It’s been over a week since the enhanced community quarantine was enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You’re stuck in your house for a month or so and there’s not much you can do about it. Good thing though, you can still be productive even while maintaining social distancing.
Declutter your wardrobe
Remember the time you said you were going to clean your wardrobe but you had no time to do it because of work? Well, now’s the perfect time. Besides, your closet is probably packed to the brim (if not overflowing) with clothes but not even half of it has been used on the regular.
What you can do is empty it out and sort the clothes into two piles: one for pieces you actually wear and another for those that are just taking up space in your closet. Pack the clothes you aren’t using anymore so that as soon as the quarantine is over, you can donate your pre-loved clothes to orphanages and personally deliver your love to some kids.
Catch up on your watch list
This might be a cliché but an effective way to spend your time. Not fond of watching alone? A Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party will allow you and your friends to stream your favorite shows at the same time and chat with each other while watching.
If you don’t have a Netflix subscription, that’s totally fine. You can check out some documentaries and films that are up on YouTube for free viewing such as “Bar Boys,” starring Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda and Kean Cipriano. TBA Studios also uploaded some of their films on their channel for free.
Or you can always go through your mother’s collection of DVDs and choose a few films to binge watch if the internet’s not on your side.
Take an online course for free
Since classes are suspended and work is limited, you can probably squeeze in an online course in between your work hours. Make your time worthwhile by learning something new.
Ivy League offers over 450 free online courses on humanities, art and design, business, mathematics and more. Some of these are The Science of Well-Being by Yale University, Greek and Roman Mythology by the University of Pennsylvania and Economics of Money and Banking by Columbia University.
Organize a virtual reunion
Who says you have to go out to see your extended family? A lot of apps out there now support video conferences for large groups like Zoom, Google Hangouts and Group FaceTime. This is also an ideal way to communicate with your family or friends who have contracted the virus and are currently isolated for treatment. You can keep them from getting lonely by talking to them through messages or video calls.
Write a quarantine diary
Journaling, research says, has been found to boost your mood, reduce your symptoms of depression and improve your psychological well-being, especially during a pandemic like this. It helps filter your thoughts and enhance your working memory.
You can write about your personal experiences, observations and realizations during this trying time. You can write journal entries based on a different theme every day. Today, you can focus on how the news made you feel. Tomorrow, write the things you wish you can tell the government. The next day, list down your realizations. You can also make a to-do list post-quarantine: visit your family members who were away from you, organize a donation drive or anything, really. Think of the things you aren’t able to do now while you’re stuck at home.
Write them all down and don’t hold back. By the time this is all over, you can re-read your entries, reflect and act upon them.
Header photo courtesy by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
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Read more:
A list of books to get us through the quarantine
5 free and useful online courses you can sign up for
Watch and learn: YouTube channels to tune into for food, film or art knowledge