Hello and Welcome back to another blog post!
Okay, so I had already written this and it was supposed to go up last week, BUT my computer didn’t saved it and when I refreshed it everything just erased and I couldn’t get it back and I told myself I have two choices. Get mad, close the computer and just start something new again OR I could just see this as an opportunity to make this post different and better. So here I am, again, rewriting this post and hopefully It has improved since I first wrote it.
Okay, so this is coming from someone who is by no means a professional at what’s currently going on, but I’ve always been a homebody. Which is why I feel like I can give some advice on how to walk out of this feeling like you didn’t waste your time inside your house.
Here are 10 things that you can do during quarantine and come out of it feeling productive and strong:
1. Clear out your email
If your inbox has more numbers that your current bank account then it’s probably time to declutter it.
Now that you have all this time at home, take time to declutter your email because it’s something that you will be using quite often. If you are working from home, you’ll probably receive more emails than you did before and to stay on top of things make sure that you are clearing it out so that you don’t miss anything important. Because checking your email can feel like walking into a never ending black hole take only a few minutes throughout the day for this.
I like to set up a timer for 30 minutes or 10 minutes depending on how much time I want to spend on it that day and just focus on deleting old email, unsubscribing from email lists, and creating an organization system for incoming emails or important email that I need to refer back to.
I personally like Matt D’avellas video where he goes step by step on how to maintain a clean email.
2. Workout Session At Home
Just because you can’t go to the gym doesn’t mean you can’t squeeze in a few minutes of a workout. Honestly, it doesn’t even have to be a full blown workout. Every time there comes a commercial on TV while watching TV or Netflix you can do some stretches. I personally love doing yoga stenches right after getting out of bed it just makes me feel awake and also my back won’t be aching all day from sitting down facing my computer.
Lot’s of people are being creative with their workouts, so think outside the box. My favorite fitness people to follow are @sarahs_day @asap.yogi @jessicaolie
3. Read, Read, Read, Read, Read
One of my favorite things to do is reading. Maybe you don’t like to read books, there are so many great alternatives to just physically reading books, you can always get audio books. Those are amazing because you can be deep cleaning while listing to a book.
Also, there are some really great apps out there for books.
1) Wattpad – if you don’t know what Wattpad is, you’re really missing out. But I’m here to enlighten your world. Okay, so there are so many great stories on Wattpad, you can even upload your own story. Which I myself have done, like I have said before I love to write and I decided why not use this time to write a story on Wattpad it’s called Ethereal, if you want to read along and let me know what you think.
If you love writing and you want to have an audience read you’re stories you don’t have to go to some publishing house to have people read your stories or poems. Wattpad is great for that. You also get to really bond with other people over stories and people are very encouraging there if you have a story you have been wanting to publish, it’s a great supportive environment to do that.
2) Libby, it’s an app that connects to you’re local library you can check out digital books if you don’t have any books at home. I find that you can save lots of money because books can be pricy and they can add up. A great alternative is checking out a book from Libby and then if you love and want to have a hard copy of your own then you can go out and buy it and you didn’t waste your money because it’s probably a book that you will go back to and re-read.
3) Bookly, is an app that keeps track of the books you have read and it also has a great timer feature if you want to create a goal of reading for a certain amount of hours. It’s also great because you can write were you left off, you can create notes and write down quotes that stood out to you from the text.
If you don’t want to read or even listen to audio books another great option are podcasts. Also, great for when you are deep cleaning the house.
The Health Code is one of my favorite podcasts by Sarah and her fiancé Kurt and it’s just very wholesome and real and they are both hilarious. 10/10 from me.
4. Spring Clean // Rearrange your surroundings
I mentioned in my previous blog post that I was spring cleaning and feel in love with this the book The Home Edit. Sometimes one of my guilty pleasures is cleaning while watching other people clean up on YouTube. I don’t know why but it motivates me to get rid of things. Maybe it’s the before and after shoots that really get to me, but they inspire me to declutter my own space.
With that being said, a room can feel so much better by just rearranging your furniture or maybe placing a new bedding. Especially now that it’s spring time and the outside is blooming with so much color try to bring a little of that in my getting a vase and adding flowers and add that to your desk or night stand and those little things are what can really brighten up your day.
5. Learn a new skill
Have you always wanted to learn how to play the guitar? Have you always wanted to learn how to paint or sketch? Well this is the perfect time for that. Take this time to carve in and hour or even half an hour and focus on learning a new skill. Maybe you have always wanted to travel to France and maybe that’s not possible right now, but you can always learn a little bit of French so when you do travel to France you can kind of understand the locals. Take this opportunity to focus on that one skill you have always wanted to learn.
6. Master Class
Talking about learning a new skill there are so many great and free resources out there but if you have a little bit of money to spare. Master classes is so inexpensive it’s a service where you can make one payment or monthly payments. It’s really cool because you can pick up a new skill that can help you move up your career or you can learn something for the plain purpose of learning.
I like Mater class because you get to learn from the best from academy award winning actors and directors to people in their field that have succeeded and are sharing some tips of their success. This by the way is not sponsored by Master Class, but it’s been something that I have been dying to try out and thought this is the perfect time for that right now.
Another equally great service is skillshare, I like skillshare because it has the same amazing educational videos and with various creative topics such as video and photo editing to learning to create a youtube video. Also, not sponsored by skillshare, but have been wanting to try out their services out for a while as well.
7. Watch a movie or a tv show
One of my all time favorite TV show is The Vampire Diaries. So, I thought, why not rewatch it again? Take this time to indulge on some shows that people have recommended for you. Even better you can take online quizzes, seriously just google them and it asks you simple questions and then it suggests a movie or TV show. And if you don’t have Netflix or Hulu or any of the other streaming services you can always catch on your favorite Youtuber’s and their content. Let’s be honest allot of us go back to Youtuber’s first videos and think, wow they have grown so much. So take some time throughout the day and just watch some shows without any guilt.
8. Start to Journal
I know this might sound kind of silly to some people but Journaling is one of those things that really helps put thing into perspective. Of course, you don’t have to put things like dear diary, but having a place where you can write out how you’re feeling lets you get it out of your chest.
Writing it down just makes me feel so much better, and sometimes it doesn’t have to be writing anything negative. I also like to write a line or two about my intention for the day. For Instance, I’ll write, Today I’m going to focus on taking small breaths when I’m feeling anxious. You wouldn’t believe how much that helps me out when somethings isn’t working out and it’s a reminder that just taking a break from something can make me come back with a whole new perspective.
If you struggle with anxiety or you just feel overwhelm all the time and struggle to open up to people this is a great way to write down your thoughts on a notebook and trust me it makes you feel so much better.
9. Reach out to people
Just because we are on quarantine doesn’t mean we don’t have all of these resources to let other people know that if they need something they can just let us know. Send a funny meme to friends or family, have a video chat over zoom, or just send them a text message making plans to get lunch when this is all over. Little things like these keep us hopeful that we can go out with family and friends.
10. Count your blessings
Just dance it off, play some music and dance around your room with your dog, cat, husband, wife, brother, sister, grandparents, boyfriend, girlfriend. I think times like these really put things into perspective we are all so blessed to have a roof over our heads, we are so blessed to be healthy, we are so blessed to just be alive right now.
So count your blessing and before we know this too shall pass and we will be back to our regular lives before we know it, but hopefully with a grateful heart and a better understanding and appreciation for those around us and even for the little things like being able to go out to the park or going to the gym without any restrictions.
Finally, I want to give my thanks to all of the people working tirelessly for this world to function. I am truly grateful for nurses, doctors, hospital workers, cashiers, grocery store workers, people in the fast food industry, people harvesting the food that is placed in our tables, delivery drivers, every.single. person that is doing their part, truly thank you!
Comment below what you have been up to since quarantine!
