Social Distancing Tips: How to (productively) stay busy during a quarantine

First of all, I want to say. How are you all? The corona virus is here and we are all ordered in MA to stay home. Only essential buisnesses are open. Many are losing their jobs or struggling to stay afloat. Many are anxious at home while reading the news. Our routines have been drastically changed and it is hard to get adjusted to.

I have had many individuals reach out with questions on how they can stay busy during a quarantine and what they can do to stay productive because let’s be honest sitting on the couch all day eating ice cream and watching Tick Toks is veryyyy tempting.

I am a registered nurse so I will be working but I work part time since I am also in grad school. On my days off I am social distancing at home like you all but I am also going into work when I can to help out on the frontlines for all the people who need our care.

I am a huge supporter of doing the actions that help get me towards my goals so here is a list of all the things I am planning on doing while I am at home. Because I refuse to let this time be wasted.

• Read a book. Find a book that inspires you during this time so that you can drink a cup of coffee, or tea, and get lost in it. Anything that brings your spirit up during this time is essential. (I am currently reading Own it All by Andrea Isabelle Lucas, the founder of Barre & Soul).
• Workout. Do NOT let this be a time where you let go of your fitness goals. I am personally struggling without my in-person fitness community but staying accountable with my friends. Challenge each other with a pushup contest, find virtual workouts from your local studios or turn on Spotify and dance. If you turn on your favorite tunes and start dancing I swear your problems will melt away for a little.
• Get outside daily. Our bodies need fresh air and vitamin D so I challenge you all to get outside for 30min-1 hour each day. Ideas: rollerblade around the block, ride a bike, go for a run, walk your dog, call you grandma while you walk around the block.
• Clean out your closet. Use this time to take inventory of the items in your closet. What haven’t you worn in a while? What can you donate to others? What can you sell? I LOVE a good spring cleaning session and have been using this time to find items to sell to local consignment stores and to donate to those in needs.
• Learn something new. I hope we all walk away from this a little smarter. I hope we all take the time to learn something new that we can use to build ourselves up. Watch a documentary about a topic you’ve been interested in. Search a topic on YouTube and learn how to do something you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe it’s time you finally learn how to french braid, make a killer margarita, do a smoky eye, create a FB ad or create PDFS of your brilliant ideas to sell to others.
• Virtual happy hour with your friends. Plan a time to video chat with your friends and bring the wine or kombucha and have fun. Think of this time as physical distancing not social distancing. Continue making connections with others, it is good for the soul!
• Upgrade your skincare routine. Honestly, what else do we have to do but spend this time upgrading our skincare routine. It is so tempting to stay in our PJs all day long but please remember to wash your face daily and use your serums and eye creams. I recommend a day routine and a night routine. For me; eye cream, facial oil, toner, moisturizer and face mask are a must!
• Stretch your body. Stretching is sooo good for our bodies but we do not do it enough. Take the time to stretch while you’re watching TV and work on your flexibility. How are your splits? Give it a shot.
• Play around with new recipes. I love spending this time getting creative to try new recipes with the staples in my kitchen cabinet. What smoothie recipes can I come up with today? Should I bring out the juicer? What is this avocado brownie goodness I see online?
• Take an inventory of your life. It doesn’t sound that exciting but we have all the extra time to look back and reminisce. What projects do you want to launch that you haven’t yet? Are you supporting your friends? Are you happy? Journal it all out and set some new goals that you can get started on now or ones that you can start once our normal routines return.
• Watch home videos. We recently found home videos and have had so much fun watching them as a family and looking back. Don’t have home videos? Find a photo album.
• Find a side hustle. Times like this show us how important it is to have job security. What kind of side hustle can you start now to ensure that you have stability in your income? You can get started with Beautycounter, create an etsy side, start selling on poshmark, freelance online etc.
• Support small, local business. If you’re in a situation where you can financially support those small businesses who are struggling I recommend you do so. Buy a gift card for future use or support their online shopping efforts. If you cannot support with your money, no worries. Share their posts, comment on their page and refer friends to them. It costs $0 to support others.
• Meditate. This is an anxiety-provoking time so take the time for your mental health. Meditate, take a bath or practice yoga. Do your best to have one activity at the end of the day to unwind and relax.

There are so many ways to be productive at home but these are just a few of the things I’m doing to keep busy while I am at home social distancing and protecting the health of others. If you try any of these out let me know in the comments below.

Wishing you all healthy healing vibes.