 ways to fight boredom while you are sheltering in place:
1. Complete a puzzle: The more pieces the better! Feeling extra saucy? Take on a Rubik’s Cube. More of a word person? Complete a crossword puzzle!
2. Dust off that old instrument and practice. Or, take up a new instrument altogether!
3. Watch all the really long movies you’ve avoided until now.
4. Learn a foreign language.
5. Treat yourself to a DIY facial or hair treatment.
6. Put together the most attractive charcuterie board possible, only using foods you already have in your fridge and cupboard.
7. Write actual letters to family and friends. After that? Write thank-you notes to service people who you remember went out of their way for you.
8. Take the time to actually read the rules to those long and intense board games you’ve never played with the family. Encourage the family to play.
9. Put on a soap opera. Mute the sound. Create your own dialogue.
10. Have a space in your home where all of the tupperware goes? Organize it and actually match lids to containers. Throw out what doesn’t match.
11. Try on all your clothes and determine whether they “spark joy” á la Marie Kondo.
12. Now, go through this process with your junk drawer and supply shelves.
13. Bake some baked goods
14. Eat those baked goods, and make a batch or two that you can drop off to a friend or family member.
15. Watch the films that won Oscars for best picture.
16. Knit or crochet, or learn to.
17. Schedule a time to video chat with your long-distance friends and family.
18. Dress up for that important video chat
19. Take a bubble bath
20. Coloring books: They’re not just for kids.
21. Take time to reflect: What have you accomplished in the last year? What goals are you setting for yourself in the next year?
22. Clear out the family room and camp indoors with all blankets, popcorn, and movies.
23. While camping in the living room, why not take a virtual tour of museums and ride some virtual Disney rides.
24. Interview your grandparents (over the phone, of course) and save the audio.
25. Make a list of things for which you are grateful.
You know, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, and Victor Hugo created some of their best and noted works while in self-isolation including King Lear, the theory of gravity, and Les Mis, respectively.
Not all of us may be on the level of those guys, but we sure can create beauty and light in our own way. It seems as though we’re in this for at least the foreseeable future, so why not make the most of it?
Get to it! Get creative and go create something! Or, at the very least, go clean out your closets and cluttered spaces and organize them like you’ve never organized them before.
Want more than just 25 ways to keep your day interesting? Take a look at this USA Today article that inspired this blog.
Sources: