Welcome back, everyone! By now you’ve all probably heard way too much about COVID 19 and quarantine. I for one am really tired of the constant news, but I promise I’m not here to deliver more depressing messages. During our time inside I was, as I believe most people were, exceedingly bored. So, naturally, I went to the internet and that’s where I found ways to make my time away from others better.
Over the course of this summer, I have found many ways to entertain myself. So, here are some of the things I did to help me get through quarantine and maybe become a better person.
When you’re alone for weeks at a time, it is easy to fall into a pattern of laziness. One simple solution to keep you from sitting around the house all day and watching shows, however fun that might sound is to focus on your physical and mental health. mental health is particularly important because of the current events occurring in America.
To help with stress, try going back to an old habit that you haven’t done in a long time. For example, read a book. I know that doesn’t sound fun and it definitely doesn’t sound relaxing but, believe it or not, it does help.
You can also create some form of art i.e painting, drawing, sculpting, or writing. There is such thing as an artist block that may be a problem, but I’ve heard that just starting can be the solution to that problem, though that may be more stressful for you.
Another thing that I have found particularly useful is going outdoors. Taking long walks has been proven to be one of the most beneficial things when it comes to mental health and brain development. However, you have to make sure that you’re not on your phone when taking long walks. You can listen to music, but it’s important that you let your brain take in your surroundings.
If you don’t want to engage in physical activities, you could always go fishing or just sit outside. Both of those activities will prove to be good for your mental health and a bit of sunshine helps with vitamin D.
When it comes to physical well being there are a lot of things you can do. First of all, I understand that some people just don’t care about that kind of thing. I am not super big on working out myself, but during this isolation, I found that exercising has been one of the things that kept me going especially when it came to my sleep schedule.
Exercising every day made it easier for me to get to sleep and sleep well because my body was tired as well as my brain. Running and walking were the first things I tried. I started off just walking my dog but then eventually we started going on longer and longer walks which eventually turned into the runs. For those of you that don’t like spending time outdoors, you could always pick up martial arts, or try to get into CrossFit. There are also tons of exercise videos online that you could try.
Of course, most of the quarantine has been significantly boring and the working from your house could make it less so, sometimes a little fun is a thing you need to get through this quarantine.
The most obvious example of fun I believe for all of us is to play video games. Eiffel is one I found to be quite a time-consuming–passing time, though not unenjoyable. Unfortunately, you can’t game all the time and at some point, it could get boring, so you are going to need some other ways to pass time.
One option is to spend time with your family, which I know is the last thing any of us want to do after spending all summer with them, but I found that once I engaged, I grew more connected to the people I lived with. We started playing board games. That would not usually be my idea of a fun time, but it was okay!
One of the best experiences I’ve had during quarantine was going outside and just playing basketball for hours. I’m not good at basketball but it was still awesome to just have some fun with my family.
My mother and I have also gotten into the habit of sneaking downstairs every night to watch our favorite tv show, which is something we never would have done before.
Do all of these sound like awful ideas? I’m aware that some people have different families where this might not work, but if you get the chance you could just find yourself having fun with them.
If you’re not interested in hanging out with your family, they are always your friends. Understandably, some people are hesitant about leaving the house to hang out with friends. Some people aren’t, and in that case, you already know how to spend time with your friends. If you don’t want to meet them in person FaceTiming is a fun way to interact with them.
Over the summer my family and I FaceTimed a lot of people and ended up playing games over FaceTime. When we weren’t doing that, my siblings and I were calling out with friends and playing Minecraft with them over the phone. It’s really hard to stay connected with friends while not being able to leave your house, so I’m not sure how much more information I can give you when it comes to staying in touch. Leave a comment below if you have some other ideas. I could use some!
If you’re not with friends or family, you are most likely sitting in your house alone. This is what I assume most of us have been doing. There are, of course, many, many things I could suggest to help pass the time, including Netflix, eating, and sleeping. I have found that laying face down on the floor is an unusually fun activity. Maybe even a bit relaxing?
COVID-19 has made our lives frustrating, to say the least, but I would say that most of us are dealing with it quite well especially when it comes to entertaining ourselves and focusing our energy on things that matter. It is times like these that remind me why our generation is going to make the world a better place. We are strong and we can survive anything.