24 Ideas For Turning Quarantine Into Quality Time

Curfew sucks. Or at least it can, if you are ill prepared or far away from family and loved ones.

This is the biggest restriction on movement in modern time in many places around the world, affecting millions if not billions of people.

If you are anything like me, then you are not used to having so much time at home. And being under the same roof as your spouse and kids for 24 hours a day means lots of love… but it can also be quite challenging.

That being said, I read somewhere that the average father spends less than 24 minutes per day interacting with his kids. If that is true, then having 3+ weeks in confinement with them should be a blessing and something that should be appreciated and taken advantage of.

I’ve forced myself to be creative and have compiled a list of activities that we can have fun with even though we are “locked up”. Some will be most relevant for families with kids and others will apply to couples and others to people in solitary confinement. I’m sharing them with you and hope you’ll get some inspirations from them as well.

Feel free to share or add additional suggestions in the comments below.

Ideas and suggestions

Start the day right. Make a big, healthy breakfast that you enjoy together slowly as a family with great background music.

Need inspiration? Today, we chopped fresh fruit which we rolled up in crepes and served with home-made jam and melted dark chocolate. Pancake mix is for losers. If you need a super easy recipe which makes 9-10 crepes: 1 cup flour, 1 cup (cow/almond/rice/quinoa) milk, 6 eggs, a pinch of salt and some vanilla essence (optional). Mix together and fry on non-stick pan in coconut oil or a bit of butter. Need it simpler, try mashing 1 banana and mix with 2 eggs. Bingo.

Or a smoothie mixed with papaya, banana and kale / spinach.

Or a breakfast bowl with oats, nuts, fruits, and almond / rice milk.

Anyways…

Then we played Pretty Woman with Roy Orbison and allowed Spotify’s algorithm to keep the good old timers coming.

Stay active physically. After breakfast, we clean up, make our beds, brush our teeth and relax our stomachs for a moment before all 4 of us go to the patio to do exercises for 1-2 hours. We usually start with warm-up, make obstacle course for kids, yoga for kids, calisthenics, play ball, practice hand/head stands, stretching, etc. It is super important to involve and entice the kids, and to let them decide a circuit in order for them to feel included. And most kids LOVE to be in charge.

If working out isn’t your thing, then consider gardening, swimming (if you have access to a pool), a power walk around your property… or if you have too much steam to burn, then you can always run a marathon on your balcony like this guy.

Need inspiration? Youtube and Instagram are packed with great home workout vids. I like Yoga With Adriene and ThenX but there are thousands of options and most of them are completely free.

It’s the ideal situation to accomplish a body-goal that you’ve had for a long time in regards to your physical condition, whether it be doing one push-up, building a six-pack, or burning part of the muffin top.

And if you wanna spice up the fun, then challenge some of your friends to follow you and record the fun. How about 16 burpees in 1 minute?

The peak perfomance coach Anthony Robbins says that the word emotion comes from “energy in motion”. If you move, you will feel better. It takes the piss and vinegar out of your system. Simple as that.

Detox. Another way to revitalize yourself can be through cleaning your system. There are many ways to approach this and all have different purposes and results. Most likely you are full of all sorts of different contaminants and slug that your body would appreciate to get rid off. Ideas include liver cleansing, colon cleansing, staying sober, smoothie/juice diets etc.

Keep a schedule. Kids thrive with structure. And having a schedule especially during the weekdays will help them stay busy while earning points. Here’s a pic of the one we made in our house. Each girl has a color and get to add a point for every completed activity. It’s also a perfect time to teach the small ones that they have to help around the house. Organizing their toys, making their bed, washing dishes, vacuuming the floor, brushing their teeth, etc.

Learn a new skill. When was the last time you had 3-4 weeks free in your calendar? Probably a long time ago. How about using it productively by learning a new skill that you’ve always wanted to acquire?

It could be learning to play that guitar, piano or whatever instrument you have laying around using Youtube for virtual classes.

It could be learning a new language using Duolingo, which is completely free.

It could be learning to program code using Codeacademy, which is also completely free.

It could be taking a free course on EDX.org from some of the world’s leading universities. Or signing up for nano degree on Udacity and learning some hard skills that are in serious demand and which could potentially take you to the next level in your career.

It could also be yoga, meditation, video editing, astrology, investing, knitting, dancing, cooking, baking, pickling, drawing, website building, etc. The list is endless. And so is the amount of things you can learn just by having access to the internet.

Write a book or start a blog. It has never been easier than it now. The gate keepers of ancient times are gone. You can self-publish a book via Amazon and reach an audience of millions.
With WordPress, starting a blog can literally be done in minutes. Youtube tutorials are plenty. I’ve added some great tools in the resources section so you can see how I built this site.

Home-schooling. Need to freshen up on some academic skills or have kids that are home without any virtual classes (like all public schools in Colombia for 5 weeks)? Khan Academy is your saviour. With many courses in both math, science, engineering, computing, arts, and economics there is enough to keep anyone busy for months. They have a special section for kids as young as 2 years which you can find here.

If you have smaller kids and are one of the “lucky ones” that can keep working during quarantine, then I suggest that you split the day with your partner so that one parent works in the morning while the other takes care of the kids and then you switch roles for the afternoon.

Audiobooks. Love a good story? So do most kids. Audible has released several hundred audiobooks for free in 6 languages for kids and teenagers during the pandemic. Enjoy!

Reading real books. How much reading do you get done in a year? Probably not as much as you’d like. Strap up the hammock or fill the couch with pillows. Get really comfortably and use this chance to take a deep dive into some amazing literature. Also, reading for my kids before bedtime is probably my all-time favorite moment of the day with them.

If you need ideas on what to read, then check out my list of favorite books here (make sure to scroll about halfway down the page to reach the book section).

Board games. Dust off the old board games. Monopoly, Risk, Ludo, Chess, Jenga, and cards are a perfect way to laugh and connect in person with those around you.

Play with your kids. LEGO, Nintendo, maybe build a marble ball race track out of old cardboard boxes. My daughters love it when we make a beauty spa for their Barbies. Do I love to play with Barbies? Not at all, but I do love to see them happy and many times all I have to do is give them a bowl of water and some shampoo and they will entertain themselves for hours.

Most of all the old DOS games are available to play online as well. I found Commander Keen 4, which was a long-time favorite of mine when I was a kid. Now I’m sharing it with my kids. The site has 405 games that are completely free… and the best part, most of them work on Mac as well.

Get your house in order. This includes many activities such as organizing a home full of clutter, choosing things to donate/throw out, getting rid of old paperwork, painting your garage, water your flowers, writing your last will, etc. I think you get the point. I’m sure you have lots of pending little tasks at home that you might as well get accomplished now that you have the time.

A massage. Give your partner a full body massage. Don’t have any oil? You can use cooking oil if need be. Your spouse will love you for it, and will most likely return the favor.

Footbath. They carry you for hours every day. But do you ever thank them? Take foot bath before going to bed. It can be as simple some hot water with some sea salt. Let them soak until water gets cold. Then use a foot scrubber to remove dead skin and rub them in lotion or oil before going to sleep.

Make a facial scrub or peeling mask out of every day ingredients. DYI Natural has loads of recipes. So does Youtube. You may never pay for over-priced cosmetics again.

Sex. Have it… and plenty of it. But take your time. Fall in love with each other (again). Listen to each other. Try new stuff. Play. Also, having sex is supposed to boost you immune system making it an ideal activity during a pandemic.
If you are riding solo, then I’m happy to announce that loving yourself is equally good. Masturbation has all of the same benefits. If you need inspiration, then Pornhub has announced free premium memberships for several countries during this pandemic 🙂

Movie night. If you don’t have HBO, Amazon Prime or Netflix, then do not despair. Youtube has a list of 100+ great movies in Spanish that are completely free to access.

Be patient with your spouse and kids. This confinement is difficult for everybody. Earn some points by giving your partner a break while you handle the kids.

Avoid binge eating. You are most likely not burning the same calories as you usually do and should therefore consume less. We all have cravings, but I guarantee you that you will feel better both during and after lockdown if you take this advice. There’s a big difference between pleasure and happiness. If you doubt me, then listen to Dr. Lustig. He gives an amazing presentation on the subject.

Be the MVP. Businesses all over the world are struggling as a result of this crisis and millions of people will lose their jobs. If you are still working, then use this time to think of ways to become the Most Valuable Player to your company. Think of ways you can help with marketing, supply chain issues, organization, management, cost-cutting, digitalizing for the future, etc? Can you fill several roles at the company? Be proactive. Send your boss a list of ideas on how to recover or profit from this situation. I guarantee you that your boss will give it some serious thought before letting you go if he sees you as a valuable resource.

Focus on the opportunities. This might be the most powerful idea. As the saying goes “one man’s death is another man’s bread”. That is the circle of life, for human and animals alike. The point being, that out of all this suffering an enormous amount of opportunities will arise if you know where to look.

A company going bankrupt or comes under financial stress means that it becomes an ideal consolidation play for some competitor in the same industry. The assets will be cheap and the staff will be happy to keep their jobs. Whether as a broker or as a buyer, there exists a tremendous opportunity to benefit from the hardship while at the same time helping other people. As a side note, if you have ever considered buying an existing business, then reading Buy then build by Walker Deibel is the best resource available on acquisition entrepreneurship.

What new global trends will emerge after a pandemic like the one we are living through right now? Will people begin buying more online in Latin America like they are in Asia, US and Europe? Will businesses begin doing transactions in more contactless ways?

What about stock exchanges worldwide where many high-quality companies are seeing their market caps being reduced by 50%? Some of them are yielding more than 10% per year in pure dividend payments at current prices. There might be more downside ahead but it’s worth keeping your eyes open if you’re into investing in stocks. Same thing goes for corporate bonds.

What industries thrive when there’s a global recession? What products have inelastic demand meaning that people will buy them almost no matter the price?

As always, the most important investment you can make is in yourself. The book “The Second Machine Age” predicts that many jobs will disappear forever. What will happen the day you get let go? And what if it happens right now when almost no companies are hiring?

I believe that learning how to selling services or products online is one of the lowest-hanging fruits for many people.

Learn how to use platforms such as Shopify, Mercado libre, Etsy, Clickbank, Amazon or eBay. Either as a merchant or an affiliated marketer. Or Toptal, Fiverr or Upwork if you’re planning on selling a service. Earning dollars if you live in Colombia or Latin America will also help you increase your purchasing power in local currency.

Need inspiration for how to create an income online, the check out Pat Flynn’s website Smart Passive Income. He also has a podcast that is jam-packed with actionable advice for how to monetizing any type of product or service online. Most of Pat’s content is free but he does offer some courses at a cost. One of them called “Smart from Scratch” is free right now during the pandemic.

Be grateful. Send letters (e-mail, social media shout-outs, etc) of gratitude to friends, co-workers, organizations, health workers, grand parents, etc. Anybody will have happy to hear from you. The is light at the end of the tunnel. Mother Earth is recovering. Yellow skies are giving way to blue ones all over the world. Emissions have probably never been lower in the past 20 years. You’re breathing better air and so is your family.

Get direct sunlight. Don’t stay inside all day. Use your garden, terrace, patio, rooftop, parking lot, what ever you have available. Your body needs vitamin D and the best way of getting it is by spending some time in the sun every day.

Sleep well. Most people are stressed, over-worked and sleep deprived. Use these weeks to get some quality sleep and relaxation. Make sure it’s dark where you sleep and avoid any screentime right before jumping to bed. Avoid the alarm if you can.

And finally, do yourself a favor and turn off or severely limit your intake of mainstream media. It will help you stay mentally sane and focus on some of the activities mentioned above but most of all help you be present and enjoy this temporary vacuum.

Remember, this too shall pass.

(Photo by Lina Kivaka from Pexels)