All of us complain that we don’t have time for things we want or need to get done. Well, now we have time. Here are a few suggestions for how to ride out this current storm.
Take a walk.
Take a hike.
Go for a bike ride.
Start that novel you always planned to write.
Keep a daily diary of events, your feelings, how you are coping. This will be an historical document for your descendants.
Call a friend or family member whom you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Write a letter to someone. On paper. By hand.
Learn a new language.
Read that book that’s been waiting for you.
Get out the board games or deck of cards.
Do a jigsaw puzzle.
Learn a new skill—from a book, or YouTube, or a friend (via FaceTime). Or teach your kids one.
Read a favorite book from childhood.
Print out some coloring pages for your kids. And while you’re at it, print some for yourself.
Do crossword puzzles.
Clean out those closets and cupboards.
Look up some new recipes to try.
Bake something (if you have the ingredients) like bread or muffins, and freeze them.
Plan something good for when things get back to normal.
Listen to a podcast.
Clean up your computer and cell phone. There are photos you don’t want, old phone numbers that you don’t know why you still have, bookmarked sites for things you searched for long ago.
Print Out Photo Books from the photos you've taken on your phone! You may find the next big one is electromagnetic!
Look at old photos with your family.
Share memories from your childhood with your kids.
Clean out the garage.
Fill out the census form.
Shop online for some big-ticket items you need and bookmark them. Keep checking back. It is possible that there will be some huge bargains coming soon.
Plan a regular time for a group chat with friends.
Make a list of things you’ve always wondered about—“Where did that expression come from?” “How do they make…?”—and search the internet for answers.
Finally fix that wobble in the table.
Knit or crochet. Or learn how to knit or crochet. (Men, this is for you too. If Ewan McGregor, Christopher Walken and Anthony Anderson can knit, you can too.) Supplies are still available online, and YouTube can teach you everything you need to know and then some. And if you need a purpose, Operation Gratitude collects homemade scarves to send to the troops in the fall. Knots of Love takes donations of handmade preemie blankets and chemo caps and sends them all over the United States. When people are going through a personal crisis, it can mean a lot to know that a stranger cares.
March 26 is Make Up Your Own Holiday day! Come up with ideas with your kids.
Have a virtual party. Pick a date and time. Email invitations to your party. Ask everyone to screenshot a picture of something they’d like to give you. (Money is no object since they are only virtual gifts.) They can send ecards. Ask them to put up some type of decoration that will show behind them when they join the group. This should be something simple—a balloon, a birthday sign they made, some flowers, etc. Also, everyone should have a favorite snack handy. From there it’s up to you—everyone can watch the same movie from their own home, play a video game together online, etc.
Workout at home.
Polish your silver.
Reorganize your kitchen.
Work in the garden.
Pull out the badminton set, the ping-pong table, the volleyball net or the soccer ball.
Have a family story time. One person makes up the beginning of a story, then at an exciting part, someone else takes over and continues the story.
Reorganize your priorities. When things go back to usual, is there anything you’d like to do differently?
Children can gather flowers or leaves and be shown how to press them in a book.
Post the creative ways you’ve come up with to pass the time on social media.
Look for ways to volunteer from your home. Write? Call? Make? Volunteer Match is a good place to look.
Practice a musical instrument.
Take a long bubble bath. In the middle of the day!
Rearrange the furniture.
Make your own soap bubbles and go out and play. (The kids can come too if they want.)
Give the dog a bath.
Go through your closet for clothes you no longer like/wear/fit. Put them in a bag for donation. Someone else could really use them.
Add to this list and send it on to a friend or family member.
