Now that the government has taken stricter measures to enforce social distancing and slow the spread of the coronavirus, we’re all going to have to get used to spending a lot more time at home. 

Luckily, that doesn’t mean we have to be bored. There are still loads of ways to keep in touch with friends or family you don’t live with, and there are a lot of options for things to do on your own, too. If you’re wondering how to entertain yourself, have no fear. Instead, check out this list of fun things to do when you’re stuck at home! 

Stay Home: How to Entertain Yourself When You’re Self-Isolating

Before we get into specifics, it’s important to feel good inside you house. Even for those of us who can work from home, there’s a danger of feeling bored when you can’t go out for long periods. To avoid that, we’ve come up with some general tips to help your self-isolation feel a little less isolating. 

KEEP FIT

Although the government has generously allowed us to leave the house once a day for exercise, it’s still worth coming up with some ways to stay active from the comfort of your own home. 

As anyone who’s shifted from a more active lifestyle to office work knows, it’s all too easy to fall into unhealthy routines. To avoid that, schedule in exercise. Whether it’s following workout videos online or video calling into yoga sessions, there’s a lot you can do to stay moving. Doing so will help you stay healthy and keep your immune system active - which, it goes without saying, is pretty important right now. 

KEEP YOUR MIND ACTIVE 

Even if you’re lucky enough to be able to work from home without much of a dip in your workload, you’ll still likely find yourself with less to occupy your brain. While it’s good to build in some free, unstructured downtime, too much will leave you feeling bored. 

To avoid this, spend your leisure time on rewarding activities. We’re lucky enough to live in a time of almost unlimited content. Streaming services, audiobooks, virtual libraries and more ensure that you can feed your brain without ever needing to leave the house. If there are books you’ve been wanting to read for ages, now is the time to dust them off and get into them. 

Similarly, self-isolation can provide a great opportunity to finally work through all those Oscar-winning movies you’ve seen pop up in your Netflix queue and have somehow never quite managed to watch. 

TAKE CARE OF YOUR SPACE

When you’ve got long stretches of time without much to do but stay home, it can be all too easy to let the little things fall by the wayside. As time goes on, you might find that you go a while without washing your sheets or cleaning your room. 

The last thing you want is to let the housework pile up until it feels like an overwhelming chore. Instead, get out ahead of it. An uncluttered, clean space helps with mental health, and it’s hard to overstate how satisfying it feels to step into a freshly cleaned kitchen or bathroom. 

Things to Do When You’re Bored At Home 

With this in mind, we can turn to the little things that make time at home special, and can maybe even make social distancing into something fun. While we’re not promising you’ll get so much out of these activities you’ll want to stay in even after the panic is over, they should at least be enough to keep you busy. 

LEARN A LANGUAGE

Even if you’ve never considered it before, learning a new language can be a great way to spend time productively - and prepare you for your next holiday after the travel ban is lifted. It’s exciting and fun to be able to communicate with people from around the world, and even though you most likely won’t be travelling for a little while, the internet offers a variety of opportunities to test your newfound skills on strangers. 

Apps like Duolingo are great for getting to grips with basic vocab and grammar - and they’re completely free, too.

MAKE THINGS

From mending clothes and building furniture to knitting scarves and jumpers, putting your hands to work is a fun and rewarding way to feel good while you stay at home. You should avoid big shopping trips, but you can get a lot delivered - and you’ll probably be surprised how much you’ve got hanging around in that old sewing box you never touch. 

And, as with learning a language, you might even come out of this with some new skills you can continue developing when this is all over. 

SUPPORT THE ARTS

Artists have been hit hard by the coronavirus. From musicians to painters and actors, many rely on public gigs or exhibitions to make money. Add in the fact that many are self-employed without regular salaries and it’s easy to see how this could really hurt the arts community.

Luckily, technology and ingenuity mean that artists haven’t stopped producing work and sharing it with people. From local creators to famous international stars, many are live streaming events on social media and offering discounted or free downloads of their work. 

Getting involved supports the arts, helping to ensure we’ll have things to enjoy when we can finally leave our houses - and it also gives us all the joy of culture in a time when it’s more important than ever. 

OFFER YOUR SKILLS

Of course, there’s another side to this coin. You don’t need to be an artist to share something useful with the world in a time of social distancing. If you copywrite or manage accounts for a living, for instance, you can help struggling small businesses and the self-employed out. This could be a great time to share what you do with others. 

TREAT YOURSELF

Finally, it’s crucial that you don’t let social distancing stop you from having a good time. It’s nice to do something special, and you’ll feel good for allowing yourself to feel - well - good. Baking is great for getting cafe-quality treats without breaking social distancing rules, and learning to mix cocktails is a fun means of expanding your drinks repertoire. 

If you want to really treat yourself, put together a restaurant experience for family members, partner or anyone else you live with. Look up some recipes of your favourite cuisine, make a menu and order in all the supplies you’ll need. Get some candles and a bottle of wine, turn the lights down low and eat, drink and be merry. After all, nowhere in the social distancing guidelines does it say we have to just survive - there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself to the finer things in life. 

We hope this list of things to do when you’re bored at home has helped. If you need even more ideas to break the boredom while you’re self-isolating, why not check out some of our other blogs?