We’re all familiar with having to stay at home because of a snow day or being grounded. Having to stay home because of a global pandemic and the safety risks it has towards you and your family is much harder. Here is a list of things to do while you’re in quarantine and socially distancing yourself from others. 

Being stuck at home isn’t fun unless you make it fun. Staying at home in quarantine isn’t all that bad if you really think about it. You get to do all your schoolwork from your bed, with food right by your side, and your favorite movie playing in the background.  

1. Spend time with your family

Having your siblings back from college or your parents back from work is a great opportunity to spend some quality time with them. Even though having to co-exist with the same people for weeks in a confined space can get exhausting and may lead to a lot of boredom, one can use this time for entertainment, such as playing a board game together, or just classic Truth or Dare. 

2. Netflix/ Disney +

Since this whole thing feels like a movie, why not watch a movie? One of the most popular things to do when being stuck indoors is binge watch a show or have a movie marathon. Netflix and Disney + update their movies and show constantly, so there is always something to watch on these sites.  

“I finally found the time to catch up on Grey’s Anatomy,” said Jennah Khan, senior. 

3. TikTok

One of the most popular and trending apps today is TikTok. A lot of time can be wasted either watching TikToks or making them. Hours can be spent scrolling through fellow social distancers accounts. If you’re looking to completely waste away your time, this is the easiest way to do so with the endless stream of videos. 

Since all the gyms are now officially closed, TikTok can be used as an alternative to working out at the gym. Central’s Group Exercise teachers assigned TikTok dance tutorials to students as a part of the remote learning curriculum because it’s good for your physical and mental health. 

4. Cleaning

Whether it’s your room, your car or any other location or object, this is the perfect time to become a germaphobe. Killing bacteria and avoiding the spread of the Coronavirus is the main reason for being quarantined, and so, cleaning is a very effective task. You can remodel your room to your preference or get rid of old clothes. Also, since you’ve most definitely not touched your backpack since school closed, I suggest using this time to get rid of unnecessary items in it.

5. Bake 

There’s no better way to relieve anger than to beat it out. Try and release your anger on the dough while in the process of making a cake or some cookies. Imagine being very upset by the fact of having to stay indoors for another two weeks, release that anger by focusing on the positive, such as how successful your cookies are going to turn out. Big Oven has great recipes for many different types of cookies and other desserts.

6. Eat

Now that the hard work is down, treat yourself with whatever you made or have around your kitchen. Make some popcorn while watching your favorite movie. Being stuck at home all day can make us less active and healthy since you’re most likely either lying in your bed or eating, so I suggest working out as well. 

7. Workout

Though there’s no longer a need to get a summer body since we’re pretty much stuck indoors, another great way of releasing stress and taking your mind off your problems is by working out indoors. At-home workouts are as possible as outdoor ones. Using your stairs at home for lunges or running up and down for a consecutive time, or if you own a treadmill, run a mile a day.

8. Painting

The perfect way to relax at home and focus on the positive things in life is to paint or draw something. Art is one of many ways of relieving stress. You can write or draw out your thoughts with plenty of time to get creative. Paint by Numbers is a great long-term project that doesn’t require a lot of artistic skill and still produces an amazing painting. 

9. Focus on staying positive 

Lastly, it’s important to know every bad thing has something good following it, and everything happens for a reason. Though it seems like the world is ending and nothing good is coming out of this crisis, people fail to realize maybe this is a way of the earth cleaning itself. Pollution has decreased drastically since people are in quarantine. Life is short and this may be a way for it to last longer.