Have you ever had to spend weeks, sometimes months at home with nothing to do but wait? It is hard to overestimate the profound effects COVID-19 has had on our lives. Many people in Kenya and abroad have had to limit their social interaction for fear of contracting the virus. Finding the perfect quarantine activities to keep yourself engaged helps to keep boredom away. That said, here are fifteen exciting things to keep you occupied during quarantine.
1. Try a fitness challenge
Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash
The COVID-19 lockdown provides you with an excellent opportunity to get that leaner, fitter, stronger dream body you have always wanted. Many fitness challenges are available for free online. These include push-up challenges, squat challenges, or bodyweight workout challenges. A good example of such challenges is one by healthline. These activities will help you stay healthy from home.
2. Learn to cook
Cooking is said to be incredibly therapeutic. Being at home a lot means that you can spend time trying out new dishes. Thousands of great recipes can be found online for free. These can help you develop your culinary skills. Besides, you might just discover a hidden talent you had for cooking!
3. Declutter your house
Do you have unnecessary items in your house that make it untidy? An overcrowded house can be a perfect breeding ground for vermin like rats and cockroaches. The lockdown is the perfect time to get rid of all that old furniture and take the bloody bins out! This will create a lot of space in the house in addition to getting rid of pests.
4. Learn photography
Taking photos of birds, trees, pets or family members is a lot of fun. The good thing with photography is that you don’t need expensive DSLR equipment to start. Your smartphone is good enough as long as the camera works. You can join any of the numerous photography classes available online for free to further develop your skills as a photographer.
5. Set goals
Being locked up at home presents you with a perfect opportunity to set goals. These goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound). You could start by breaking your long-term goals into daily actions as a start. This will help you give priority to what is important.
6. Watch a film
Watching a movie with family and friends not only entertains you but also provides an opportunity to bond. There are many subscription-based movie streaming applications where you can watch thousands of movies. These include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Showtime. There are also free movie streaming sites like 123 movies, Showbox and Sony Crackle.
7. Learn a new language
Remember those times you wanted to learn French, German or Spanish but couldn’t spare a minute? Being locked-up at home provides you with a perfect opportunity to learn a new language, develop vocabulary, and practice pronunciation. You can find many free language courses online. Also, YouTube videos provide an array of tutorials carefully tailored to suit different needs.
8. Write songs
The lockdown also provides you with a perfect opportunity to write songs if you have the passion for it. You could enroll for an online songwriting course if you are not sure of where to start. Besides helping you unleash your creative potential in music, writing songs also enables you to earn some extra cash in the form of royalties.
9. Start a blog post
If you are passionate about writing you could start a blog post. Writing blogs is a good way of getting those creative juices flowing. Besides, this online writing portfolio provides you with a platform to make some extra cash. A lot of information on how to start a blog can be found online.
10. Start gardening
Staying indoors for too long can be dull. To keep yourself busy, try to transform that backyard into a fantastic garden. In case you don’t have enough outdoor space, grow some fruits and vegetables in pots. Tending the plants and watching them grow will give you something to look forward to every day.
11. Write a novel
Writing novels is interesting if you have the patience and passion for it. Staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic provides you with ample time to churn out work of outstanding artistry. In addition to helping you express your ideas freely, writing is a therapeutic experience.
12. Make a bucket list
Ever wanted to take that dream holiday at least once in your lifetime? A bucket list contains plans of things you would like to do in your lifetime. This helps you to think positively about life. Moreover, you get satisfaction each time you accomplish a goal on that list.
13. Read a good book
Many bookshops are closed during this COVID-19 lockdown as a way of limiting social interaction. Fortunately, there are plenty of E-books on Amazon Kindle that you could read on devices like smartphones, computers, and computer tablets. Reading good books helps you learn about different cultures, explore new ideas in addition to entertaining you.
14. Go social
Evidence shows that social interaction is as important for our health as sleep and exercise. As you stay at home during this partial COVID-19 lock-down, it is important to revive your social interactions. You could organize a virtual dinner using applications like Skype, Zoom, or Google-Duo with friends and relatives. Besides, it would be good to regularly communicate with vulnerable loved-ones who might not have access to the internet.
15. Join a virtual tour
Virtual tours are exciting simulations of popular existing tourist destination sites across the world. To ensure that the virtual tourists enjoy the experience, the guides make use of multimedia elements such as sound effects, voice narration, and text. You can book one of these virtual tours online to lose yourself in a wide range of cultural, musical, or even artistic topics.
Those are a few exciting things that you can do to keep yourself occupied during this lockdown period. You ought to engage in activities that fit your area of interest. This will help you fight boredom in addition to discovering hidden talents.
