our favorite quarantine activities
Times are weird. Times are uncertain. Our pets are extremely happy about us all being home while some of us feel like we’re going crazy for lack of human contact. Our children are desperate to go back to school, if only because we forgot how to correctly use the quadratic equation and, thus, are unable to teach them. We’re doing strange things like binging Netflix at 2:15pm and taking conference calls with potato filters enabled and finding humor in the oddities inherently accompanying quarantine. Rather than focusing on all of the statistics and uncontrollable information available on all of your major and minor news outlets, we wanted to put together some great ways to stay stimulated, engaged, and entertained while you’re staying at home.
thing 1: health/fitness
melissa wood health
This woman is an actual earth angel. She has pilates/yoga flows grounded in slow, intentional movements to achieve long, lean lines as well as guided meditations and low intensity treadmill workouts. Focusing on feel rather than aesthetics, she breaths fresh air into an industry that can sometimes feel - frankly - redundant. You can follow her proposed weekly schedule or browse her extensive video library for whatever movement feels right for your body. Get your first month free by signing up through her website here.
sweat
If you prefer more heart-pumping workouts as opposed to grounding, we’re huge fans of Kayla Itsines’ Sweat app that she recently adapted to be even easier to do in your home. Requiring minimal equipment, you can basically do any program with resistance bands, a pair of dumbbells, and a chair. We’ve definitely been having some restless energy building up, so this has been a really constructive outlet. Alternatively, you could always go for a run, but who’s trying to do that? Get your first month free on her website or through your respective app store.
thing 2: personal development
to be magnetic by lacy phillips
Feeling anxious? Are you finding yourself in scarcity mindset? We’ve got a great resource for you: To Be Magnetic. Out of all of the ways to fill your time, inner work is easily our number one pick, and Lacy’s approach stands out in the crowded self improvement marketplace. Imagine The Secret (aka that book on manifestation), but grounded in neuroscience, journaling, and deep meditation; the modules walk you through your limiting beliefs and shadows to ultimately help you reclaim your inherent worthiness and ultimately create the life you’ve always wanted. This one is a little different because it does require a 12-month commitment, but they’re currently running a special where your first month is only $1, and then $27/month for the remainder of your term. You can sign up on her website. If you’re hesitant to make that commitment, try checking out her podcast instead; it offers some amazing stories and information.
learn some things from skillshare
Skillshare partners with so many amazing podcasts to get the word out about their amazing and seemingly endless course offerings, and right now they’re offering two entire months completely free to people who sign up through one of through one of these affiliate links. They offer lessons on everything from design to marketing to tech and even far beyond, so if you’re itching to finally learn that thing you’ve always been interested in, now is your chance to do it without the financial investment. You can sign up through their website.
earn some cash with freelance work
If you’re finding yourself needing some extra help to make ends meet right now, we feel you. We see you. We understand. One resource we’re re-exploring is the world of freelance work because, regardless of who you are, chances are you have skills that other people don’t and are thus willing to pay for your help. Upwork is a great platform that we’ve utilized on and off for several years as a way to both hire and find small jobs for some extra cash. The way it works is you find job postings that you feel qualified for and submit a short proposal to the poster with a budget and short cover letter. You can learn more about Upwork on their website.
thing 3: entertainment
hbo is now streaming 500 hours of video for free
Raise your hand if you love Sex & The City. Raise your hand if you love the Sopranos. Raise your hand if you want to watch a bunch of awesome HBO shows and movies for free. Hint: everybody’s hands should be in the air right now. Starting 4/3 (today), they’re sharing the goods with the world while we’re all stuck inside and looking for ways to entertain ourselves. Access it online or through one of their respective apps.
learn some tiktok dances
Don’t hate the player, hate the game okay? This one can arguably double as health/fitness because some of those dances go pretty hard, but don’t even try to deny wanting to learn some choreographed moves. Here’s an article from The Cut with 10 currently trending TikTok dances and their how-to’s. Already mastered what everyone is doing? Let’s see you try your skills at creating the next viral dance trend.
go on some virtual museum tours
Enrichment, but with social distancing! In case you haven’t seen some of the cute facebook posts about penguins and cheetah’s getting to walk around (supervised) empty aquariums and zoos, these important institutions are temporarily closed until the pandemic is under control and behind us. Thankfully, their fearless leaders made it possible to still enjoy what they have to offer from the safety of your own home. Check out this comprehensive list put together by Our Thrifty Adventures; some of these will be a great learning opportunity for interested kids, as well.
thing 4: crafts, etc.
piecework puzzles
Puzzles, but chic. You can find some of the designs at local boutique Pearl and Palm and she’s does free local (contact-free) deliveries.
learn how to cross stitch
In support of small businesses and developing your crafting abilities, now is the perfect time to learn how cross stitch. One of our favorite things to do is browse Etsy for cute kits made by small makers/businesses because not only are you 1) supporting independent businesses (because v v v v important), but you’re also 2) going to get everything you need in one handy little package for anywhere from $10-$30. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?
thing 5: connection
video calls with friends/family
This one is an obvious, but if you’re feeling isolated and want to connect with you friends and family, take advantage of video conferencing software and have a group happy hour, Cards Against Humanity game, or movie night. Some people are even going as far as doing Tinder dates via FaceTime. Need recommendations on what platform to use? For starters, we love Google Hangouts, Zoom, FaceTime and Skype.
write some good old fashioned letters
When was the last time you received some fun mail? Since we shouldn’t be traveling or spending time with anyone who we don’t already live with, why not send them something they can treasure for years to come? You could do something fun like practice your calligraphy or include some artistic touches like cute illustrations or watercolor embellishments.
What are you doing to keep your mind active while in quarantine? Share your ideas/activities in the comments and we’ll update our list to include your suggestions + give credit!