Stuck at home? 50 things to do

The grass is always greener. We all ask for a day off, to catch up, get off the hamster wheel, take a stay-cation, etc.

Now, a lot of people are being given that time, and I’m wondering how people are actually taking advantage of it. Are you catching up on much-needed rest? Have you run out of things to binge on Netflix? Are you still working your online side-hustle? Are you making your plan to take over the world (or at least your next big thing)?

It got me thinking that if I were stuck at home and didn’t have an “essential job,” what would I be doing? Here’s a list of 50 things I thought of that I’d want to be intentional about and make the time for. They’re divided into the categories of my blog page because those are already a great list of things that make me happy.

Grow

• Spend quality time with family (It’s amazing what you can learn and how you can grow from spending time with the ones you love)
• Pray (Even if you don’t think you have anyone to personally say a prayer for right now, pray for the world. There are so many people who need a prayer right now. Just have the mental conversation with God – it’ll be worth your time.)
• Journal (Look for prompts online if you’re having writers block; 10 things you’re grateful for, 10 dreams you have, the best day of your life so far, etc.)
• Research and learn something new (a new language, how to do fancy lettering, etc.)
• Study (something you’re working towards right now, or something you’ve been meaning to brush up on)
• Do some spring cleaning (It’s the adult thing to do)

Read

• A fiction book
• A mystery
• Magazine articles
• That email inbox you’ve been ignoring
• A personal growth book
• Blogs
• A biography about someone famous in history whom you admire

Travel

• Call home (For those of use under a Stay at Home or Shelter in Place Order, this is one of the only ways to “get out of the house”)
• Get in touch with an old friend
• Call your grandparents (bonus – ask them to tell you a story from when they were young, and you’re pretty much time-traveling)
• Make your backyard or balcony a beach (the weather is so beautiful here in Louisiana, I did this today)
• Plan a vacation for a later date – Where would you go and what would you do?
• Take a virtual tour (Tons of museums are opening up online virtual tours since people can’t go out and physically explore them)
• Go to the zoo (virtually, of course! Zoos and aquariums have livestreams on their websites and Facebook pages, so you can watch all the animals live from your couch; another great way to see and learn about all the animals is to watch an Our Planet documentary on Netflix.)
• See a concert (Yes, these are also virtual options)

Ha! ‘Betcha didn’t think I’d have that much for travel, right?

Eat

• Bake (banana bread, cookies, cheesecake, beignets – these are a few of my favorite things…)
• Meal prep (The other day, I made my breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at the same time, so I didn’t have to worry about making food the rest of the day. Crock pot meals are delicious and take the stress out of the evening.)
• Perfect your go-to smoothie recipe
• Plan your meals for the week (We always plan dinners for two weeks)
• Clean out your fridge (Throw out the bad stuff and figure out what needs to be used up soon; adjust your meal plan accordingly)
• Make a grocery shopping list on your phone that you can reuse
• Treat yourself to a fancy homemade meal that would cost too much to eat out (3 courses and drinks and set the table)

Train

• Go for a run or walk (the great outdoors are still available to us – at least here in Louisiana)
• Ab circuit (set a timer for 5-10 minutes and do different ab exercises until it goes off)
• Yoga (Try Yoga by Adrienne on YouTube)
• Zumba or dance workout (Ever wanted to try a class but too afraid to make a fool of yourself in public? Look it up on YouTube and try it in the comfort of your living room. Even if you’re terrible, you’ll still get a better workout than sitting on your couch, and laughing is good for your heart.)
• A body-weight circuit workout (push-ups, squats, burpees, planks, mountain climbers, lunges, calf raises, and jumping jacks are all exercises you can do without equipment – just to name a few)
• Buy an at-home personal trainer service (check out my cousin’s promos on Instagram @ellieb_fit)
• Turn on some music and have your own dance party (no one’s watching)

Budget

• Make a budget
• Calculate your Net Worth (take the amount of money you have [think cash, bank accounts, Venmo balance, investments, add assets like house and car if you want], then subtract the amount of money you owe [think credit cards and loans])
• Learn about investing in the stock market (Start with a simple Google search, and let yourself go down the rabbit hole)
• Log into your credit card accounts (or checking account) and see where you spent money last month – see where you might be able to cut back
• Make an account with Credit Karma – it’s free, and your credit score is a good financial indicator (especially if you’re looking to make a major purchase in the next couple years – house, car)
• Clean out your closet – bag up the clothes you haven’t worn in a while and research a place you can sell some of your lightly used clothes to (Probably isn’t open right now, but this time period gives you the time to “take back” anything you regret putting in that bag before it’s actually gone. Donate whatever the clothes-recycling store won’t give you money for)

Create

• Do a craft – search on Pinterest or YouTube for ideas
• Start your own blog
• Start a podcast
• Color (You can print out coloring pages from a google image search if you don’t have an adult coloring book or kids at home)
• Paint (If you are a crafty person and have acrylics and canvases on hand like I do; otherwise you can probably still order from Amazon)
• Draw or doodle or practice your brush lettering
• Write a letter and send it via “snail mail”
• Make a vision board (see my 2020 vision board blog post for ideas)
• Put together a jigsaw puzzle

I hope you can also benefit from some of these ideas and that they save you from the cabin fever.

If you like what you read here, follow @genuinesunshineblog on Instagram and look for new posts here at genuinesunshineblog.com every Sunday to start your week with sunshine!

Cheers!

Sarah