It’s most certainly not fun sitting at home, twiddling your thumbs, and wondering what to do all day during this time of quarantine. We’ve got to do something to keep from boredom and going crazy, right? In this post, I go over 10 things you can do to keep busy while at home.
Create Video Content
There’s no better time than now to share and create content! Maybe even start a YouTube channel. People are at home with a lot of time on their hands these days. And, I would put money down that at least one activity they do during the day is watch a YouTube video.
It doesn’t even have to be a YouTube video — it could just be a video.
Not too keen on the idea of sharing on YouTube or on social media? No worries! Just try creating a video for yourself to start out and see how that goes.
Everyone has something to teach or share. You may not think so, but you actually do! Try challenging yourself to share this knowledge in video form. Even if it’s just for your eyes only.
The video could be about a story, the process of how to do something, your day to day routine, or anything really.
I’ve been trying to improve my video skills! As you may have already noticed from my last three posts, I am challenging myself to publish b-roll content for 30 days. Three days down, twenty seven more to go!
Start Blogging
Writing and publishing content on a blog is another great outlet for you to express yourself, write down your thoughts, or just document your day.
There are no rules to blogging, and what you make of it is completely up to you!
Nowadays, it’s incredibly easy to get started with a blog.
In fact, I just published a video not too long ago showing how easy it is to get started with blogging on WordPress.com. It’s not a comprehensive tutorial or anything, but it shows the gist of how to sign up.
I wrote a more comprehensive guide about getting started with WordPress here if interested.
Play Video Games
Sometimes if you just need to disconnect from the world & your work completely, indulging in a great video game is a great way to escape reality.
PS4, XBOX, Nintendo Switch, PC, Smartphone — there are so many platforms that games are readily accessible. Choose one and just have at it!
Since I don’t have a gaming console, I’ve stuck with running Steam on my computer and that’s been sufficient for my needs. A little late to the party on some of these titles, but I recently had a good run with MGSV and RE7! The former being such a SOLID game (no pun intended).
On Steam, I’m currently playing through Red Dead Redemption 2 — so good!
On the new iPhone, I’ve been amused with some of the AR apps that are here, like Angry Birds AR Isle of Pigs. My 4yr old was mind blown when I showed him there were little angry birds in our house!
Read Books
Yes, time to pick up that one book you’ve all been procrastinating to read. You know? The one book (or many) that has been on your reading list since, forever?
The thing about reading books is that it requires your complete and undivided attention.
Reading an ebook or articles on the web may have additional distractions that may pull your focus away from the main content.
At the moment, I’m reading “The Best Story Wins: How to Leverage Hollywood Storytelling in Business & Beyond” by Matthew Luhn (former writer for Pixar).
Matthew was invited to speak at our last company annual meetup and that’s where I picked up his book. Very inspiring!
Learn
Try picking up a new skill, or improving your knowledge in a certain topic of interest. Maybe even take an online course to level up in something.
Cliche ALERT — knowledge is power!
It seems that in today’s economic world, opportunities for prospective job seekers looking for traditional office jobs are becoming more and more uncertain. The recent pandemic has prevented us from going to our normal work in the office. With that in mind, think about what you can learn now to appeal to jobs in fields that are more likely to allow you to work from home.
Creative arts, design, entrepreneurship, marketing, lifestyle, technology — these are just some of the fields I’ve seen individuals make career switches into. And what’s more, these are all fields that you’ll more than likely find remote positions in.
If you become proficient enough to consult in any of these topics, you’ll be able to establish yourself as a knowledge expert. You could then market yourself, or apply for a job with an already established startup, agency, or company!
I outlined my journey of how I did just that in this post 🙂
Exercise
No reason not to exercise, right? In fact, it’s probably more important than ever to get our bodies moving since we’re stuck at home!
Exercising doesn’t have to be a dreaded activity. It could take the form of a brisk walk, a 10 minute HIIT routine, a bike ride.
Like dancing? That counts as exercise too! Don’t know how to dance? Refer to the title of the previous topic (see what I did there) 😀
The most important takeaway here is to move your body. Sitting at home all day obviously isn’t great for anyone’s health.
I personally have been using my now-rearranged living room to practice breakin’ (yes, breakdance — I’m trying revive my young self). Other times, this same space turns into a tag arena to chase or get chased around by my 4yr old. When we go outside, I hop on my skateboard, while my son rides his bike.
We keep it movin’.
Start Gardening
We can never have too much green in our life!
I’m no gardening or plant expert but if you have a yard with some extra space, try your hand with planting some flowers, or grow some vegetables.
You might think I’m oversimplifying things, but from what I understand all a plant needs are these things: sun, water, soil, nutrients. That’s it!
Start basic if you’re not ready to go HAM on that shovel and weed wacker. Buy a succulent, mini cactus, or some other small type of plant that can be easily potted and cared for.
Studies have reportedly shown that indoor plants can help boost one’s mood and potentially increase productivity or creativity. I’m all for that!
Now that I think about it, I’m remembering that I wanted to buy a bonsai tree for my office. Whenever I see an image of a bonsai, my mind enters into a Zen-like state.
The studies must be true.
Clean & Organize
You know what else helps boosting productivity and creativity? Cleaning and organizing your personal space!
It’s not the most glamorous activity to do. But making sure your house is in order, the dishes are washed, laundry put away, random clutter is tossed out, etc. will make you feel better, guaranteed.
Try not just organizing your physical things, but your digital things as well.
If you have a million apps installed on your phone, delete and uninstall the ones you don’t need!
Do you have files for days sitting on the desktop of your computer? And what about all those media files in your other folders? Move them all to an external hard drive and sort them out there.
Be clean, organized, and clutter-free. You’ll feel so much more refreshed about everything, I promise!
KonMari your place if you have to. You know I did!
Connect & Socialize
Social distancing tells us we shouldn’t gather in groups or get together for non-essential activities.
However, that doesn’t mean to not socialize at all. Human beings are social creatures and we need other people in our lives to feel a sense of belonging and purpose.
We live in a digital world — use it connect to your loved ones!
There are many ways to connect. Texting. Video chat. Heck, if you want to go snail mail on it, there’s email too.
The free video conferencing app Zoom has exploded in new user signups and daily usage.
FaceTime for iOS has been around since forever.
You also got Skype, Google Hangouts, Messenger Rooms (Facebook’s new group chat feature), and every other messaging app’s associated video software to choose from.
Aside from connecting with friends and family, there’s also always the blogging community, good old Twitter, Twitch (if you’re a gamer), Instagram, Reddit, Quora — there’s no shortage of platforms where you can be social.
Set Goals
Goal setting is what helps us move forward in life. It gives us a destination, an endpoint, a sense of purpose. Call it what you will.
Without goals, we remain stagnant. Without goals, we see no growth.
The problem that most of us have when settings goals is that we may tend to be overly ambitious. And when realize that we can’t hit our goal, we give up.
Alternatively, we may also set the bar too low and what that does is give us a false sense progression.
The key to making goals is to make sure they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. These traits make up what’s known as SMART goal setting.
Here’s an example of a SMART goal that I have planned:
Publish at least x3 high-quality (and ideally long-form) blog posts a month for the rest of the year.
Now let’s check how this goal follows the SMART goal setting method.
Is it specific? Yes. I specify that my goal is to publish blog posts. To be more specific, I also mention I want my posts to be high-quality and long-form.
Is it measurable? Yes. The easiest way to know if something is measurable is to check if a number value is present. In this case, I say I want to publish at least x3 posts a month.
Is it attainable? Yes. Personally, it takes me quite a while to think of and write a quality long form post. Three posts seems appropriate for my specific situation. Any more and I would start to feel like it might not be doable, while any less and I already know it to be too attainable. Three posts is the magic number here.
Is it relevant? Yes. To put it simply, my “why” is to ultimately help and inspire others to find success in their lives. My “how” is by publishing useful and hopefully valuable content in the form of blog posts.
Is it time-based? Yes. On a micro level, I say that I want to publish at least x3 posts within a month. Beyond that, I also say I’d like to maintain that level of publishing for the rest of the year.
The takeaway is to be SMART about goal setting!
Imagine if you spend x1 hour on each of these activities during the waking hours of your day, you would have quite a busy and productive daily schedule! You probably wouldn’t even notice the time flying by.
The Sapporo Nomad 
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