Staying home for a minimum of 14 days to prevent the Coronavirus outbreak is a national and human duty every one of us has to do. It’s not just about our own health, but about the health and safety of others in society, specially the elder. What if one of your family members caught the virus from you? Are you ready to live the rest of your life dealing with the guilt of indirectly being responsible for their death or suffering? Thought so. So assuming you’ve made the right decision to stay at home for at least 14 days, here are 18 ideas to keep you busy and entertained during these 14 days…
1. Watch movies, YouTube or a new series on Netflix
Starting a new series would be the ultimate time killer. Ask friends for suggestions. I would recommend Money Heist, since its latest season is probably coming out this April. If you don’t have Netflix, you can either buy a monthly subscription (it starts at around $8), or use one of those free movie websites/apps. Just ask a friend and they’ll probably tell you about a good one (make sure you have an antivirus!). Or just go on YouTube, find a topic you like (ex. pranks, comedy sketches, music concerts, interviews with celebrities you like) and enjoy. Tip: to find more content you’d enjoy, check out the other videos offered by the YouTube channel of the video you just watched. If you’re in Lebanon, most internet service providers now offer larger internet plans, so make sure you update your plan to avoid extra consumption charges (ex. Ogero now offers a 200GB plan among others).
2. Clean up your Facebook or social media friends list
If you have 1000+ friends on Facebook, cleaning up your list might be time consuming. Now is a perfect time to delete any fake contacts or contacts you never ever met or interacted with. If you’re not a fan of deleting, you can set up a restricted list and add contacts to it so that they don’t see everything you post.
3. Update or fix your LinkedIn CV
Whether or not you’re looking for a job, now’s a good time to optimize your LinkedIn profile. You never know when you might need it, or what opportunities it might bring in for you. Add your job titles, job details, and some skills. If you work in the creative domain, now is also a good time to update your portfolio.
4. Apply to new jobs
Applying to jobs is a surprisingly time-consuming process, specially that you have to fill in profile details and work history for each different recruitment site or each company’s job portal.
5. Have a look at your Facebook likes history
I don’t know if you’ve done this before, but this will give you a reality check of what you’ve been liking. Better done from a PC, you can access this info by going on your own profile, clicking the “Activity Log” button, then clicking “Likes and Reactions”.
6. Learn a new skill
There are many free and paid resources to learn new skills online. You can choose to learn a hobby skill just for fun, or a professional skill that you might need at work. Perhaps get certified in something that will boost your career. Just search Google or YouTube for whatever you’re interested in learning, and you’ll find a lot of resources.
7. Reconnect with 10 old friends each day
We all have friends or relatives we haven’t talked to in a long time. How about you reconnect with them now? If you send a simple greeting message to 10 different friends each day, you will definitely fill up some good time catching up and responding to each conversation over the next few days. You’d be filling their time up as well, and reigniting old friendships and relationships, which is a win-win situation for everyone.
8. Work out
Yes, you can do it from home… you don’t need a gym. If you have no gym equipment at home, go on YouTube, search for “no equipment workout”, pick the workouts you like, and do them daily or every other day. If you happen to have a treadmill or other gym equipment at home, dust them off and use them!
9. Draw or paint
When’s the last time you tried drawing or painting? You don’t have to be good at it, do it just for fun and expression. If you’ve never tried it before, try it now. Who knows, you might discover some hidden talent you never knew you had. You don’t need professional material either… any pen/pencil and an old notebook or piece of paper/cardboard would do the trick (ex. cut a cereal box and use the inner side).
10. Play or learn to play a music instrument
Dust off that guitar or whatever instrument you own, and regain those old skills you once had. Sure you’ll feel rusty at first, but all you need is a few hours of practice and you’ll be as good as you were back in the day! If you’re still learning or haven’t started learning to play your instrument, now is a good time to start and practice. Go on YouTube and you’ll find plenty of lessons, tutorials, and jam tracks to play along with.
11. Cook
If you already know how to cook… perfect! You know cooking can be time-consuming, and fortunately, you have all the time in the world now. Try some new recipes or cook some favorite old ones. Take your time to refine them. Enjoy it. Your family or housemates will enjoy it and thank you too. If you don’t already know how to cook, now’s a good time to learn. Go on YouTube or Google, and search away for tutorials and recipes. Sa7tein!
12. Clean your room / house
It’s almost spring anyway… clean up and tidy up your room or house. Put anything you no longer need in boxes and bags so you can later give it away or throw away any junk. De-cluttering your life will give you more peace of mind and tranquility.
13. Read a new book
Reading is always useful. It stimulates your mind and educates you. Start reading a new book. If you don’t own any physical books, you can go online and download some e-books, or just search for articles and read about topics that interest you.
14. Download and play new games
Video games are an even better time-killer than movies and series. There are hundreds of fun free games out there… for mobile and PC. Games take you to a different world where you forget time. They entertain you, engage you, stimulate your mind and reflexes, and make you feel good. Some of them even teach you things about real life (ex. Realistic, simulation or management games). The cool thing about new games is that many of them are cooperative… meaning you can actually play them with friends. What’s even better, is that many of these games have a voice chat/voice call feature where you’re constantly talking to your friends while playing. An example of that is PUBG Mobile. If you play it with friends, not only do you get to catch up with them because you’re in a voice call with them the whole time, you get to have safe fun as well… and it’s all free! If you used to play it and haven’t played it in a while, update it, get back to it, and discover all the new game modes and features that were introduced since you last played it. If you’re not into that type of games, there are plenty of other game genres to try out. Speaking of which… have you tried any of the games I made yet? If you have a PC, I recommend you try Escape The Challenge. It should take you 1-3 hours to complete. If you prefer a free mobile game instead, try the hyper casual Warzone World. You can always search your app store for more mobile games, or download Steam to get access to PC games.
15. Work
If there’s any work you can do from home, do it. If not, now is the time to explore and research that business idea or side-project you once had. Get in touch if you need help or advice with that.
16. Write
It’s good to write. It stimulates your mind, and you get to express yourself. You can choose to share your writings with the world, or maybe keep them to yourself.
17. Clean up and organize your PC or phone
Organize that messy desktop, organize things into folders, delete apps and pics you no longer need. Backup your data while you’re at it.
18. Discover new music and apps
You can download and try various apps, online tools, or look for new music on your favorite music app. Create playlists, add favorites… the digital world is an endless ocean.
Thanks for reading. I hope some of these ideas inspired you… and always remember:
• Be responsible.
• Stay safe.
• Keep everyone else safe.
