2021 rolled around and countries are closing down again! Quarantine is up on us and I decided to write my top tips on how you can stay busy during quarantine!
Hello & welcome back to my blog!
It has been a minute since I posted on here but what matters is that I’m back now right?
I decided to take Yours Truly Rebecca down a different direction since we can’t travel that much right now. But don’t fret! Travel posts will still keep getting published.
In today’s post, I’m going to give you my top tips and ideas on how to stay busy during quarantine – 2021 edition!
You might also be interested in: What To Do & See In Brussels
During the first quarantine, my mental health took a huge toll. I went from traveling and going out to doing nothing and being stuck inside. In hindsight, I wish I knew about these tips sooner but I am determined not to let the same thing happen during the 2nd lockdown!
So grab your coffee (wine is awesome too!) and let’s get started.
1. Experiment with your makeup:
My vanity was collecting dust. I used to put on makeup every day and then it went to nothing at all. But just because you’re sitting at home, it doesn’t mean you can’t put some on! Find a YouTube tutorial and experiment with new techniques and colors. I suggest doing something that takes you out of your comfort zone and the best part is that you might learn a new technique along the way! It’s a win-win.
2. Try A New Recipe For 2021:
This time round, I made it a personal goal to get through at least one of my cookbooks and try each recipe! I’m a sucker for anything Italian food so I am very excited to eat a whole bunch of homemade pasta, bruschetta and tiramisu 🤤 Expand your cooking skills and keep busy during quarantine. Win win!
3. Declutter Your House:
It’s crazy how much junk we accumulate and not even realize it. Being stuck at home is the perfect opportunity to go through each of your rooms and give them a deep clean! Cleaning is very therapeutic for me and it helps with my anxiety. Give yourself a chore a day and spend a couple of days working on decluttering a room so you’d space everything out and have something to do daily. I find that organizing and decluttering reduces my anxiety and help me stay busy during quarantine!
4. Learn A New Skill:
And maybe find a way to turn that skill into a money making business! I want to learn illustration and watercolor illustration in hopes of selling my creations. Anything creative has alway been a passion of mine and starting my own business is something I’ve been toying with lately. Other ideas include making your own candles and even soap
5. Bake, Bake, Bake:
What waistline? 🤷🏻♀️
Whether it’s cakes, confections or bread, baking is a good distraction. Plus, it makes your house smell divine. Plus plus you’ll be eating some delicious creations. So what’s not to like about that? I want to get through Paul Hollywoods and Mary Berry’s recipes from the Great British Bake Off (low key obsessed with that show). A goal of mine is to master the eclair!
6. Learn A New Language:
Duolingo is perfect for that! All you need is 10 minutes every day and that’s it. You can of course do more than that. I started learning Greek from it and I love it! I always write down what I learn and memorize it throughout the day. It gives me something to do and I’m using my brain to learn something new!
You might also be interested in: 4 Day Campervan Itinerary In Scotland
7. Chat With Family & Friends:
If you’re away from from your family and friends, trust me I know how much it sucks. But technology makes things just a tad easier. Set a time with your friends and/or family for a hangout. Grab some snacks and wine and simply talk about your day, catch up or about anything you want! I found this very helpful and made homesickness a whole lot easier.
8. Spa Day:
Who says you can’t take care of yourself and look good during quarantine? Dedicate at least one day a week for self care! I start mine with taking a nice hot shower, shave, moisturize. Then I put on my fluffy robe and go do my eyebrows, hair, nails, masks .. all that good stuff. I’m left feeling really good about myself when I am done!
9. Start A Blog:
Yours Truly Rebecca started out of pure boredom in 2018 when I had just left Malta and moved to Germany and had absolutely nothing to do. And let me tell you, this blog literally saved my life. If it wasn’t for this small creative outlet I have, I wouldn’t be here today. That’s how bad my mental health would’ve got. You don’t have to start with anything fancy. All you need is a laptop/PC. There’s also no need to pay for anything! Blogger is a great platform for you to start your own blog and it’s 100% free.
10. Learn Calligraphy:
I find calligraphy really mesmerizing and hope to pick it up as a hobby one day. YouTube has a ton of tutorials for free!
11. Finish A 1,000 Piece Puzzle:
Yup, they’re a thing and they’re fun! They’re also very time consuming which is exactly what we need right now to distract ourselves. Amazon has plenty to choose from
12. Buy Flowers:
When you’re out grocery shopping (for essentials!) grab yourself a couple of bouquet of flowers and place them all over the house. I used to buy tulips from Aldi and they really lightened my mood every time I stepped into our living room. Plus, they make your place look ever more cozy and cheerful
13. Scroll Through Pinterest:
I love Pinterest. Pinterest is my life. I use it more than Google! I spend hours finding recipes, quotes, hauls and so on. Anything I like, I simply save it to a specific board. Stuck on dinner ideas? Go on Pinterest. Want to redecorate your house? Pinterest is your friend.
14. Document Your Life:
Now is the perfect time to start a YouTube channel or film Tik Toks! This is something I’ve been thinking of doing myself. I love watching vlogs, grocery hauls, what I eat in a day and stuff like that (I know .. I’m a bit weird, or am I?) and you can do it too! And the best part is, there’s no fancy equipment that’s required. All you need is your beautiful self and a phone/webcam!
You might also be interested in: A Travel Guide To Milan, Italy
15. Plant Your Own Garden:
If you have the means to do it, now it’s the perfect time to start your own veggie patch because you’ll be at the house with time to look after your crops! You can find seeds from pretty much everywhere and Amazon sells gardening supplies for really cheap. In no time, you’ll have fresh fruits and veggies for you to enjoy. There’s nothing better than that!
16. Binge watch Netflix:
I’m not gonna like .. I’m a bit peeved at Netflix for removing the Office and Friends 🥺 But there are a ton of other awesome series and reality shows. Right now, I am obsessed with Bridgerton! Omg I love it! I’m also a huge fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race and any baking competition show like Nailed It & The Great British Bake Off. Grab yourself some popcorn or MNMs (my personal fav) and have a blast!
17. Clean Out Your Phone and Laptop:
A pet peeve of mine is when my camera roll on my iPhone is full of photos haha! I know, it’s weird but I like to have it empty every now and then. So when I see it being a bit too full for my liking (especially with screenshots of stupid things or when I accidentally take a screenshot of something), I spend some time going through them. I Air Drop anything I want to keep to my Mac and when I’m done, I organize the photos in file.
I also spend some time cleaning out my laptop and organizing it, changing the desktop picture and good stuff like that.
18. Go Through Your Clothes:
And donate! Is your wardrobe full of clothes you a) don’t wear anymore? b) bought with the intention of wearing them someday but have been laying there with the tag on for months? or c) don’t like anymore? Take an hour or two from your day and Marie Kondo your wardrobe. See what ✨ sparks ✨ joy and what doesn’t and give your wardrobe a makeover! This also gives you the perfect excuse to order more clothes …
19. Go Through All Your Personal Documents/Paperwork:
I swear, this is a lifesaver and something I wish I had done sooner. I used to shove any certificates, guarantees and other important paperwork like that in a drawer. The problem was whenever I needed something, it would take me forever to find it and end up taking out all the paperwork I have! So I recently invested in a binder and put dividers in it titled ‘Travel’, ‘Work’, ‘Car’ and so on and every piece of paper has its place.
20. Watch All The Movies You Avoided:
I have a list on my phone of movies I’ve been wanting to watch for ever but procrastinated. Now it’s the perfect opportunity to watch them! Search the interwebs of movies that fall within your favourite genre (mine is historical fiction and period dramas) and cross off that list one by one.
21. Organize Your Tupperware:
We all have that one cupboard in the kitchen where we just shove our tupperware and forget about it. Until we open it the next day and everything just falls out. Take an hour (or two) to organize it. And yes, that also means match the lids to the containers.
22. Reflect On What You’re Grateful For. Quarantine Is The Perfect Time To Do That:
The entire world is going through a hard time right now but there are things to be grateful for. I am grateful for good health, the fact that I have a job, a roof over my head, food, my family and friends. When you’re feeling a bit down, reflect on those and look at the positive side of things! Yeah we can’t go out to have a drink right now but at least we’re not in hospital fighting for our lives!
23. Create An Amazon Wishlist:
This requires a lot of self discipline if you love buying random stuff from Amazon as much as me! Every now and then, I get on the app and think of things I want to get or if I see something in a video I want and put it in a wishlist. Then, every now and then, I treat myself to one or a couple of things from that list!
24. Bake Cookies For You & Your Neighbour:
Baking cookies if very easy and I’m 100& sure your neighbour will appreciate a batch of warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies! I also keep cute little bags handy and you can too. Presentation works wonders!
25. Develop Healthy Habits:
This point comes after baking cookies but believe it or not, cookies can form part of a healthy, well balanced lifestyle. How you may ask? Moderation. During the first quarantine, I spent hours researching on eating disorders, losing weight, how to lose weight sustainably and so on. And I learned so much! From that information I gained, I changed some of my eating habits. And no, that does not meat cutting out bread or working out harder the next day because I ate out the night before.
I started drinking more water for example. Added veggies and protein to every meal I ate. Things like that! Take a deep look at your eating habits right now and see what needs to change. Find the right information, ask the right people and you’ll start to feel great!
You might also be interested in: Eleven Ways To Stand Out As A Travel Blogger
26. Clean Your Washing Machine & Dryer:
Yup. I had no idea the gunk and dirt I would find! Even though these machines clean for us, they need to be cleaned! Especially the dryer. Lint is collected inside the dryer and that can actually cause fires. We don’t want that!
27. Design Graphics On Canva And Learn A New Skill During Quarantine:
Canva is an amazing free tool where you can design anything. From Instagram posts, business cards, flyers and so on. They have thousands of ready made templates for you to use and that makes life so much easier. So, get on Canva and start designing!
28. Learn How To Use Your Phone Camera:
Experiment with your camera with different angles and presets and stuff like that. Take pictures of yourself, pictures round your house, your neighbourhood and so on. If you want, share them to Instagram and you might just build a following of people who share the same interests as you!
29. Take A Virtual Tour Of A Country or Museum:
A number of museums and tourism ministries are offervirtualutal tours to help us with out wanderlust blues. I did one of Zealandlend and now I can’t wait to visit!
30. Read, Read, Read:
I get cheap books from book depository and I read, read, read! Reading not only keeps you distracted but it also helps intellectually. I then organize my books in color coordinated order on my bookshelf because I think it looks pretty 🤷🏻♀️
31. Listen To Podcasts and Ted Talks To Make Your Brain Work More During Quarantine:
The Ted Talk app is my favorite. I put on my headphones and listen to random podcasts all the time. The last one I listened to was about the science behind cookies (can’t you tell that I love cookies?) You can find pretty much anything on Ted Talk and I find it very helpful!
32. Buy New Bedding:
Tired of your boring bedding? Spice up your bedroom with some patterned, colorful bedding! Target has some really cute ones. I like washing them beforehand! There’s nothing better than fresh bedding!
33. Create A Playlist On Spotify To Help You Stay Productive:
Go down memory lane of songs you might’ve forgotten about and put them in a playlist. What I do is look through 90’s/00’s playlists, European hits (they’re my jam) and you’ll never guess the amount of bangers I forgot about!
34. Clean Your Makeup Brushes This Quarantine:
Please. Makeup brushes are full of so much grime! It’s very simple to clean them. Grab a bowl of warm water, soap and olive oil and mix them in it. Once you cleaned them really well, let them out to air dry and you have nice, clean and fluffy makeup brushes.
You might also be interested in: 39 Positive Affirmations To Practice Self Love
35. Try A New Coffee Recipe:
Remember the viral Greek coffee recipe that took over the first quarantine? Yeah, I didn’t like it! But every now and then, I like to try new creamers and coffee types. And you can do that too! Or experiment with coffee art!
36. Watch An Oldie But A Goodie:
Two words: Golden Girls! I have the entire season downloaded and I have phases where I spend days watching episode after another. And before I know it, it’s dinner time! Walk down memory lane and find your guilty pleasure
37. Look Up Movie Soundtracks:
Go on the interwebs and search your favourite movie soundtrack. Add them to your playlist and put them on your speaker and imagine yourself being the main character in the movie!
38. But the most important thing you can do is during quarantine is:
Stay safe! Remember, battling Covid is a collective effort. We need to work together to contain the spread and get our normal lives back ASAP! Stay home, wear your masks, wash your hands and let’s make 2021 a better year than 2020 ♡
While you’re still here, check out my Insta for some serious wanderlust (we could use some right now) & lifestyle inspo and don’t forget to pin this blog post to your Pinterest boards! ❤️
View this post on Instagram
Leave a Reply