I thought I would compile a list of activities you can do if you find you are stuck at home or wanting to stay in more at the moment.
(Me Being blown about outside)
20 Ways To Keep Happy At Home
Read a book. Common, let's hygge the shit out of this current situation and embrace the art of keeping cosy Scandinavian style!
Tidy up the garden. It is a perfect time to start the spring time garden sort. Clean up your boarders, cut back over grown plants, wash out planters ready for new seeds. You could even wash any patios or repaint fences. The time outside (especially if it is sunny will make you feel so good!)
Bake a cake. If I had to “panic buy” anything it would be flour, butter, eggs, sugar and yeast. Let's be realistic; keep calm and eat cake! Or hot fresh bread and butter; that makes me feel so happy!!
Do a jigsaw with a big cup of tea! Sitting down to focus on a puzzle is a great way to de-stress. You could have some music on or your favourite TV show and just enjoy the relaxing elements of sitting calmly. (Disclaimer; make sure your puzzle isn’t too hard as that could end up quite stressful).
Work out. There are so many easy ways to get your heart pumping at home and trust me, once you are done those endorphins are going to change your mood. There are millions of YouTube exercise videos if you don’t happen to have an old fitness DVD in your stash (I have a Pilates one that comes out once in a blue moon) or use what is around you to move. Weight lift tins, run up and down the stairs or work out using sit-ups/squats/lunges. If you have kids why not make an at home gym with “stations” when you have to do so many star jumps/ teddy rolls/ skips. It's a lot of fun!
DANCE!! Put the music on and just go for it. Dancing is so good for positive mental health and if you are staying at home lots it gives you a great excuse to practice some moves to bring out at the next party!!
Empty the toy boxes (one specifically for people with children). My kids love it when all the toys are out and they find things they haven’t seen in a long time. Not only is time at home good for sorting but when kids are reminded of what toys they have it can revitalise their play. In emptying toy boxes you can also sort them out a bit and provide charity shops with much needed stock. I found sorting is a really great way to feel like you have achieved something.
Deep cleaning is probably on a lot of people's minds but scientifically the process of cleaning and then the satisfaction can be a huge mood booster. Just tackle one room at a time and make sure you have a cup of tea break between each space. Cleaning can be enjoyable if you don’t make it stressy. Also get children to help where they can. Kids love washing down things like windows, mirrors and dusting surfaces. (Make sure your products can’t harm children though, lots of bleach can get rid of bad germs but also good ones that help with immunity. Keep clean safely.)
Learn something new. I still can’t do winged eyeliner at the age of 32 so you know what I’ll be practising in my spare time! If you want to be more cultured though the internet is now full of amazing tutorials on just about everything! Want to learn how to tile a bathroom, draw or make slime; there is loads of help online!!
Get creative in anyway possible. With children or without, find anything creative you can. Colouring pages can be printed online if you don’t have books. As Easter is coming you could paint some fallen branches from the garden and make some egg decorations for an Easter tree, paint stones with exciting patterns, make some artwork for your home! Getting creative can happen in so many ways.
Watch ALL the movies! You have a good excuse to catch up on everything everyone has been talking about!
Pretend to be a wilderness survivor! Sounds silly but our kids and their cousins had great fun last weekend hanging a sheet over the washing line and building a small campfire where they toasted bread as we had no marshmallows. You could also cook some baked beans or sausages on a fire which kids would absolutely love!! Also Bear Grills has a good show on Netflix where you can choose how he survives. It's called 'You vs The Wild' and has got Raphael particularly inspired.
Top safety tip // use a hard concrete surface for your small fire, make a circle of bricks and big stones and use twigs, dried grass and small logs to build the fire. It is not a bonfire. It is a small 30/30cm fire which is controlled by an adult and put out when the adult leaves. Be safe!
Organise your wardrobe. How often do you feel like you have nothing to wear? Now is a great time for a mass try on. Embrace any body changes and go though your wardrobe getting rid of anything that doesn’t “Spark Joy” as Marie Kondo would say. Make sure any clothes you are done with you wash and donate to charity or homeless shelters.
Why not plan a new venture, start a blog or develop a business dream. Thinking about what you aspire to be can be a really nice thing to do. Even if you don’t think you will ever act on it; spending time dreaming is good for you to do and it helps you keep life in perspective. If you are already working towards “the dream” then spend a bit of time doing some “office hours” at home to make sure all your plans are still on track!
Make a family or personal bucket list. While dreaming about where you want to be if life think about where you want to go, or what you want to see. This is a lovely discuss to have with a partner or children and can be really empowering if you are just writing a list for yourself!
Practice gratitude. One that is so easily overlooked but rather that holding grudges or letting emotions control the situation you may be in writing lists of all the good things people do for you can help you see life in a different perspective. Even if you feel completely alone try and find moments where you can be thankful on your life and then use these teachings from others to help you show others love, patience and kindness.
Start Writing A Journal. Writing can be very therapeutic and calming. it can also be very hard but spend some time jotting down your own thoughts. If you find you are quite anxious, putting a pen to paper can relieve that as the process of writing it down then reading it helps you to reevaluate those worries. Seeing them in front of you can make you think more logically and you will find it makes you feel better.
Redesign a room. Oh as a teen I would constantly be moving my bed around to change my bedroom up. I also loved playing The Sims, simply to design houses and rooms. As an adult I find you set out a house and it rarely changes but sometimes a change, just for fun is good. I find myself swapping side tables and lamps all the time so spend time playing interior decorator and see if you can have fun playing Sims grown up style!!
Become A Pinner. Pinterest is an absolutely wonderful place to live. Really, it is so inspiring and full of amazing articles. If you don't already have a Pinterest account, get one and enjoy spending time building boards that inspire you. Pinterest is a great platform for following blogs, and finding out how to do just about anything creative. You can also get happily in it for hours!
Make a list of ways to help your community when you are ready to leave home. One of the detrimental effects of today's current climate is that people are going to suffer: vulnerable people, homeless people, people who need to use food banks, community groups, local independent businesses. All of these things will be impacted by us as people due to a change in our habits. If you find yourself now at home lots more, come up with a list of things you can personally do to help your community. If that means buying local instead of from supermarkets then do it. If it means offering to serve teas and coffees at OAP coffee mornings then do it. If it means driving out of your way to drop off a bag of food at the food bank, do it. We need to make sure that if we are able we put time into helping the vulnerable. That is most important in all this.
Now is a time more than ever to keep spirits up, do things that will fill you with joy and make sure that you are looking after friends, family and neighbours in the same way. You don't have to visit people but a friendly phone call and text message or even a wave across the fence could cheer someone right up!
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