Things to Do During the Community Quarantine

About a week ago, most of us have been placed under community quarantine and curfew. Without the routine we have all been accustomed to, our lives have become more mundane and unexciting. We have been cut off from our school and work friends, and most of us have not seen our significant others since then. Granted we have the internet to communicate with them and catch up, our lives have been totally different. Almost everyone got bored easily that our online games and favorite TV series can only do so much. Some people have even resorted to uploading TikTok videos to entertain themselves and others. Other than these three, what else can we do to rid ourselves of the banality of community quarantine? Here are some suggestions.

Learn a New Language

With the advent of technology, it is no longer difficult to learn a new language. There are several resources online that we can use—tutorial videos on YouTube, e-books from several sites, and even handy apps. For example, Duolingo. This app offers courses for at least 35 languages for free. Even famous constructed languages are available, such as Esperanto, Klingon, High Valerian, and Dothraki. You learn the language through reading, listening, and speaking in your target language. There are tips as well before you start a lesson. You also set a goal in-app, and it reminds you to log in and study daily. The app is available for both Android and iOS. You can also access the lessons via any internet web browser!

So does it work? Yes. Well, at least to me. I am on my 89th day of learning Portuguese as of this writing, and a few weeks ago, I was able to carry a simple conversation in Portuguese over the phone. So why not use this time to learn that language you have been fancying for a long time now?

Workout at Home

Part of the preventive measures imposed by our local government was to close recreational facilities, gyms included. A lot of us have fallen behind our workout routine. We can make use of this time to stay fit by working out at home. No equipment? Do not know what routine to do? No worries, the internet is there to help! There are tons of home workout videos online for our taking.

Another option is Nike Training Club, an application available on both Android and iOS. The app offers a variety of workout videos that you can stream or download to play offline for your workout. The workout videos are sorted into three: Muscle Groups (Abs and Core, Arms and Shoulders, Glutes and Legs), Workout Type (Endurance, Mobility, Strength, and Yoga), and Equipment (No Equipment, Basic Equipment, and Full Equipment). You can also choose short workouts or athlete workouts.

Try Out New Recipes

One of the things many of us dread during this quarantine period is the food! What if we get stuck with the same dish over and over again? Why not try out new recipes? It does not have to be very expensive for it to be new. For example, MyFridgeFood.Com and SuperCook.Com gives you recipes based on the ingredients you already have. Simply input the ingredients you have on hand, and both websites will generate recipes you can cook using those ingredients. So what are you waiting for? Upgrade your meals to something new!

Learn a New Hobby

Since we do not know whether this community quarantine is going to be extended or not, this time is a good opportunity to learn new hobbies. You can start learning how to draw, dabble in photography, learn how to edit photos or videos or both, practice calligraphy, gain knowledge of reading tarot cards, and many more options are available online! Who knows, when all the smoke clears, this hobby can be a new source of income for you.

Pick-Up on Those WIPs

Since we have a lot of free time, it is also a good break to revisit our list of works in progress (WIPs). Look back and see which projects have we put on hold and see if it is permissible to continue them given our current situation. Are there paintings or drawings we have yet to complete? Are there poems or songs that we need to finish? How about that book we are writing, where are we with it? How far have we gone with the required readings we have for when school comes back after all these are over? Since we are spending the month mostly at home, it is best that we get to finish something that we have started a long time ago.

Clean the House

Cleaning the house may seem like a chore, because it actually is. But we normally do not get to do it because of everyone’s busy schedule. Now that most of us is at home, why not seize this opportunity to clean the house. Not only that we get to work our bodies out, we also ensure that we rid the house of dirt, allergens, and—if done properly—bacterial and viral threats.

Rearrange Your Room

One reason we find the community quarantine boring is our exposure to the same sight every day! We see our living room, kitchen, bedroom on a daily basis that it becomes unbearably appalling. Rearranging your room will not only give your space a fresh look, it will also help you stay fit, have a new perspective, and ensure cleanliness! So what are you waiting for? Give your living space a makeover!

Read a Book

Reading is not for everyone, yes. For some, it is a pleasure while others see it as pain. At the same time, why not challenge yourself to read something during the quarantine period, be it fiction or non-fiction. You can revisit your shelves at home and see if there are titles that interest you. If none, then, Scribd can help you out. Scribd is an online library with over one million titles for journals, research paper, e-books, and audiobooks, and they have offered a month-long free access to help everyone who are affected of the community quarantine. Perhaps we can help ourselves and families by gaining more information about the current situation and how to keep ourselves and loved ones safe from the outbreak.

Meditate and Map Your Action Plans

More importantly, it is a good time to meditate and plan the next steps we will take after all of this is over. How do we carry on with our lives? The community quarantine has affected our lives greatly—some of us were put on forced leave of absence without pay, some of us are now working from home, some of us are working and staying in our offices without any form of hazard pay, and some of us continue to risk our lives to help the community.

What things do we learn from this experience? What changes do we need to make so things will be different for everyone? How do we make things better based on this experience? How do we protect our families in instances like this again in the future? Take this time to step back, assess the situation; create specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound plans for the future; and prepare how to carefully approach the situation.

We all understand that everyone is anxious and afraid of what awaits us, and we entertain ourselves to escape the current fear. So—from time to time—let us all take this opportunity to map and plot our future while we wait for it; this way, we do not approach the future empty-handed and ill-prepared. We are ready to conquer it.