Five Best Ways To Fill Your Time During Social Distancing

With a somewhat unpredictable road ahead of us during the COVID-19 quarantine, many of us are feeling exasperated, bored and a bit gloomy. Not being able to meet up with our friends and having to stay home for most of the day can be a pain. However, all this free time is an opportunity for us to be able to try new things and have some time for ourselves. 

In case you are spending your days scrolling through social media and feeling very frustrated, here are some ways to fill your time during this social distancing.

Have a movie night with your family

Dedicate an evening for you and your family to microwave some popcorn, bring out the blankets and curl up on the couch for a fun family movie night. Here are some top movies that will guarantee a perfect night:

Some movie night classics are Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Grease. 

If you’re looking for an action-packed night, try Mad Max: Fury Road, the generic Mission Impossible movies, or anything James Bond.

Here are some rom-coms for when you want a good laugh (or cry): Bridget Jones’ Diary, Crazy Rich Asians, About Time, and The Proposal.

If you’re watching with younger kids, try Coco, Matilda, The Parent Trap or Bridge to Terabithia. 

Whichever movie you decide to watch, the important part is getting to spend some quality time with your family. 

Exercise!!

Believe it or not, quarantine isn’t exactly the healthiest thing out there. It’s easy to become lazy when you’re spending most of your time at home, especially if the gym or fitness studio is temporarily closed. However, it’s important to fit some exercise into your day, whether it’s doing a home workout or going out for a run (keep social distancing, though!). There are lots and lots of free workouts online for you to try, so there’s no excuse not to get your blood pumping. An alternative is to try some yoga, as it’s a particularly easy workout to replicate at home. Either way, stay healthy!

Take up a new hobby

With all this extra time, you might as well find new or exciting things you’ve always wanted to do but never could find the time. Here are some ideas:

• Learn a new language: Maybe you always wanted to find the time to master French or Mandarin. Duolingo is a learning app featuring courses for everyone from beginners to those who are already fluent and want the practice. 
• Bake/cook something: From cookies to chocolate soufflés, now is the perfect time to brush up on those baking and cooking skills of yours (I’ve been trying to make the perfect baked sweet potato chips, but I haven’t been too successful).
• Learn the guitar: If you have a guitar laying around the house (and in this case we’re assuming that you do), take it out and learn some chords. There are excellent online lessons on Youtube, and with what is expected to be months more of quarantine, you could become excellent by the time you return to school.

Binge-watch Netflix shows

Alongside finishing up on work or going out for a run, weekends are also for staying in your room all day watching shows. Being cooped up at home is the perfect excuse to binge-watch your favourite TV shows and not feel too guilty about it. April has brought along many new Netflix shows and movies such as The Matrix, Sherlock Holmes and The Hangover. Netflix is also adding Despicable Me this week. Some binge-worthy shows include Tiger King, Peaky Blinders, Money Heist, The Witcher, and Love is Blind. Order some pizza, snuggle up under the covers and watch season after season. 

Reorganise your room

This quarantine might be the perfect time to get to decluttering or rearranging your room. Move your bed, reorganise your desk, throw out the junk that has been piling up; you’ll be surprised at how much random stuff you find. Try the KonMari Method by Marie Kondo, where you take all your clothes out of the wardrobe and see which ones ‘bring you joy’ and which don’t. Stick some pictures or posters on the wall, change your room up a little bit. 

I hope this list helps you get through the long days. Remember to social distance, and see you at school soon!