12 Ways to Keep Yourself Occupied During Quarantine

I don’t know about you, but this quarantine has had it’s ups and downs. Sometimes I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything I want done and other days just dragggg. Here are some ways that I keep myself occupied.

Organize

I absolutely love organizing from entire closets to just reordering the books on my shelves. I purchased the shelves for my room at Ikea. It gives me a sense of control which I have quickly grasped onto during this quarantine period. You can start with one task at a time; maybe your closet one day and your kitchen on another day. You don’t want to burn yourself out and just give up. 

Read

I’m an avid reader and I’ve recently gotten into inspirational books. But, still, there are millions of books out there in the world and I’m sure you can find one that’ll grab your attention. Even if you don’t like to read, there are audiobooks on iBooks and Amazon, along with other sites, that you could listen to while you work on something else, like organizing ;). 

These are some books I’ve read and absolutely love.

• Discovery of Witches Series

• Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy

• After Series

• Defining Decade

These should keep you occupied for a while. 

Clean

You can do that deep cleaning you’ve been wanting to do but haven’t had the chance. Well now’s the time. Again, depending on the house and how you’re feeling it, the cleaning doesn’t have to happen in one day.

Spring cleaning

This kind of tags on to organizing, but you could also do this without organizing. We all have those articles of clothing that we have in the back of our closets either forgotten or just don’t fit in anymore. Your style could have also just evolved from your past preferences. I typically separate clothes by category, shorts, pants, dresses, etc., and then try on each thing. I know it can be tedious but you find out if you still like how it looks on you or if it meshes well with the theme you have going on in your closet.

Puzzles

Some people won’t agree with me but I’m an advocate for puzzles, especially 1000-piece puzzles. I tackle on the border first and then work my way in and, before I know it, three to four hours have past. Working on puzzles helps me focus on one task and forget about life for a moment.  

I find decently priced puzzles on Amazon and Target. 

Painting/Drawing

This is great for people who feel like they need an outlet but can’t put anything to words. It can be as simple as paper and a pencil. 

Binging (that’s what most of us are doing, honestly)

During quarantine, I have been caught by mom binge watching at least once a week. It’s a great escape from some of the stress and anxiety that you might be feeling. These are some shows and movies that I recommend.

1. Outer Banks
2. Locke & Key
3. Outlander
4. Charmed (Both old and new)
5. After
6. Everything from the Vampire Diaries franchise

All of them can be found on Netflix.

Get some fresh air

Going outside and going for a walk helps release some of the pent up energy that I feel from being cooped up inside my house. Sometimes I don’t go for a walk but I do try sitting outside for about 30 minutes, getting vitamin D and some fresh air.

Exercise

I personally struggle with this one. I’m the kind of person to workout for 2, maybe 3, weeks and then just stop. It’s honestly such a good stress reliever and I’m hoping to get back on task soon. The best part is that you can go at whatever pace you feel comfortable. If you want to work out for 40 minutes one day and then 10 the next day, then that’s perfectly fine. 

Write

My personal favorite and what I’ve been doing constantly for the past several weeks. Writing could take various forms. Maybe you want to journal what your feelings, worries are about anything going on in your life right now. You could write about plans and goals you want to accomplish. You can also write stories, get your creative juices flowing. 

Self care

This is a really big one right now. Some people might be harsh on themselves right now because they have less motivation to be active or just do anything at all. We need to remind ourselves to appreciate not only our bodies but also our minds and our families during this time. 

Baking/Cooking

I don’t know about you guys but my house smells like a bakery a lot more than it used to. I’m constantly on Pinterest looking at new recipes to tryout for dinners. I’ve always enjoyed cooking so that’s not something new. But baking, that’s a whole new ballpark and I’m loving every taste-testing second of it. Here are some of the recipes that I’ve tried and have been successful.

1. Meatloaf 
2. Honey Mustard Chicken & Potatoes
3. Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia
4. Baked Mango Cheesecake
5. Cinnamon Rolls (No Yeast)
6. Triple Chocolate Brownies with Walnuts 

I also did the Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia but breaded and it was DIVINE. I highly recommend it!