Here’s a fact you want to know: if a fast-spreading disease infects enough people in a population there are laws and executive orders in place to govern the control of contagions, thus allowing the government to force you into quarantine.
If this phenomenon occurs, it’s important to keep yourself busy because your mental health could be affected. Mandatory quarantine increases the chances of sensory deprivation and can be overwhelming if you are not ready for it. Symptoms from sensory deprivation, often include anxiety, sensory illusions, or even distortions of time and perception. In animal experiments, solitude has been shown to cause psychosis. The best chance to avoid this is by knowing how to keep yourself busy.
If you are unfortunately exposed to a contagious disease and are quarantined, prepare yourself for the possibility of being in complete home isolation for 21 days. Now is the time to plan on what you will do during that time because you don’t want to be stuck twiddling your thumbs for that entire time.
Here are 50 things to do after you have napped and watched movie marathons.
50 Things To Do During Home Quarantine
- Set up your isolation or sick room
- Organize your preparedness supplies
- Start a hobby (learn to knit, make survival bracelets, draw, paint, etc.)
- Take a few online courses or get an online certification. Some are even free!
- Read The Prepper’s Blueprint or the other books you haven’t had a chance to read
- Make some natural household cleaners
- Organize the house
- Finally, get around to the honey-do list and fix things around the house
- Make some freezer meals
- Write a book
- Watch documentaries or movies
- Start a daily journal
- Document your struggle against boredom and take a picture every hour
- Rearrange your house
- Practice yoga
- Exercise
- Meditate or pray
- Talk to friends and family
- Learn how to play an instrument
- Play a joke on other family members and swap their closet contents with yours
- Make homemade yogurt
- Cut your hair
- Make a trash can a basketball hoop and throw crumpled up paper for baskets
- Make a bucket list
- Plan your next season garden
- Create your own language and then write a dictionary
- Play board games, legos or cards
- Make crafts out of wine corks
- Film yourself cooking and talk like Julia Child
- Relearn the art of the handstand
- Make homemade cards and write a note to family member and friends
- Organize old pictures or make a scrapbook
- Have spa day
- Make a battery out of pennies
- Practice martial arts
- Play hide and seek
- Master dance moves
- Upcycle mason jars into home decor
- Memorize your favorite quote or poem
- Plan your next trip or vacation
- Start a Pinterest account
- Learn about photography and take photos
- Start a blog
- Make survival preps out of unused household items
- Learn the Cups song from Pitch Perfect
- Learn how to play chess
- Karaoke like a rock star
- Have a Nerf gun battle
- Take a nap
- Make a list of things to do after your are not quarantined
Being quarantined with children can be even more challenging. Here are 30 things you can do with the kids to keep them busy.
Keeping your mind off the worst-case scenario, as well as the excessive amount of time you have on your hands during a quarantine can help you avoid the symptoms of sensory deprivation. Hopefully, these suggestions can help you during this time.
This article was originally published at Ready Nutrition™ on October 5th, 2014
Force you into quarantine, huh? Because if you’ve been exposed to Ebola, you wouldn’t want to voluntarily quarantine yourself in order to stop the spread of a deadly disease to your community, you would want to just go about your daily business because the Universe revolves around YOU.
HIIII NICE TO MEET YA
Nice to see both humerous and constructive ideas here. Bear in mind that if you are in isolation with others you’re bound to get on each other’s nerves – respect each other’s space, get some alone time and try to maintain a sense of humor.
That is a very good response to this. I agree that while you do have lots of free time you can also tend to get on other’s nerves while nothing to do. I also suggest that you give people space! Thank you for this much-needed response that will get around and inform others about space since we are quarantined!
Playing Legos is an excellent idea! Everyone LOVES Legos. Its being creative, working the hands and the mind.
Im so sick of this. Im playing guitar and thinking of writing a song
Plant your garden! Start seeds indoors if it’s too soon (Here in Florida my tomatoes are blooming). I rototilled a big portion of my backyard. Planted several rows of large red cherry tomatoes, also planted Big Rainbow and Aunt Ruby’s German Green tomatoes (both are heirloom tomatoes). Heirloom squash, blueberries, cucumbers, several trays of herbs… I have kept busy, my garden needs me, so I get out there and take care of it.
Thanks for the ideas!!! I’m ten and I get very bored sometimes and have two siblings so it’s good to have stuff to do thank you!!!!!! ?