Hey everyone!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting pretty wiggly being stuck inside for such long periods of time. Thankfully, my school is still open for teachers who do not have any symptoms of COVID-19 to come in, but I am expecting this to end fairly soon and to be stuck at home. I’ve been going for runs and long walks, but I know that may change if my city locks us down any further.
I decided to make a long list of things to do so that my lover and I don’t kill one another, as he is also working from home full time now. Since we’re all in this boat together now, I thought I’d share this with everyone. Feel free to also share your ideas! I’m trying to stay positive and think of all the things I’ve always wanted to have time to do but can never get around to.
Without further ado, here’s my super fun list:
Clean out your closets. Use this time to Marie Kondo your space! I know I’ve wanted to really do this properly, but haven’t had the time to do it justice.
Practice your golf/putting skills. Set up empty yogurt containers and practice putting around your house. If you’re feeling really creative, set up a challenging mini-golf course!
Do a beer tasting. Make your own scoring cards to grade different beers according to things like smell, appearance, taste, hops, etc.
Do a wine tasting. See above!
Watch all of the Academy Award best picture winners. I set this goal for myself a couple of years ago and completed it this past summer. Now I’m trying to watch all the Golden Globe winners as well as best director, screenplay, actress, actor, etc.
Give yourself a manicure. Go ahead and pamper yourself!
Give yourself a pedicure. See above!
Give yourself a facial. Get the steam going in the shower, throw on a face mask, and massage some of your fanciest night cream in. Treat yo’self!
Go all out a have a “night/day of beauty”. When my cousin/BFF travelled around Europe together post-undergrad, we would often get tired of spending all our evenings out at pubs and clubs. We were young and hip, but certainly not cool enough to go out every night! So once in awhile we would get ourselves a bottle of sparkling wine, some local appetizer-type foods, and pamper ourselves with a night-in. We would put on face masks, do our nails, and put on some music. You can do this at home! Turn on a diffuser to make it extra spa-like and relax!
Learn a new language. You’ve got time to sign up for duolingo, listen to podcasts, read kids’ books, and label things around your house in that language you’ve always wanted to learn.
Just Dance. YouTube has a ton of Just Dance videos you can follow along with from 
the comfort of your home. I always do this with my students when they get the wiggles, and it’s just as much fun for adults. I make my lover do this with me all the time, and he enjoys it almost as much as I do! I highly suggest Waka Waka, Hand Clap, and Uptown Funk.
Make a presentation. Have a passion or crazy knowledge about something? Make your own presentation and force your family or roommates to watch it! They’re stuck with you, after all. Take it to the next level by making them come up with at least two questions at the end, it will force them to be engaged!
Make up a choreographed dance routine. I’ve always wanted to whip out a sweet dance routine a la Ross and Monica but have never had the time (or captive dance partner) until now!
Learn a famous dance routine. Like above, but slightly less creative. Single Ladies, anyone?
Secret shopping game. With a partner, choose an online store, set a timer for 30 minutes and order something for one another within that time frame. I’ve played this with my lover in real life at random stores that sell tchotchkes, but there’s no reason you couldn’t do it online. Just make sure you set a monetary limit (and make sure the store you pick has free shipping).
Complete a puzzle. If you’re into that sort of thing.
Give your captive house/apartment members makeovers. This is the perfect opportunity for you to give your roommate, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, child, etc. a silly makeover. Why not stick glue-on lashes to your boyfriend? He’ll love it.
Practice new make-up looks. I personally suck at make-up and I’m crazy lazy. I like to just wake-up and go. This is the perfect time for someone like me (and maybe you?) to practice my make-up skills and get faster so I can look half-way decent in the mornings.
19. Play a board game. I am very particular about board games and I hate most of them. But hey, maybe you don’t. I personally only like trivia games and Bananagrams because I am under the impression that I get smarter while playing them, thus not being a waste of time. But if you’re not a fun killer like me, here are some more ideas:
- Bananagrams Party Edition
- 5 Second Rule
- 5 Second Rule Uncensored
- Codenames
- Monopoly Deal
- Sequence
- Apples to Apples
- Cards Against Humanity
- Trivial Pursuit
- Scattergories
- Boggle
Start your own podcast. I mean, everyone has one now, why don’t you?
Binge listen to podcasts. Now’s your time to get caught up on all the insane murder podcasts out there.
Make a vision board. I’m pretty goop-y, so I love a good vision board. Why not start planning/imagining all the things you can do once you’re allowed outside again.
Make your Hallowe’en costume. You’ve got the time, and maybe you’ve got the resources. No more excuses this year when you’re invited to a party and don’t have a real costume to wear. No one who properly respects Hallowe’en considers your cat ear headband and eyeliner whiskers a costume.
Watch some comedy. One of my favourite things to do when I’m not on lockdown is to go to comedy shows. Thankfully, Netflix has tons of comedy specials that are great. You can also check out possibly my favourite joke of all time here.
Write your own song. Always wanted to be a country music star? A rapper? Now’s your chance to write your own song!
Make your own music video. Well hey, you just wrote your very first song, now’s your time to shine and make a music video to go along with it! If you’re feeling (slightly) less creative, just pick a song you like and make your own music video for it. Now’s your chance to put all of that “staring sadly out of the window in the rain” you practiced on road trips as a child to good use!
Make your way through a cookbook. Start on page one and begin making all the recipes in a cookbook you love, or one you’ve wanted to try but haven’t had time.
Make your way through a cocktail recipe book. See above!
Have an international night. Pick somewhere in the world and make food and drinks from that place. For example, you might pick Italy and have pasta and Italian wine.
Have a theme night. Like the above suggestion, but pick a theme like Harry Potter or the roaring 20s. Make food, snacks, and drinks that go with the theme. You can also dress up for extra fun!
Take a course (or two, or three…). Now is the time to learn something new! If you’re tall on time but short on funds, there are a lot of free classes available right now.
Do some yoga. I personally like Yoga with Adriene to get my stretch on, but there’s also a bunch of other free yoga you can find on YouTube or elsewhere online.
Read silly things online. I love satire sites like The Onion and The Reductress. I find a laugh every time I go onto them
Pretend it’s Christmas. Throw on Elf or Love Actually (or whatever your favourite Christmas movie is), make some hot chocolate or coffee and baileys, snuggle under a blanket, eat some chocolates, and be merry!
Workout indoors. My personal favourite way to do this is via Nike’s Training Club app. It’s free and you can browse according to muscle group, the equipment you have on hand, workout length, etc. There’s also a bunch of other free options out there as well!
Play Iron Chef. Have a friend choose a random ingredient, then force your quarantine buddies to challenge you to make something within a time limit. You could make cocktails, appetizers, a main course, dessert, etc. Use your creativity with how to actually judge it…
Play trivia. Find some trivia questions online and you can challenge your quarantine buddies and learn some new stuff!
Make nachos. I mean, why not? Make margaritas, too. Have a Mexican night!
Learn calligraphy. Why not practice your lettering? You never know, it could lead to a new career as a wedding invitation maker, or a bullet journal instagrammer, or one of those people who writes the signs outside coffee shops that list the specials.
Learn tik-tok. Get hip with the youngin’s and learn what the heck tik tok is and why it’s so popular.
Upcycle old clothes. Have an old pair of jeans that don’t fit? Turn them into a 
purse, or a cushion, or a Justin and Britney inspired tube top. The possibilities are endless!
Upcycle something else random in your house. See above.
Have a dance contest. I like to break this out at the club when I roll in at 8:00pm and it’s empty, but you can alter it to work while under lockdown. Challenge your quarantine buddies (or your outside friends via video). I like to either choose a song everyone has to make up a dance to or make up a theme (like cowboys!) that people can choose their own song for.
Cook along with a cooking show. Find a cooking show and work your way along with the host.
Make your own cooking show. Let’s switch this up. Pretend you’re the host and make your own cooking show. Send it to all your friends and have them cook along with you.
Paint. Channel your inner artist and make a masterpiece. Or hey, don’t paint a canvas, paint your walls and give your home a makeover!
Plan a trip. Why not plan a big trip or activity for when you can leave your house again? Maybe don’t book things like flights and hotels yet, but research prices, places you’d like to go, and write out a mock itinerary.
Do an online locked room. You can find locked rooms online! You can also head to Teachers Pay Teachers to complete google-form style locked rooms.
Have a dark dinner. Ever heard of one of those restaurants where everything is pitch black and you have to figure out how to eat your food? Why not just turn off all your lights and struggle your way through a meal? It’ll be a great story to tell and no one will see you with pasta sauce all over your face.
Virtual field trip. A bunch of museums and historical sites off free, online “field trips” where you can go online and tour exhibits. It’s like you’re actually there and you’ll learn something new!
Learn to knit. Make all your friends socks, and hats, and mittens, and blankets for gifts post-quarantine.
Make friendship bracelets. Remember those friendship bracelets you used to make in the 90s? Those were fun! I hear the 90s are coming back, so get rolling and you’ll be hip with the trends when you go outside again.
Create your own family crest. Or your own flag! It will be super cool to have one of those old school crests fancy families have and stick on all their plates.
Write a children’s book. Make the illustrations, too! It will be a fun way to show your creativity and you can share it with little people in your life.
Write a comic book. Like above, but different.
Karaoke. Find some karaoke versions of your favourite songs on YouTube and sing along!
Have a colouring contest. Challenge your quarantine buddies to a colouring contest. Take pictures of the final products and share them with friends online to judge. If you’re less competitive than me, you could just colour like a normal person.
Write your own play. Or screenplay. It probably won’t be as good as Michael Scott’s Threat Level Midnight, but you can try.
Make your own board game. I’ve had students make their own board games before and then play them. It’s always tons of fun (even for adults)!
Write out your goals. If you’ve never actually written out your goals and steps to get there, now’s your chance! You’ll have a much better chance of actually succeeding if you write them out and make a plan!
Give yourself a piercing or prison-style tattoo. I’m totally kidding, please don’t do this, it is very unsafe.
Find out how you can help. Is there anything you can do from home to help people who need it right now? Making masks, donating money, ordering food for others, tutoring for free…
Make gift tags. Craft some fancy gift tags you can use for Christmas, birthday gifts, host/hostess gifts, etc.
Make greeting cards. See above!
Scrapbook. Now you have the free time to finally turn all of those old photos that are sitting in boxes collecting dust into scrapbooks. Get creative and go for it!
Write a word-by-word story. Find a partner or two and take turns writing one word or one sentence each and make your own, unique story.
Write reviews. Head over to your favourite online stores and write reviews of some of your favourite (or least favourite, if you’re feeling spicy) products so everyone out there can hear your opinion.
Write a slam poem. Or a rant about something you’re passionate about, they can often be pretty similar.
Watch slam poetry. You can fall down the rabbit hole watching these. I love them!
Write your bucket list. Go ahead and write down all the things you’d like to do before you kick the bucket. Maybe you can cross a few of these off while you’re stuck indoors.
Send thank you cards. If you have no symptoms and it’s safe for you to be touching things, why not send thank you cards to people who are currently working on the front-lines right now?
Make up branding for a product. Pretend you’ve made a product (like a new lipstick or soda) and create branding around it. Who knows, maybe you’ll actually end up creating the product.
Have a picnic. Have a picnic on your living room floor.
Pinterest. I don’t know about you, but I can spend hours on pinterest looking up everything from bulletin boards, to earrings, to meal prep ideas.
Learn to bartend. Find some online bartending courses or videos and learn the ins-and-outs of fancy drink-making. When you’re able to host a party, you’ll blow your guests away with your new mad skills.
Have an online talent show. Round up some virtual friends and share your talents with one another.
Have a movie marathon. This is even better when you pick a theme (can you tell I love themes, yet?) like musicals or Audrey Hepburn films.
Binge watch a TV series. I like to waste my time watching terrible shows with great clothes, like Gossip Girl and Suits.
Make your own jewelry. I know this is a skill I’ve always wanted to learn.
Clean out your fridge. Get rid of all that expired junk at the back and make room for healthy options!
Read. This is my favourite pastime and I always feel like there’s never enough time. Read all the classics you’ve never gotten around to!
Get ahead in work/life. Are there things you can do to get yourself ahead for when you head back to work? For myself (as a teacher), we are still instructing but at a lesser amount to keep kids from becoming overwhelmed/anxious. So, I have time to do things like write future report card comments, make games, plan bulletin boards, create new lessons, etc.
Do you have any more suggestions for fun things to do when you’re stuck at home? Let me know in the comments, Lord knows I’ve got time to try them out!
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