Wake up (too late for breakfast)…binge-watch everything on Netflix…order a delivery pizza…binge-watch everything on Hulu…eat some more…8PM…too late to do anything productive now…scroll mindlessly through Facebook…Like. Share. Comment. Post. Sleep…REPEAT
As enticing as a schedule like that may be to maintain, it simply is not ideal. Human beings are purpose-driven creatures. We need goals…we need structure…we need something to look forward to everyday. So I created a list of 5 things to do during this quarantine that can make you feel like the most productive person in the world. Life is too short to waste time!
1 WORKOUT: As a teacher, I know how it feels to feel like you have no time to live a healthy life…much less have a decent lunch or be able to go to the bathroom. BUT there literally is no excuse right now. Those walks you have been putting off…saying you don’t have time to cook…those workout DVDs that have been collecting dust in your garage…those clothes that you have hanging on your treadmill… NOT. GONNA. CUT. IT.
Your physical and mental health are worth it. YOU are worth it. You deserve to give yourself the best chance at living a long and healthy life.
I don’t know about you, but I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and of making excuses. I started my health journey three weeks ago and I don’t regret it! I literally busted out some Insanity workout videos I never did and started following the program. Every week, I feel so much better and I last a lot longer than I did the previous week. I also started drinking water (thank you HYDROMATE-see picture below) everyday and counting calories with the MyFitnessPal app (great app BTW). I am slowly working my way to being able to drink a full 2 liters in a day. My personal best (so far) has been 1.5 liters. It actually is one of my favorite parts of everyday! I’m losing weight, eating better, drinking water, and sleeping better. Can’t complain.
Point being…stop making excuses! Make the time you have in your house count! Get up and do something! Anything!
2 CATCH UP ON LAUNDRY: Now, when I say “catch up on laundry”, I mean to actually do the laundry. That pile that has been slowly growing has GOT. TO. GO. When I was single, I struggled keeping up with laundry so much simply because I hated it. With a passion. I hated how long I had to wait for it to finish washing. And then waiting again for it to finish drying. And by the time it finished drying, I literally had no motivation or interest in doing laundry anymore. I would literally wait until I had nothing left to wear, then I would wash. Now, the laundry situation has complicated itself even more because I have recently gotten married. And you know what that means? DOUBLE the laundry. One of my worst nightmares! *cue the ominous, high pitched violins*.
The overwhelming amount of laundry was driving me crazy. I needed more structure. Since I had nothing but time to figure it out, I decided to order an organizer online (see picture below) to help us out. Honestly, that organizer I ordered is a life-saver! I spoke to my husband how this is something we both had to commit to until we got control over the situation and bless his heart…because he agreed.
We both decided to commit to laundry the next day. You know what I realized? Doing laundry is not so bad when you’ve got the right person to do them with, the right music jams, and the right mindset. We actually have fun. It also helps that you do other things while you wait. And as soon as you pop a load into the dryer, pop another into the washer to keep the CYCLE going. (see what I did there? CYCLE??? No? Ok. Bad joke.). Anyways, after we caught up, we decided to have a “laundry day” once a week to stay on top of it. It’s not bad anymore! Let’s face it…laundry sucks…but you have time right now, so why not? And remember this wise quote to help inspire you…”Get a hold over your laundry, get a hold over your life.” (I don’t think it’s a real quote. I think I made it up, but it makes sense.)
3 SCHEDULE GAME NIGHTS: You know how I said before that human beings are purpose-driven creatures? Well, we are! And part of what gives us purpose are the people we choose to spend our time with! People, by nature, are social. We need to interact. We need to socialize to stay mentally healthy. I know I’m not the only one that started to feel symptoms of cabin fever, am I right? Well, don’t let the social distancing keep you from virtually interacting with your family and friends.
Notice how I said, “Schedule”. If you don’t schedule it or tell people to make plans for it, it most likely won’t happen. All this staying at home business has really made people LAZY. Too lazy to even meet VIRTUALLY! We live in a technology-driven society. There are literally tons of ways for you to connect. Facebook Messenger, Facetime, Hangouts, Zoom, etc.
During this pandemic, my husband and I discovered an app called “Houseparty”. It allows up to eight people to video chat at a time. Now, what’s even better about it is that it has built in virtual games that you can play while video chatting everyone. It has games like Heads Up, Quick Draw (our favorite-see picture below), Trivia games, and their own version of Apples to Apples. We asked all our friends when would be a good time to for everyone to login, and PRESTO! Game Night! We had a night full of laughs.
That is just one way to have a game night. If you find yourself with your spouse or significant other only, you can still have game nights! My husband and I take turns choosing games to play. I’m not much of a video game person, but we had a blast playing an Xbox game my husband suggested called “Overcooked”. We couldn’t stop laughing the whole time.
Make sure to schedule your game nights at least once a week. It will give you something to look forward to every week but won’t be so often that you will run out of ideas. Honestly, it has made my husband and I grow closer as well. In reality, any game you decide to play will be a breath of fresh air! Get out of your comfort zone and just do it! I believe game nights are productive and essential for our mental health, so your brain would be getting some much needed interaction in the process.
4 TAKE ON A HOBBY: Or refine your hobby(ies). Maybe life kicked you in the butt so hard that you completely left your passion project out to dry. Well, remember. YOU. HAVE. TIME. There is no better time to learn to play one song on the piano or to plant those seeds you’ve wanted for your future home garden than NOW. All it takes is a little initiative. If you have some books that you have been wanting to read, but you have set on the backburner, take a lawn chair outside to a nice, shady spot and start reading! You deserve to indulge in your passions. Start sewing, crocheting, woodworking, baking, or whatever it is that you LOVE (keyword) to do.
One thing I love doing is writing and reading. And one of my goals has been to finish some children’s books I started. I told myself to set aside 1 hour, at least, each day to work on my books. This structure has allowed me to progress to the point that I am almost done! I have also already read 3 novels during this quarantine (so satisfying). I have also started cooking more. I actually enjoy cooking; it’s just the dish washing afterwards that discourages me! But…I have been challenging myself to cook things I’ve never done before. I have been surprising myself with the way the food has been coming out. My husband, for one, is happy that I am cooking and baking more.
What I would suggest is to make a list of small passion projects that you would like to accomplish and tackle them one at a time. Try to figure out which ones you would enjoy the most and start from there. Remember, if love and passion are your fuel, then you will never run out of gas!
5 GO THROUGH YOUR WARDROBE (OR HOUSE). This may be a difficult task because denial is a major factor. But choose a day to go through your wardrobe and start pulling things out that you aren’t going to wear anymore. Let’s face it. We all hold on to clothes that don’t fit us anymore in hopes that we will fit into them in the future, but in reality, all they are doing is taking up space. I’m not saying that you will never achieve your goal, but when you do, do you want to be perceived as the same person as before? Or come in with a fresh new you?
This is actually something I am currently working on. I started off by getting rid of things that just don’t fit. Next, I started picking out articles of clothing that I bought on impulse and literally only wore them once (and collected dust ever since). Then, I got rid of a bunch of shoes that I never wear anymore. My husband started doing the same and instead of all our clothes being crammed into our closet, it all fits now! And it’s a lot easier to see what we have available as well.
This led us to rummage through boxes in our garage, and we found we had quite a bit of things to get rid of. Exercise equipment, plates, furniture, techy things, and more. So what we started doing is putting all our old things in boxes. That way, as soon as all the “social distancing” restrictions are lifted, we can have a garage sale! Might as well make a small buck or two, right?
Blue wooden wall with the inscription Garage Sale
We both agreed that whatever we didn’t sell in our garage sale, we would donate. Trust me. Letting go of things is no easy task, but you will feel much better when you do. The less clutter in your life, the better!
There are many ways you can spend your confined time, but why not make the most of it? You get one life. Make it count. Do what you love, for the ones you love, and with the ones you love. Don’t let excuses keep you from improving your life. You might just ignite a positive change.
Share and comment below to let me know what you think!
Quite Simply Jo 