Working largely from home, with children (older and younger) who are remote learning has been challenging. Sitting in meetings, and occupying the space in my home for longer periods of time gets me in cleaning mode.
I've been cleaning the blinds in each room. Something that makes me feel super productive.
Get more organized. I built a small bookcase and it saved a lot of space in the room. Shred papers I don't need.
Experiment with aromatherapy. I absolutely love essential oils and using them for longer periods of time now allows me to appreciate the vibe that much more and explore new scents.
Expand my cooking abilities. I'm a B+ cook, but I'm trying some new things that I normally wouldn't have time for.
Learn creative ways to teach. I think I'm most pleased with this one. Integrating fun and laughter while expanding critical thinking is lovely to see.
Appreciate the time to focus on small things. They've always been there, I've just been too busy to see.
While this is a temporary way of life, it's refreshing to find that my adaptation of something is better than my original way of doing it.
I'm planning a virtual birthday party and typically, I'd never think to include people who couldn't actually be there. Moving forward, this won't happen again. I'm also valuing the increased time I have with my family and all of the extra smiles and laughs I'm present for are real gifts.
There's been a lot of cooking.
I have injuries from a pear pandowdy.
Most Lush moderators will accept tips (read: bribes).
I take a brisk walk alone at the start of every day. I walk through woods & fields. It lifts my spirits. I'm working on my garden. I'm growing from seed lots of Sunflowers, when they are ready I'm going to give them away and ask people to plant them in their front gardens so that we can all share the colour. Hopefully lift everyones spirits?
Hit Youtube. There's a raft of cultural organizations putting their performances online for free, usually for brief periods. National Theatre (UK) has Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller (there's two versions with the leads switching parts) until May 8. Stratford Festival (Canada) is putting up some of their old productions that got filmed (King Lear and Coriolanus are up now) along with interviews and discussions of the plays. And more.
Work on your family history. Everybody else is stuck inside so ask what they know, where they were from, birthdays, family stories, etc.
I got into Dungeons and Dragons a few months before the quarantine happened. We always talked about "let's start a campaign."
Our campaign is going quite strong now. It's a great escape, and a good way to stay connected.
"The Punished Nonpartisan" <- Extreme BDSM and humiliation story. Heavy on plot. Served on a plate of political drama with a side of domestic terror. Currently Free download.
Jocelyn the Wicked <- futanari, fantasy fan fic, and some tentacles that escaped the laboratory
Think about how much nicer you could be to people in "Unlockdown" ...
Who am I kidding, 6 months after this has all passed, it will be pretty much forgotten. Human nature.
Practitioner of the art of the tease...
Exercise in any way shape or form. It's as good as if not better than pharmaceuticals to treat mild depression and anxiety!
If you have expertise in anything at all, take 30 minutes a week and teach your kids, grandchildren, or friends kids it via zoom (the 30 minutes off for the parents will be appreciated). I've been teaching basic human physiology to the kids and their friends once a week, other friends are doing similar things and 5x/wk someone is teaching something for 30 minutes to the kids.
Call, write or contact in any way a friend who is a healthcare worker just to say hi. They need any support you can give them...
Collect old family photos and write names and event on the back. I have over a hundred photos from over 100 years ago with no identification. I know they are relatives, but I don't know who they are. u
Turn off the computer and go plant something. Cook something new. Learn to floss your teeth. Exercise like the guy that goes to prison fat, and comes out ripped. Call an old person you know and teach them how to facetime/ /zoom.
Write. It's keeping me going these days. And gives me a productive place to put my darker thoughts.
Walk the dog! I'm walking mine 2 miles in the AM and 2 miles in PM. Good for him, good for me - especially being 8 months pregnant. Hey, I didn't say I'm walking fast any more (more like waddling like a duck now) but used to, before pregnancy, run 8 miles/day at lunch time.
Always been a reader of just about anything non-fiction. Maybe I'd become a better writer if I was to read more fiction? Hmmm....
Use this time to grow closer to your husband or wife. Not just sexually, but emotionally as well. Being on work from home since 13 March, I'm find my time is more flexible in lot of ways now. Use it to get to know - or re-know - people around you, especially your family. Call parents, grand-parents, siblings, children, long-forgotten friends, whoever and reach out. Self-isolation has a tendency to bring-on loneliness and hopelessness.
My mom is working jigsaw puzzles. She takes a picture every night to show me her progress. So far I really haven’t seen any but I ooo and ahhh to make her happy
Write.
Besides writing here, I also write occasional opinion pieces (NOT politics, so don't ask) for news outlets and started keeping a personal COVID-19 journal early on. While I've not been confined to working from home, some staff have and that's made work, well, just weird sometimes. I also write dialogue that's unrelated to any story or other piece of work. I know, weird. Don't judge. Try it.
OK...so I write pretty much anything that comes to mind. And when I'm not writing, I edit the works of others. Truth be told, I'm a damn sight better editor than writer (no taunting, please!).
Spending more time reminiscing through photos from the past. I've organized and put them into a scrapbook.
Paint.
I've made face mask for parents and Krew.
Customizing clothes.
All my Docs have been polished.
Not gonna lie, I've kept tabs on certain estate sales because hello, gorgeous furniture.
I dread the thought of when it will be over.
I will probably have a lifetime membership of both Weight Watchers and A.A.
Take a gun safety course to qualify for a gun permit. Mine's next weekend!
I have bits of dialogue that pop into my head and write entire conversations at times. Sometimes it leads to a story or I'll prowl through dialogue bits to use in stories when I need something. Pretty much anything that comes to my mind I write.