15 Things To Do At Home During Quarantine or Anytime: Part One

I know that many of us are practicing social distancing and listening to the stay-at-home orders. This has been a very difficult time for many and being stuck home under quarantine is a new and at times boring experience. In order to fight the boredom I wanted to share with you a list of activities that I have been doing during my extra time at home. You may be familiar with or already doing some of these, which is great, but hopefully you will find some suggestions that are new to you and you want to try out. This will be a two part list so please check out part two for even more things you can do around the home during quarantine. I hope that everyone stays happy, healthy and safe and that this list of suggestions in some way helps you.

1. Deep Clean and Declutter Your Home

This is a great time to do some deep spring cleaning and put away seasonal items or unwanted items you no longer use. Make a donation bag or box and put it somewhere in your home where it is out of site. For example, your garage, basement or attic are great places to store the items until you are able to drop it off at a donation center of your choice. Don’t forget to estimate the value of the items and document it for your taxes as donated items can be used as a write-off.

2. Try New Recipes

Look up some of your favorite food’s recipes and try making them at home. For example, I love Chinese food and since the majority of restaurants are closed due to the pandemic I decided to try to make it myself and it turned out delicious! You can also learn plant based vegan recipes that come in handy when you are doing meatless days or simply trying to eat more veggies. It’s very inexpensive and convenient to your pocket and your health.

3. Organize Your Digital Pictures

Take a look through your digital pictures and sort them out. Download your photos from your phone or camera and organize them into folders sorted by year, month, or events. Once you organize them you can also print them out and update your photo frames around the home. Another fun idea is to send them to family and friends either through email or by regular mail. This is a great time to reminisce about those great memories.

4. Clean Your Makeup Brushes and Get Rid of Old Makeup

Grab your makeup brushes and sponges and give them a good wash. There are a lot of videos you can watch on YouTube that detail the best ways to clean and maintain your brushes. Now is a great time to sort out your brushes and decide on which you are going to keep and which you will get rid of. Don’t forget to check your skin care and beauty products expiration date. You will typically find this located on the bottom of each product as a symbol that signifies how many months they last (picture above). I have used products past their date, but if you have had products for more than two years now is a good time to replace them.

5. Practice Beauty Tutorials

Now that you have hopefully gone through and cleaned and organized your brushes and gotten rid of old products, it’s time to play. There are many videos on YouTube, including my own, that can help you experiment with new looks and techniques. The same goes for hair, take out those hot tools and learn how to wave, braid, blow dry, or straighten your hair. This is a great time to practice because if you mess up it won’t really matter since we are all stuck at home. You can perfect it and be prepared when the time comes and we can all go out in style again.

6. Leave Online Reviews

When I look into buying any product whether it is makeup, electronics or household products I take the time to read reviews before making a decision to purchase it. Knowing how helpful it is to read reviews I always say that I will write them I have the time, but never do. Well now is the time! I am sure people will appreciate your honest review on items they are interested in purchasing.

7. Pick Up A New Hobby

If there is a hobby you’ve been looking to try whether it is knitting, sewing, adult coloring, or tie-dying shirts or pants and you can do them at home, then go for it! These are great activities to spark creativity.

8. Work On Self-Development

Now is a great time to focus on self-development. I personally like reading books or listening to audiobooks. Podcasts continue to grow in popularity and have become a great resource. There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts out there covering all different topics. Find a podcast on a topic or skill that you want to learn more about or improve upon and tune in. You can also focus on picking up a new skill, completing an online certification, or take an online course. I don’t know if you are familiar with Udemy, but it is a website which offers many high quality affordable courses. Keep a lookout for when courses go on sale. This is helpful for people that are trying to take courses on a field they want to jump to, or add more skills on your resume. The great thing is you can take the course on your own time and at your own pace.

9. Working Out At Home

We gotta keep moving and grooving! And now with the convenience of the internet, we can access any type of workout easily. Whether it’s a subscription service or free videos on YouTube now more than ever it’s easy and convenient to find a workout that works for you. One of my favorite YouTubers for workouts is Whitney Simmons. So if you are not familiar with her, check her out so you can get fit with Wit.

10. Learn About Nutrition

Find out what your body needs in regards to nutrients. Vitamins.Calcium, Iron, Protein, all of that stuff is really good to know and incorporate into your diet. Especially during this time of sickness, we gotta make sure our immunity is strong. Learn what it takes to eat a balanced and nutritious diet to keep yourself healthy and strong.

11. Self-care

Pamper & groom yourself. Take a bubble bath, exfoliate, tan, shave your face (there are a lot of tutorials for this), hair and facial mask, mani/pedi, anything that will make you feel good, relaxed and calmed. Stress is the number one silent killer so get some time in for yourself and decompress.

12. Organize Your Digital Files

Organize and clean up your desktop (cringe). Organize your files into folders, and categories that are easy to navigate. And do not forget to back up your computer. This also works for your cell phone. See part two for tips on how to clean up your cell.

13. Play Classic Games & Watch Classic Movies

If you have kids, introduce it to them. This is so much to reminisce and show your kids what you used to play with. We have so much fun watching classic movies together, for example we watched “The Sound of Music” the other day, and my kids loved it. But to me, watching it again as an adult was a totally different experience. I understood the major historical event that was happening in the movie in a totally different way (#adulting).

14. Review Your Finances

Take a look at where you are currently when it comes to finances and come up with a budget and a plan. These are tough times and I’m sure a lot of people were not prepared for a worldwide pandemic. Everything happened so fast. It’s definitely a learning experience and we should work towards being prepared for other future events. So if you find yourself in debt find out how much and come up with a plan of attack. Once things get back to normal, this is when you execute your plan. And if you are currently debt free, try to educate yourself more on investments and saving for retirement. Creating your budget is a crucial step in accomplishing your financial goals. There are a lot of free sources out there that can help you properly budget. Feel free to do your research and find what works best for you, the one I personally use and recommend is Everydollar. Check down below for a list of the useful sources and books I have read and recommend for personal finance.

15. Meditation & Manifestation

This is something I have recently started dabbling in. I came across a video on YouTube on manifestation, and I couldn’t believe what they were saying about how we can manifest anything that we want in our lives. Now, I’m familiar with the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking but not the way they were explaining it. It really blew my mind. It led me to watch “The Secret” on Netflix, this movie or documentary is based on Rhonda Byrne’s book “The Secret”. You can have everything you want, you just need to ask the universe for it and you shall have it. Of course, it’s not as simple as it sounds and it does take a lot of practice and meditation which is something I never cared for (#adulting) but it’s not impossible. There are a lot of successful stories on the internet and YouTube on how it has helped people that are suffering from money problems, stress, and anxiety. I’m still new at this and I’m still learning more about it but I will link down below my favorite person to watch, if you are interested, on this subject.

BONUS: Check In On Your Yearly Goals

Probably a lot of your new year goals and resolutions have been affected by this pandemic but the year is not over yet. Revisit them, modify them, and add new ones. And start with the ones that can be done in our current situation.

A BIT OF EXTRA ADVICE:
Keep a Weekly Schedule

I know a lot of people are floating around, losing track of time and days – I’m guilty of this. I believe it is essential to keep some kind of calendar, organizer, planner at hand and start penciling in all the suggestions I have given you. Bubble bath, makeup, coloring, finances (#adulting)

This concludes part one of my list of things to do at home during quarantine. I hope you enjoyed these suggestions and ideas and if you did please share it with your family and friends. Be sure to check out Part Two of 15 More Things To Do at Home!

Post contains affiliate links which means I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase through my link at no extra cost to you and it helps to support my blog.

Recommended Personal Finance Books & Resources:

And if you have kids:

Smart Money, Smart Kids by Rachel Cruze

Meditation & Manifestation:

Mary Kate

Manifestation Book:

The Secret