Top Ten Things To Do This Quarantine

You absolutely did not see this one coming. If there was any way you could unsubscribe to 2020, you probably would have. Corona hit us fast and it hit us hard.

And now you have all the free time in this world. Problem? You just don’t know what you should be doing with it. 

Of course, you had always dreamed to be this free, and when hectic schedules were killing you, you would daydream about all the amazing things you would do if you ever get some free and alone time, but now you are going through this list absolutely clueless on what to waste your precious time on and hoping that you would find something relevant to do.

Or maybe you are stressed with the world coming to a standstill. And your skimming through internet hoping you’ll find something to get rid of the anxiety and stress.

There are so many things you could do that will effectively utilize your time and help you become a better person. From self-rejuvenation to making some cash, here is the top ten things you could do by staying home safe, at the same time, preventing corona, boredom, and stress.

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➤QUALITY TIME WITH FAMILY :

Do you think you will get a better chance than now to do this?

I sometimes think that corona was the new year wish of an 8-year-old kid who wanted his/her parents to spend less time at work and put more of their attention on them. How perfectly everything fits!

Do absolutely anything that you can to spend time with them. 

Set up a nice ambience for watching a movie and cuddle with them and laugh your heart out. Once again, play the fun games that you used to play as a child, cook a family meal together with each person taking up tiny tasks, gossip on your neighbours, together as a family. 

Do whatever your family does best but make sure to enjoy every second you can get with them.

Talk to your family more, get to know what their opinions are and what their interests are. I know this sounds cliché, ‘I know what they like and what they don’t. They are my family. I have spent years with them!’ 

You might, but try again. Who knows? They might surprise you.

Appreciate them, even if things don’t look that great as portrayed in some soapy-movie, at least be grateful for what you have.

And if you aren’t the type to be wooed by these motivational speeches, then there is a better way to tell it. You better be on good terms with your annoying sibling or spouse!

Without their support and cooperation, there is absolutely no way you will survive this lockdown and live to tell the tale.

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➤SPEND TIME ON YOGA AND MEDITATION :

If you are a person who is just tired and done with all kinds of drama that has been going on in your life, and is looking forward to this lockdown as a time for rejuvenation, then I cannot suggest anything more better than this for you.

I don’t think I need to emphasize the supreme role meditation and yoga plays in bringing about mental peace and stability. But if you have never tried it out even once, you probably should, as you will see for yourself, the changes it brings about within you.

Meditation is all about focusing your mind on one thing and restricting it from wandering. If you are a restless person dealing with anxiety and stress, then you should take up this practice. Over time, you will see that you can control your emotions, concentrate on important things and over all, acquire a positive outlook towards life.

Combined with meditation, practising yoga i.e., performing a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises, helps you to stay fit and flexible with a calm and stable mind.

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➤START WRITING SOMETHING :

Now, I know most of you are pretty talented writers. Even if you aren’t, we can at least work on it, right?

Start by jotting down your feelings. This might seem weird but hear me out, okay? This is one exercise I absolutely love.

 So, maintain a diary to write down your thoughts and feelings every day. Once you have written them down for a considerable amount of days, revisit the pages. Why?

Because it will help you get a clear picture of yourself. You will find out more about what kind of a person you are and what are the things that matter to you and what are the things that affect you. Why would you do all this again?

Because once you start analysing yourself from a different perspective, you will be able to point out your strengths and weaknesses. When you notice all the things that are affecting you in a negative way, you will find out methods to either eliminate or modify them to bring about a more positive living.

Once the lockdown ends and the world starts functioning again, you can start afresh as a much improved version of yourself.

You could either keep it personal or you could publish your thoughts on a platform and know what others think about it.

This would not only help you to understand yourself more by becoming more aware of your thoughts but also help you to become a better writer.

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➤LEARN A NEW SKILL FROM YOUTUBE :

This if you ask me is probably the best way you could survive this lockdown. 

Perks? You use your time more effectively to learn something that you have been eager to learn from a very long time and the best part, it might actually benefit you in future.

And the best place to do this for free? YouTube!

Pick any skill, quick! It can be anything that you thought was cool from since a long time. Maybe it was learning how to code or maybe it was to bake. Maybe some dance video that blew your mind and you wanted to learn the choreography so bad. Literally, choose the first thing that comes to your mind.

Now, go to YouTube and search for free classes for it. I bet there would be at least one person out there who is willing to offer you free classes to teach you exactly what you want to learn.

Not only would this actually help you in learning a new skill, but you actually feel less anxious, at the same time, proud that you are using this time to better yourself. There will a be a sudden surge of confidence within you because you feel you are putting in some effort to improve yourself and become more efficient.

And it will never be boring as you are actually doing what you want to do, for yourself , by yourself without anybody instructing you or forcing you.

Moreover, when everything goes back to normal, you can even boast (in a not so obvious, try-hard way) about it to your friends.

At the end of your course, you will be left with the knowledge of a new skill and some pride and lots of self-confidence. Now that doesn’t sound like a bad deal, does it?

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➤MAKE SOME ONLINE MONEY :

There are so many ways you can earn money online and now, with so much time for leisure, this is your best chance.

Best ways to earn money? Try out work-from-home internships. I’m sure there are plenty of companies offering internships to students and the number would have only increased because of the lock-down. 

There are variety of work-from-home jobs (for a duration of 1-3 months) related to content writing, web-designing, etc. There are many sites like Internshala which brings to you genuine, paid internships. Many of the companies in this site offer you money (avg. 2000-25000 rupees) and certificates for the internships.

Or you could start a blog or a YouTube channel about anything you specialize in and garner enough traffic to make some money out of it. This is not going to be an easy job. You have to be really passionate about this and give people quality content, if you want to make things work.

There are plenty of ways to make money online but I should warn you against frauds. 

Please be cautious when you are providing your personal details like your address and bank account details. There are plenty of people out there who wouldn’t think twice about cheating or scamming someone. So, the moment you find something shady, please MISSION ABORT!

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➤STAY HEALTHY AND FIT :

The word ‘quarantine’ and ‘laziness’ have a similar ring to it.

I mean, we can’t help it either. When people say words like ‘quarantine’ and ‘isolation’, we often make mental images of our bed, junk food and the most grotesque look of ourselves.

But hey, it doesn’t hurt to workout once in a while. At least you can get rid of that guilt that you feel for gobbling down all those French fries.

Don't which fitness app works best for you? Here are some free and awesome apps with which you can workout at home.

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➤READ :

I know this has probably won the title for ‘The Best Cliché Suggestions of All Time’ but that will not stop me from saying, ‘Read as much as you can.’

At least develop the habit of reading. There are plenty of digital libraries out there (take Project Gutenberg, for example) which will give you free access to classic books and then there are platforms like Wattpad that brings to you, stories and fanfictions, written by aspiring writers.

Read anything that interests you. Nobody expects you to start with Shakespeare. Try to read at least 5 books.

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➤BINGE WATCHING :

I bet you didn’t expect to see this on the list of self-rejuvenating things to do.

But hey in my defence, after one season of Stranger Things, I feel like I'm a whole new person.

I’m sure we all have that one movie or TV show, that we watched a tiny part of long ago and decided that if we ever get the time, we would definitely watch it. So what are you waiting for?

There’s plenty of TV shows and movies that you could watch and there are plenty of platforms out there like Netflix and Amazon Prime where you could find these shows and movies.

If you don’t want these subscription-based apps, then you can always check out free movie and TV show streaming sites here.

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➤PLAY GAMES! :

What better time than this to play addictive games that you would obviously choose over sleep and food, any day.

Explore all the games that you have always found interesting. This is the golden era of playing those extremely boring but God-knows-why-you-are-so-addicted-to-it games because you need something to get hooked onto without losing brain energy.

Remember you are saving the world by staying home and playing games. Oof! The responsibility is real, I feel it!

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➤CLEAN YOUR HOUSE  NAH! SCREW IT.

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➤CALL, TEXT, VIDEOCALL YOUR FRIENDS…OVER N OVER AGAIN.

Because let’s be frank, what better work must they be involved in (Well, apart from saving the world, of course.) that they must decline the offer of seeing your lovely and charming face?

And you might even find it surprising to realize that even though they sound dumb in real life, they are actually much worse over videocalls. Yes, they will continue to surprise you. 

After all, that’s why they are your friends.

(DISCLAIMER : PLEASE NOTE THAT ‘FRIENDS’ HERE ONLY APPLY TO YOUR ‘BEST FRIENDS’ THAT HAVE PERSONALLY WITNESSED YOUR MOST GROTESQUE FORM AND STILL TOOK THE BRAVE DECISION TO STAY.)

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So yeah, that's the top ten things you could do in order to not kill yourself out of boredom. I suggest explore as many options as you can and do not just spend your time sticking to one thing.

Well whatever you do, just please stay home, stay safe and let others be safe. Support the cause. Break The Chain.