12 Things To Do While Stuck At Home To Better Yourself

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woman working on her laptop at home

When we said Happy New Year on January 1, 2020, who would have guessed that right now the world would not be having such a good time.

Over the past few months, thousands have died from the global pandemic COVID-19, and it seems to be getting worse with the United States leading in total number of infections.

Businesses have been affected and one of the solutions to fighting the disease is to practice social distancing and asking people to stay at home. Remote working or working from home has been one of the methods businesses are using to continue their operations (for those who can) while thousands of others will just be asked to stay at home until things slow down.

If you’re at home right now, you can use it as an opportunity to improve yourself and your situation. There are things you can do to make money right now, get healthier or just pass the time knowing that you’ll be better off in a post-COVID-19 world.

Hopefully, you’re not just binge-watching Netflix and waiting for things to get better. Who knows how long this will last? Or how you’ll be affected over the coming months?

Below, I’ve detailed 12 things you can do while stuck at home to improve yourself for when things get better. You don’t have to do them all but do as many as you can. Check them out and start immediately.

1. Start An Online Business

man sitting in from of desktop computer monitor

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t just been a threat to health. It has damaged many businesses and entire industries worldwide due to people being asked to stay at home.

Some of the industries and business hit the hardest because of travel bans, border closures and social distancing are:

  • Air and cruiselines
  • Cinemas
  • Bars and restaurants
  • Big brand stores
  • Hotels
  • Fitness centers and gyms
  • Non-essential businesses

Because of this, many will suffer job loss while small business owners will have to find other ways to supplement income.

If you have an online business though, you’ll probably be in a position to do even better as more people are staying at home, searching more than ever now and buying stuff online. Retail outlets with an online ecommerce store are closing their physical locations and focusing more on their online stores.

One of the best things you can do right now, since you’re at home and have the time is to start an online business. This will ensure that you have a way to earn an income in the future and in some cases you can build an asset that you can sell later on.

There are many options for starting an online business. Many of these can be started without a lot of money up front or even for free. One expense you need to consider though is training especially if you have no experience with whatever business model you choose.

Here are 5 of the best internet businesses you can start right now from home right now.

1. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is by far my favorite type of online business to recommend to others and for a number of reasons. It is the business model that I do and have been doing for 14 years now (11 of those years full-time).

The way affiliate marketing works is simple.

  1. You sign up with an website that sells something (like Amazon).
  2. They agree to pay you a certain percentage or dollar amount of a sale.
  3. They provide you with a special link and other promotional material that you can post online.
  4. You write reviews and articles on your website about the products. There are also alternative ways to writing.
  5. Someone reads your content, clicks the special links and buys a product.
  6. The product website tracks the sale you sent and pays you the agreed commission.

This process can happen all day, every day, even when you’re sleeping because your website content keeps working for you once it is live.

One member from the website where I get my training, posted a few days ago that she made $624 in that one day because people are now trying to get online to do affiliate marketing.

There are many strategies, too many to mention here in which you can get people to read your website and check out your content. There are also many different ways you can do affiliate marketing. It is a huge topic with many intricacies which is why getting step-by-step training on getting started is so important.

Here are some of the reasons why affiliate marketing may be appealing especially in these times.

  • Low barrier of entry (anyone can start / start for free)
  • No experience needed
  • Earn as you learn
  • No products or inventory needed
  • Do it from anywhere in the world (only need internet & laptop)
  • Early profits (traditional businesses take up to 2 years)
  • No employees or high overheads
  • Flexible schedule
  • Residual income (do the work once, earn from it for years)
  • Unlimited income potential (some affiliates make $1 million/month)
  • No worrying about operational tasks (shipping, customer service, handling refunds, taking orders etc)
  • Access to the world’s largest marketplace (the internet).

As you can see, there are so many benefits to doing affiliate marketing, it’s no wonder that it’s one of the fastest growing business models online. Even big companies and online magazines like Esquire, Cosmopolitan and even The New York Times are monetizing their websites with affiliate marketing.

To get started, I would suggest that you get some step-by-step training by taking an online course on the subject. Beware of sites that tell you that you can make thousands overnight with no experience. There are a lot of scammers with low quality products aimed at beginners in this space.

One of the best sites to learn from is the same website that I use and have used for the last 14 years. You can learn about them here.

The website I use for training has an easy to understand affiliate marketing course with lots of videos and exercises to do that will progress you with each lesson you complete.

You also will have access to various support channels that you’ll need for encouragement and to ensure that you stay on the right path. This includes a community of tens of thousands of active students and access to the owners, experienced affiliates themselves.

You’ll also have access to tools that you’ll need so that you won’t have to spend money on stuff like website hosting, website building tools, research tools and more. And the best part is that you can join the site and start for free. Check out my full review of Wealthy Affiliate here and begin your affiliate marketing business today.

Finally, if you love sites like Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, there are ways in which you can use these sites to do affiliate marketing but they won’t be as secure as building your own website because you’ll be using someone else’s site to generate an income. You want a site that you can control. These sites aren’t bad if you want to use them temporarily to get started but ultimately, you need your own website.

You can use these sites to get traffic (people) going to your own website then do your affiliate marketing promotions from there.

2. Blogging

Blogging is another great online business that you can get into. This is where you have a topic that you love and care about and want to help others with. You will write helpful, engaging articles about the topic for people to read.

Blogging is like affiliate marketing in terms of having the same benefits – you don’t need much to get started, only an internet connection and a computer.

Many bloggers also use affiliate marketing to monetize their blogs as it is one of the most profitable ways to make money if you don’t have a product of your own.

Some people who already own a product, use blogging as a way to get exposure to their product and to help people who are interested in their topic.

To get started with blogging, you just need to know how to express yourself through writing and write on the topic of your choice as regular as you can. You’ll need a topic, which can be anything from cooking and recipes, your love for Legos, caring for tortoises to making money with affiliate marketing and movie reviews.

You’ll also need website hosting and a domain name (your .com) at the very least. It’s not hard to learn how to blog if you don’t have any idea. There are many courses and books available and the process is similar to the one you’d follow to do affiliate marketing so the Wealthy Affiliate training site can also be a starting point.

To earn money from your blogging efforts, you can do this in several ways.

  1. Sign up for Google Adsense or other ad networks and earn money when people click on ads on your blogs.
  2. Use affiliate marketing and earn commissions recommending products that are helpful to your audience.
  3. Since you’re an expert on your topic, you can create a course or ebook and sell it. For example, if you have a cooking blog, you can create a book with your best recipes and sell it from your blog or on Amazon.

There are different ways to profit from blogging but these are the most common ways to do so. You can also you this in conjunction with any of the other business ideas found here.

3. Sell Your Own Info Product

If you have some expertise on a topic, then you may want to sell your own informational product. This could be a video course, an ebook or even a membership site where you teach people how to do something and give them access to something they need on an ongoing basis.

For example, if you’re great at billiards and have mastered the game, you can probably put together some videos that will teach beginners how to get really good at pool.

Clickbank screenshot
Some categories and products available on Clickbank.

Clickbank is an online portal for both affiliate marketers and information product marketers where you can list your product for sale. The benefit of using Clickbank is that you’ll have access to tens of thousands of affiliates who can sign up to promote your product. Some affiliates really do a great job and can send you hundreds of sales every month even if you chose to do nothing else.

You’ll have to do a great job though, at offering a satisfactory product, creating an attractive website and offering a good incentive to affiliates to promote your product.

This business model is very profitable and some expert vendors make millions and millions of dollars each month for themselves and their affiliates.

To learn how to sell information products, possibly the best place to start is Clickbank’s own Clickbank University. This site teaches both affiliate marketing and selling info products but their main focus is on how to get started selling info products as a Clickbank vendor.

If you want to sell or teach a course on a topic you know well, there are also other avenues such as Udemy or even Thinkific.

4. Freelance Writing

Here’s a business for people who love to write and want to have more control over their income.

Freelance writing is where you get hired to do writing projects by business owners and get paid for the finished job. Rates may vary from client to client and you can find jobs on online freelance marketplaces, job websites and websites that work with freelancers to source content.

As a freelancer, you set your own hours and choose the projects you want to do. Freelancers can do more than just writing – you can choose to do logos, app development, Photoshop work, translation and more – but I chose writing because it falls in line with what I do and is probably the easiest to start if you don’t have any other technical skills.

If you’re going to succeed in freelance writing, it is best to focus on a specific topic or niche – one that you’re knowledgeable about and enjoy working in. This ensures that you actually enjoy doing the work and you’re motivated.

After you’ve picked a topic, you can start looking for jobs. One of the places most people start is at freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Freelancer.com. Sign up, complete your profile and you’re ready to bid on jobs.

In the beginning, you’ll face some competition from other more experienced freelancers. You just need to get some jobs done and get a good rating from your clients.

Other opportunities lie in the form of creating content for websites that accept freelance writing. Many websites pay $50 – $200 and even more in some cases per published article. To find these websites, you can do a Google search for terms like “write for us” + we pay. You can modify that search term and add the niche to find websites within the topic you choose.

One thing you should try to do to make sure that your income can cover your needs is to decide on how much you need to make then work on having about 3-4 reliable clients who can give you steady work.

The figure you choose depends on your income goal, how much work you can handle and the rates you accept.

There are lots of books and courses written on mastering freelance work as it is a really good way to make money online. You’ll find courses on Udemy for example or there’s even My Freelance Paycheck, a course from accomplished freelance writer Laura Pennington.

5. YouTube Influencer

Influencer marketing is where big brands connect with someone who has a large and loyal following so that they can reach their target audience.

You’ve probably seen examples of this on Instagram where models would mention where they got the dress that they’re wearing or the swimsuit they’re modeling.

Oh Polly and FashionNova are two big brands that I’ve seen mentioned this way and the fact is that many people discover these brands because they’re loyal followers of Instagram influencers. They would probably not even know about those brands if they didn’t have that mutual connection.

But we’re talking about YouTube influencer marketing here which is an entirely different platform than Instagram. YouTube is owned by Google and is one of the most visited websites and search engines on the planet.

To become a YouTube influencer or YouTuber, you need to have a passion for a certain topic (a recurring requirement for most of these businesses) and you’ll need to create video content that appeals to a certain audience.

YouTubers can make a lot of money. Some of the highest paid YouTubers make multi-millions per year.

If you have a young child, you’ll probably know about Ryan Kaji from Ryan’s Toy Reviews. This 8 year old is currently the highest paid YouTuber with $26 million in 2019. He didn’t take long to get there as his first channel Ryan’s Toy Review was launched in 2015.

You don’t need much to get started with YouTube. You probably already have a smartphone with a good camera on it. All you need now is to turn your unique knowledge or passion for a particular topic into video content.

You can monetize your channel and videos with Google ads by joining the YouTube Partner Program once you’ve built your channel to at least 1000 followers.

Affiliate programs are also an option. You can review products that are helpful to your audience and link to them via your affiliate link in the description of the video.

There are other options as well for earning.

To learn how to become a well paid YouTube influencer, you don’t have to look anywhere other than YouTube where guys like Sean Cannell of Think Media teach others how to build and grow a successful YouTube channel.

Topics that you should learn and can learn from Cannell and others include:

Each of these 5 online businesses is something you can start right now from home while in isolation or quarantine. The time to start is right now while you have the time and not next week or two months from now when you realize that you really need to have this source of income.

Some Tips

Here are some times for working from home while everyone else is at home.

(1) Block off some space in your home where you can work. This can be a spare room with a desk and a chair where you can close the door and focus on working.

This is preferred over just working from the living room with the laptop while you sit on the couch. The television can be a distraction and other family members are going to be distracting you as they’ll need to occupy the same space.

You can close the door for the space you choose and ask family members to give you an hour or two without being interrupted. You’ll get more done in this time.

If there isn’t any space, try using the dining room table when everyone is still sleeping in the morning or late at night when everyone else is in bed.

(2) Do something everyday to make progress.

This could be as simple as learning something new about your new business or adding content to your website or blog. It could be connecting with people on a social media asset that helps bring more traffic to your website or blog.

Writing everyday (or planning/making a video if you’re doing YouTube) will contribute content that compounds over time to really build up something bigger. You’ll get more traffic and more people clicking on your links essentially helping you to make more money faster.

(3) Always keep learning. Things change within every business and you have to keep ahead by learning new strategies and keeping up with new solutions to new problems.

Also, you’ll never learn everything at once that you need to know about a business model especially if you’re new. Block off some time each day to do a new lesson of a course you’re doing and to put what you learn into action. If you think you’re done with a course, take a refresher – you’ll retain more knowledge this way.

Look for new ways and new strategies to implement into your business. It may make some difference to what you’re earning and how fast you can earn.

(4) Don’t get discouraged. One thing about online business that is true is that success doesn’t come overnight. In fact, this is true for almost any business endeavor.

When people don’t see immediate results, they may be tempted to give up or say that something isn’t working. However, and this is especially true in the case of affiliate marketing, it takes time before you can start seeing results.

The idea is to keep building and doing something everyday. Your efforts are going to compound and the results will start to trickle in and eventually turn into something worthwhile. But you have to keep pushing and not give up.

Now onto more stuff you can do while you’re sitting at home during these times…

2. Read More

woman sitting on a couch reading a book

For more than just knowledge and entertainment, reading has a lot of other benefits that can improve your life.

Some ways in which reading books can benefit you include:

  • mental stimulation (keeping the brain active)
  • stress reduction
  • expands your vocabulary
  • improves your memory
  • increases your knowledge
  • strengthens your analytical thinking skills
  • improves your focus and concentration
  • enhances your writing skills
  • relaxes you and brings you inner peace
  • entertainment

Reading can help you pass the time while building a better you as you’re stuck at home without much to do.

And if you’re going to start a business from home, you’ll have to do a lot of reading to learn the steps you have to implement. Reading will help you develop better writing skills as well.

It is recommended that you find time each day to read a good book. I’m sure that you have books at home that you haven’t touched or read. Now is a good time to flip open those pages.

Being at home, practicing social distancing and not being able to go out may mean that you have limited access to physical books. But if you have access to a computer, your smartphone or an Amazon Kindle device, then you have access to enough reading material.

Your Reading Options

Physical books aren’t the only way to access reading material. The digital world gives you access to everything nowadays. Your movies are no longer on DVDs. Your music is no longer on CDs. Books aren’t any different.

Amazon Kindle

Perhaps the best way to access digital versions of your favorite books is to get the Kindle version from Amazon.

Most devices now come preloaded with a Kindle reader so you can read your books on your smartphone or tablet if you don’t have a Kindle device.

Just purchase the books you need, add them to your device and start reading.

Audible

Another option is to get audio version of your book so you can “read” it while doing something else. This is another version of your book that is accessible through Amazon through a service called Audible.

With an Audible membership, you can find audio books that you can listen to via a smartphone app, or have Alexa read the book for you if you have an Echo or Alexa device.

Blogs

Books aren’t the only reading material that can improve you. Just think about whatever topic you’d like to read about and you have a wealth of well-written blogs available to you by doing an internet search.

The Flipboard app on your phone can give you a steady stream of reading material organized by category and topic.

Another option is the get the Pocket app and save blog posts for later reading. I do this all the time and I’m never out of stuff to read.

Publications like Medium serve a lot of high quality writing from independent writers who use the platform for getting people to read their writing and also to earn money from their writing. If you sign up for the newsletter, they’ll send you a daily digest of articles hand-picked by their staff.

What Should You Read About?

There’s nothing wrong with reading fiction and getting entertained as well as the other benefits that come with this activity.

However, there is a whole world of non-fiction writing that would benefit you more. If you’re reading blogs then you’ll get informative writing that will help you to understand a topic more or teach you how to do something.

Books on non-fiction topics are a must have and they can be just as entertaining as fiction novels.

Try reading books from categories and topics that you want to improve in. For example, if your goal is to improve your financial situation, then you can read finance topics or books on starting a business.

If you’re considering starting an online business, one of which is mentioned above then you may want to read material that enhances your skills and knowledge such as books on writing.

Starting a new hobby is another of of the things you can do with your time as I’ll mention later. If this is something you choose to do then you may want to read all the books you can on just that one thing. Focusing as much as you can on a topic can help you learn faster and make you more of an expert when you achieve a level of mastery.

Some topics you can focus on right now can include:

  • Personal development
  • Finance
  • Success
  • Writing
  • Relationships / Family
  • Health

Reading fiction can be a healthier alternative to Netflix bingeing that can help to keep you entertained.

3. Start a New Hobby

Man standing in the kitchen cooking

Maybe being on lockdown and confined to your home doesn’t allow you to go out and partake in your main hobby. This can be a little depressing.

I play pool and do not have a pool table at home. I’m really passionate about the game and play regularly. With the new social distancing requirements, I hardly get to go out and play which has taken some enjoyment out of my life.

But, I now have time for another one of my interests that I haven’t done in a while. I also want to get into digital music production and have FL Studio installed on my computer for over 5 years now.

If you can’t get to enjoy your hobby, then it may be time to find another one. There are lots of things you can get into that don’t require you to go out. You can stay right at home and find a new hobby.

You never know where a new hobby can take you. You may just find your life passion which so many people go through life and never find. Finding a new hobby can also be a means to earning more money if you end up mastering that interest.

How to Find a New Hobby

So what can you get into that do not require you to leave the house? You can start by thinking about stuff that you’ve always had an interest in.

Is it that you’ve always wanted to learn how to cook? Or maybe play the guitar? Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to draw. Or perhaps you love photography and want to learn how to get out of auto mode.

There are lots of stuff you can get into without leaving home. If you don’t have an interest, you can do a search online for terms like “hobbies you can do at home” or “digital hobbies”.

Some hobbies you can learn how to do at home that don’t involve the computer are:

  • Cooking
  • Learning to play an instrument
  • Gardening (plant herbs, food etc)
  • Crochet / Knitting
  • Drawing
  • Magic Tricks
  • Reading
  • Origami
  • Song Writing
  • Sudoku / Puzzle Solving
  • Photography

And if you would like to find a hobby that is more techie and involves using the computer, there are also lots of those as well. Some of these may require that you download specific software (which may be paid or free) to accomplish.

You can try:

  • Animation
  • Video game design
  • Graphic design
  • Photoshop
  • Digital music production
  • Programming
  • Blogging

To learn your new hobby, it’s as easy as reading blogs or watching videos on YouTube, but you may also want to consider taking an online course where you won’t have to worry about where to start or getting expert info and recommendations.

Pick a hobby and start learning right away.

4. Set Long Term Goals

coffee cup on a goal planner.

The world isn’t going to end and this is not the apocalypse. Worse has happened. From January 1918 – December 1920, the world went through a deadly pandemic called the Spanish Flu which killed about 50 million people.

But we’re still here 100 years later in 2020. We’ll get through this and you’ll need to have a plan for the future.

Now is the time to start setting some long term goals.

  • Do you want to become rich?
  • Do you want to lose an extra 20 pounds?
  • Do you want a toned body with pack abs?
  • Do you want to set aside money for your children’s education?
  • Do you want to become an expert at something?

Start planning out your long term financial, career, health, relationship and personal goals while you have the extra time.

One way to get started is to write a bucket list of things you want to achieve in each category and then focus on the most important ones and how you’re going to get them done.

How To Set Your Goals And Achieve Them

To set a goal and actually achieve it isn’t an easy process for many but you can make it easy by setting SMART goals.

SMART is an acronym that is used to guide you in setting goals. Each letter stands for an important part of the process. They are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (sometimes Realistic) and Time-bound.

Specific means your goal should be clear and focused. You can make your goal specific by asking yourself the “5-W” questions.

  1. What do I want to accomplish?
  2. Why is this goal important to me?
  3. Who is involved?
  4. Where will I get this done?
  5. Which resources or limits are involved?

Making a statement that answers these questions about your goal makes it specific and you’ll have a clearer vision of what needs to be done.

Measurable means that your goal can be measured so that you can track your progress and stay motivated. For example, it’s not good enough to say that you want to be rich, instead you may want to make $500,000 by December 2021 (approximately 20 months from now at the time of this writing).

You’ve measured the amount you want to get and the amount of time you need to make it happen.

Attainable means that it’s something that you can achieve within reason. Goals are not wishes. While it’s important to “reach for the sky”, the reality is that you probably won’t be a billionaire within the next 5 years or maybe even in your lifetime if you’re not currently on track to be on.

This doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. But you’ll do better to set a goal that you know is more easily attainable. Like if you want to have $500,000 by December 2021, set a goal to have $100,000 by this time next year.

The plan you have for your goal will determine how attainable your goal is. If you plan to get this goal by working your regular 9-5 then it’s not going to be attainable or realistic.

Relevant means that your goals matter to you and that it makes sense to pursue them at this time. A “yes” to each of the following questions means that your goal is relevant.

  • Does it seem worthwhile?
  • Is this the right time?
  • Does this match your other efforts and needs?
  • Am I the right person to reach this goal?
  • Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

Remember to consider others that may offer support and encouragement and how your goal will affect them.

Time-bound means that your goal should have a target date. When I make goals, I usually set an exact date such as December, 21, 2021. Doing so makes your vision even clearer and you’ll be able to have a more measurable time limit in which to achieve your goals.

Using Napoleon Hill’s 6-Step Formula

You’ve probably heard of an old book called Think and Grow Rich which was written by a man named Napoleon Hill.

It is considered one of the best books you can read if you want to achieve financial freedom.

I’ve used this book in the past to first quit my day job so that I could do affiliate marketing full time and I’ve used it also to achieve a personal goal involving one of my hobbies.

Within this book is a 6-step formula Hill recommends for achieving goals. Advisors today recommend the same steps but may phrase them differently that how it’s set out in the book.

Hill’s formula is SMART and helps you to envision what you plan to achieve and how you plan to get there.

Here’s what he recommends:

First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological reason for definite- ness which will be described in a subsequent chapter).

Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)

Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire.

Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.

Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.

Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ, SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.

While this formula was written with the intention of achieving a financial goal, you can definitely modify it as I have to achieve just about any goal. The important thing here is to have a definite plan.

5. Take An Online Course

Book open in front of a MacBook Pro

Taking an online course can be one of the best things you can do right now to get better since it overlaps with many of the activities mentioned in this list.

For example, if you’re going to start a new business mentioned above then you’ll need to take a course to learn the process of the business model that you choose. If you’re going to pick up a new hobby, let’s say you decide to learn a new instrument, then you may also want to take a course there as well.

Taking a course online let’s you access information in a step-by-step manner, the same as if you were to attend a class or hire a tutor. Many of these courses also allow you to be certified but even if they didn’t, you can still learn the skills and get certified later on if you chose to do so.

You can learn a new interest or enhance your current skill set. This may be important if you have set long term goals where you need to improve your knowledge in a particular area.

With school currently disrupted by the coronavirus situation, there are a lot of online options now available for home-learning, some of which have been available for years before this situation. You can make learning a new course fun while stuck at home by choosing something that you can learn with a family member.

Top Websites Where You Can Take An Online Course

Here are some websites where you can take an online course. Whether its an academic course or something more fun related to an interest or hobby, these websites have got you covered.

1. Udemy

Udemy is an online course website that boasts over 100,000 courses with over 800 new courses being added each month. These courses range from $10 – $500 in price with the most popular courses coming in at around $200.

Thankfully, Udemy has regular promotions on courses and you’ll find many of these course discounted at up to 90% for as low as $10.99 in many cases. These are still high quality courses which you can verify by checking out reviews from past students.

Bestsellers in photography at discounted pricing

You can also browse the course content on the course page and even preview some lessons to get an idea of what you’ll be getting.

There are hundreds of categories and topics available to choose from including Development (programming, software engineering etc), Business (Shopify, Forex, real estate etc), Lifestyle (cosmetics, nail art, cooking, bartending etc) and Health & Fitness (yoga, nutrition, meditation and self-defense etc).

2. Coursera

Unlike Udemy above, Coursera offers more academic learning, providing courses from top universities and organizations worldwide that you can take for free.

While many of the courses are free, if you want to take graded assignments or earn a course certificate, you’ll need to pay a fee.

With in-depth learning features like self-paced quizzes and projects, Coursera can help you attain certifiable skills and credentials that are the same as what you’d get from universities like Yale, Duke, Stanford and Penn.

There are many categories to choose from including Business, Arts and Humanities, Data Science, Math, Social Sciences, Health and Information Technology.

You can also earn a degree from some institutions by completing a course completely online, the same degree you’d get if you went to the physical campus.

3. Lynda / LinkedIn Learning

Lynda is one of the oldest online learning websites that offer hundreds of quality online courses. Lynda started in 1995 but was purchased in 2015 by LinkedIn and is now LinkedIn Learning.

The platform has mostly tech, music production and business courses available so if you’re searching for something in a lifestyle or health category, you probably won’t find it here.

Software development, programming, digital marketing, graphic design and video editing are all examples of course topics you’ll find on Lynda. To access the courses, you’ll need to pay $29.99 per month through LinkedIn Learning or as low as $19.99 per month when you choose an annual subscription. Both options let you try the first month for free.

Other options for learning online similar to the three mentioned above include Khan Academy, Udacity, iversity and CodeAcademy just to name a few.

Other Course Options

Depending on what you may want to learn, you may find a course that is available or sold through an independent website dedicated to teaching just that topic.

For example, if you wanted to learn email marketing, GetResponse, a company which offers email marketing tools such as autoresponders and webinars for business owners, offer courses like Strategic Email Marketing.

I’ve already mentioned the affiliate marketing training website that I’ve used for over 14 years. They offer a course on doing online business that is also useful if you plan to start blogging or doing any kind of online business.

The course is called the Online Entrepreneur Certification course and is a step-by-step training course that walks you through building an online business from scratch. It works through 5 phases from beginner to more advanced strategies, and gives you practical information which when applied will gradually progress your online business.

The course is free to get started with but you’ll need to upgrade after the first phase to complete it.

There are also other courses on topics ranging from mastering YouTube to launching your own Kindle business sold through their own websites which you may be able to find doing a Google search. Remember to always do your own due diligence and look for reviews to see how others may have experienced these websites.

6. Meditate

Woman sitting near an open window

The situation the world is in right now is very stressful. People are experiencing a wave of emotions right now. Stress, panic, fear, sadness, anger, hopelessness and more are common emotions being experienced in nearly every country in the world as the pandemic spreads.

One thing that can help with all these emotions is meditation. Daily meditation has a number of benefits that range from reducing stress and controlling anxiety to controlling your emotional health.

Meditation can be done by anyone, anywhere in a quiet setting without the need of any special equipment. Normally support groups are available but since you’ll be doing this at home this is going to be a solo effort.

There are different variety of styles of meditation, each with different strengths and benefits so choose one that you’re comfortable with.

How To Meditate

To learn how to meditate, there are lots of websites dedicated to the subject and there are also a number of apps that can help. You may also want to consider taking a course in meditation which may allow you to develop a consistent meditation routine.

The aim of meditation is to achieve a calm mind that isn’t easily distracted. Meditation, though a simple process, may feel daunting for the beginner as your mind would seem as if it’s jumping all over the place unable to focus.

My first experience with meditation was through the Headspace app for Android. They provide an easy solution for beginners with many different meditation exercises and workouts.

Here’s what they say about meditation on their website:

Most meditations begin by sitting in a quiet place, closing the eyes, calming the mind, and focusing on the breath. But there’s more to meditating than sitting quietly and breathing. When we meditate, we are essentially cultivating awareness and compassion; we are training the mind to stop being easily distracted and instead be more focused in the present moment. Using the breath as our anchor in the moment, we simply sit and gradually learn to let thoughts and feelings come and go.

To begin meditating you’ll need to do a couple of steps.

  1. Time and place – Find a time and place when you’ll be alone while it’s quiet. If there are other family members, try waking up before they do, even if you have to set an alarm. Decide on a place where you wouldn’t be so easily distracted like a locked spare room with the window open.
  2. How much time – Decide on how much time you’ll spend meditating. This could be anywhere from 5 minutes to 10 minutes for beginners but you can try for longer.
  3. Sit comfortably – Wear something comfortable (or wear nothing at all if you’re living alone) and sit where you can get some fresh air. Sit with your legs and arms uncrossed with the soles of your feet resting flat on the floor. Your hands should be resting on your lap and your back straight.
  4. Use guided meditation – for beginners you will find the greatest benefit by using guided meditation where you’re led through a particular meditation technique via a teacher, audio or video instructions such as what is available through apps like the aforementioned Headspace app.

Apps and Websites to Help You Meditate

There are an abundance of websites and smartphone apps that can help with meditation techniques and for guiding beginners. Here are a few that I would recommend.

1. Headspace

Headspace app on a smartphone

This is primarily an app for your smartphone (iPhone/Android), which is excellent for beginners. It works by offering guided meditation in sessions of 3 to 10 minutes or more.

The slickly designed app provides calming music and meditation for different activities such as sleeping, studying and more. You can also set meditation reminders and track your activity within the app.

The website has a lot of information on how to start meditating and it’s various benefits as well as lots of articles on the topic if you have any questions.

2. Brain.FM

Brain.FM is another option that I tried when I started getting into meditation. The app (available for both iPhone and Android) provides “functional music to improve focus in 15 minutes”.

The app works by playing 30 minute clips of music scientifically-designed to alter brainwaves so that you can focus, be more productive and meditate. It also offers some meditation sessions.

It also tracks your progress and provides data on habits such as productivity and focus.

3. Omvana

Available for both iPhone and Android, Omvana provides meditation for everyone, offering one of the largest collection of meditation sessions from world class instructors.

You can find a meditation session for any situation, whether it’s sleep or just to manage your emotions. You’re able to customize your experience by mixing the guided sessions with any selection of their ambient tracks available.

4. Mindful

Mindful is a website dedicated to mindfulness, offering readers advice, articles and even podcasts and audio with meditation sessions and more.

They also come in the form of a bi-monthly magazine as well as a smartphone app. One of their main focuses right now is getting people through the current Covid-19 situation with insightful articles and resources.

Mindful can help you get started with meditation through information on daily practices, guided meditation, a selection of min-courses by Mindful experts, full meditation courses and more.

Meditation is definitely something you can do to manage your mental health amidst the chaos and panic presented as the world wakes up everyday to more bad news about the growing pandemic. Use any of these apps or websites to start meditating and taking control over your mental health.

7. Do A Home Workout Program

Woman working out at home

If you’ve been going to the gym regularly before stay home orders then you’ll want to keep up your fitness routine. If you haven’t, you may want to start keeping your body fit right now.

There is no better way to ‘let yourself go’ than to post up on the couch for extended periods of time with snacks, binge-watching episode after episode of Netflix’s addictive programming (including Better Call Saul).

Keeping fit during these times may also have some helpful benefits to battling the coronavirus in case you should catch it. Exercise can lower your cholesterol, improve blood flow, reduce your risk of heart disease and improve your mental health and mood – all things you should be managing that can lead to reducing the risk of developing severe illness due to coronavirus infection.

So how should you start exercising at home especially if you haven’t been even using the gym?

One answer to this is to find a suitable home exercise program that can give you a thorough workout and keep you fit. You’ll want to do exercises that don’t require equipment and only use your body weight. That is, unless you do have equipment.

To find a suitable home exercise program, there are several options.

1. Stream Your Gym’s Training

If you went to a regular gym before they closed, then you may be in luck.

Many gyms, like other businesses have had to find an alternative way to adapt and carry on their training. If you’re in luck then your gym may have scheduled training which they stream for you online via Youtube, Facebook, Instagram Live or other streaming channels.

This is a great way to continue the workout that you’re already familiar with. If your gym doesn’t stream, you can find out if other gyms in your area has moved their training online and support a local business in these trying times.

2. Free Fitness Apps

One of the features on my Samsung Galaxy device is Samsung Health. It has a lot of addon programs such as meditation and fitness workouts. Under popular fitness programs, you can find workouts that aren’t difficult to do.

One program for example, HIIT Adaptive Training is powered by an app called Keep (available for iPhone and Android). This program runs for two weeks and has a total of 10 workouts. The average workout duration is 15 minutes and you do not need any equipment.

When you add the program, you’re given a schedule based on when you want to start and you’re given the workout for that day. You can follow detailed video of the workouts you should do and there’s instructions on how many reps you should do and the duration of the exercise.

There are other similar apps that are available for free that you might find useful. Try these:

  • Gold’s AMP – fitness app by worldwide gym GOLD. There’s a section for body weight exercises if you don’t have equipment.
  • Nike Training Club – Lots of workout options available depending on what you’re working with. Also has workouts hosted by celebs.
  • Daily Burn – Answer some questions about your fitness level and goals and get a personalized workout plan from this app.
  • Tone It Up – Hundreds of workouts available (many are body weight only). Or follow a program aimed at specific goals.
  • 7 Minute Workout – Short workouts that require no equipment and you can even compete with friends while social distancing.
  • FitOn – You get access to workouts from celeb trainers and special guests. Lots of options available depending on your needs.
  • Adidas Training by Runtastic – 180 body weight workout videos among many other options.

All of these apps are available for both iOS and Android smartphones and some even stream on your device of choice, for instance if you have a Roku.

3. At-Home Fitness Programs

These are programs that are packaged for you to follow from home. Some come with a meal plan or diet program but you don’t actually have to follow that since the idea is to get some exercise from home.

Which program is best for you depends on a number of factors such as cost, workouts involved, the duration of the workout, whether you need equipment and more.

Just choose something you’re comfortable with if you choose to go this route. Here are some of what’s available.

1. SparkPeople

This website has contains short videos for different types of home workouts you can do with no equipment. There are different categories – abs, yoga, cardio etc and they have an average duration of about 10 – 12 minutes which is perfect if you can only squeeze in that much time at home.

There are also ideas for what to eat and for healthy cooking.

2. Daily Burn

You can get a full body workout with Daily Burn in just half an hour each day. Stream a new 30 minute workout every day live at 9 am EST or get the workout on-demand at a time that is more suitable for you.

There is also a great community of Daily Burn followers that will keep you motivated and you can chat with trainers and other members via chat and social media.

3. SWEAT

Kayla Itsines has an army of Instagram fans who will swear by her workout programs. SWEAT is designed for women of all shapes, sizes and levels of fitness. Kayla has even done her workouts when she was 9 months pregnant.

Her BBG program features high intensity and low intensity cardio workouts you can do from home or in a gym.

Some Tips for Working Out At Home

Even though you’re working out at home and there’s no one to push and guide you like what you would find in the gym, you should still try to do the workouts and complete the reps. However, don’t push through pain and hurt yourself. Always rest and hydrate.

Also before each workout, unless the workout incorporates this, you should always make time to warmup and stretch. This ensures that your heart rate is up, the blood is flowing and your muscles are getting enough oxygen and nutrients. Warming up prepares your body for exercise and can help you to prevent injury.

Finally, it is important to eat a balanced diet with healthy foods. Some of the programs may include a diet guide or meal plans. You should be getting enough protein which can help satisfy you between meals and build your body as you workout.

8. Clean & Organize Your Home

Woman cleaning surface with towel and cleaner

With nowhere to go, you’ll be spending a lot more time than you usually would at home so why not clean and organize it while you’re stuck there?

It’s one of the things we always complain that we don’t have enough time for. We go to work, get back home tired, the kids have their toys all over the place, the closet is in a mess, you can’t find the remote…

Now you’ll have all the time in the world to clean each room and organize stuff. You don’t have to do it all in one day. You can tackle one room per day until it is done.

Where to Start

There is no shortage of information on the internet when it comes to cleaning your house and how to do it. There are lots of hacks for doing it all in a day or a week or doing it once and keeping it maintained in just 15 minutes per day.

Where you start cleaning depends on how messy your house is and where you feel comfortable starting.

Some suggestions include starting with:

  • the messiest room so that cleaning gets progressively easier
  • your storage spaces so you have a place to put things as you organize
  • shared rooms to more personal rooms

The Spruce, an online magazine on “making your best home”, suggests that you start with your storage spaces because when you start putting things away, you’ll need to have the space organized already for storage.

Then they suggested tackling the rest of the rooms in this order:

  • Shared spaces
    • Kitchen
    • Foyer
    • Living room
    • Bathrooms
  • Personal spaces
    • Closets
    • Bedrooms
    • Home Offices
  • Small Spaces
    • Linen closets
    • Laundry rooms
    • Guest rooms
    • Mudrooms

You can then move on to non-living spaces like the garage.

HouseMixBlog gives a detailed plan for tackling each room in the house in a week in just one hour each day. They suggest starting with the kitchen, a shared space and ending with the floors and the home office, pretty much like what is suggested above.

Their plan includes tasks for each room and they even share a handy printable checklist.

Where you start and how long you take is totally up to you as long as you get it done. You can follow one of these plans or you may even have your own routine on getting things done.

Some tips

Get everyone in the family to do something so you can tackle each room faster. They’ll be more inclined to keep the place tidy if they invest the energy into doing something.

Get rid of stuff that you don’t need or don’t use. There’s no sense in keeping all those old compact discs and dvds when you have Spotify and Netflix and stream everything. You’ve hardly even listened to a CD in years. Make a list of the ones you’re throwing out or donating or you can even sell them online, then get the digital version if you absolutely need to have it.

Cleaning and organizing your house is just another thing you’ll be glad you did once you’re allowed to safely go back outside again.

9. Write a Book / Start a Blog

laptop beside coffee cup and open notepad and smartphone.

I wrote in item number one on starting an online business that you could become a blogger and make money. So why am I writing here again that you should start a blog?

In this section, I’m suggesting starting a blog not as a business but for a more personal reason. As an alternative, you could write a book that you may or may not try to get published.

Starting a personal blog can be a good way to improve your writing, share your thoughts (like a journal) and even connect with others who may read what you’re writing.

Having a personal blog can get people to know you including employers and if you decide to pursue a freelance writing career, your clients will be able to see your writing.

When you’ve written a good deal of posts, you can even start monetizing your blog to earn money either through affiliate marketing or with display ads from Google Adsense or other ad providers.

How To Start a Blog

To start a blog, you’ll need a blogging platform and a domain name. There are some free blogging platforms available but I wouldn’t suggest using these because you wouldn’t be able to monetize these later on since they’re someone else’s property.

To set up a blog, you’ll need a topic if you plan to blog about something you know about or you can proceed with a more broad approach by doing a personal blog.

If you choose a blog with a topic, for example, you want to talk about your passion for cooking and sharing recipes, then you’ll need a domain name that reflects that. Examples would be like JaysCooking.com or something fun like KisstheCook.com. (I haven’t checked to see if any of these are already owned, they’re just quick examples).

If you choose a personal blog, you can do one of two things: come up with a unique name like what I did with this site. I paired a color with an object to get a domain name that was available – OrangeSunsets.com. Or you can register your name and use it as your domain name. So if your name was Sarah Connor, then you’d register SarahConnor.com.

Sometimes, if your name if really popular, it may already be taken and you’ll have to find a way to get your name as your domain name. You can add a middle initial or get creative. However, don’t add numbers on the end or dashes. YaGirlSarahConnor.com or SarahJConnor.com is OK but Sarah-Connor.com or SarahConnor1991.com are less desirable.

Godaddy may be the most popular domain name provider online but they’re expensive and bombards you with unnecessary upsells and cross-promotions. My favorite place to get a domain name is a site called NameSilo. You can get a domain name there for about half the price of a domain at most providers. It’s $8.99/year for a domain name and you’ll always pay that price.

Get Web Hosting

Once you have your domain name, it’s time to set up your blog. To do this you need a place to host the blog files and to serve them when someone puts in your domain name or tries to access your blog.

For a personal blog, you don’t need a lot of resources. I’ll suggest going with Bluehost – often touted as one of the best web hosts online for beginners. I’m not a fan of using them though for business but you’ll be fine until your blog gets popular.

You can get the basic Bluehost Plan which allows the installation of one website and costs only $3.95 per month.

Once you’re set up, you can point your domain name from NameSilo over to Bluehost and then install your website using the WordPress one-click install. Once done, you’re set to start writing your blog.

The only other things you’ll need to do is to customize your blog with a WordPress theme or design that you like and to configure a few other things such as whether you want to approve comments or not.

Blog Using SiteRubix

If any of the setup above sounds complicated then an alternative you can use to start blogging is to use SiteRubix. You can easily start for free without the need to purchase a domain name or web hosting.

Creating a SiteRubix blog requires a Wealthy Affiliate account which is totally free to get started with and you’ll have the same exact setup as what I mentioned above with Bluehost. You wouldn’t start with a domain name you own but the option is there to later add one so that it looks more like your own than someone else’s.

The benefit of doing it this way is that you’ll be able to learn how to get people to read your blog and how you can make money from your blog. You’ll also be able to learn about online business and get the support and tools you need to get everything done.

Should You Write a Book?

Other than starting a blog, you could choose to write a book.

If you have a topic that you’re passionate about then people may be able to learn from you. Or you could write fiction if you’re creative and have always desired to write one. Children’s books is also an option.

Creating a book with characters and a story isn’t just fun, it will also entertain you to let your imagination build a story in your head and get it out on paper. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If you do decide to get it published, you can always hire someone to polish your ideas into the story people would enjoy reading.

You don’t have to aim to get it published but if you did want to then you can easily do so through Kindle Direct Publishing which is how you get your book published and distributed by Amazon.

Spending your days writing a book while in lock-down isn’t so bad and can be an accomplishment you’re proud of when things get back to normal. You may also end up getting paid royalties for your book if readers love it.

If you decide that writing is a book is something you want to do, there are plenty of courses and books on writing a book and becoming an author available which you can find by doing a Google search, checking on Amazon or on a course website like Udemy.

10. Review Your Personal Finances

Calculator resting on a folder with tax forms

With uncertain times ahead, one important item on your list of things you need to do while stuck at home is a personal financial review.

A financial review allows you to know how you’re progressing financially and what you need to focus on in the coming months perhaps to reach your financial goals.

How much debt you have, how much money you have saved and how much income you’ll have or need to have to reach your goals are some of the things you should be able to determine from this exercise.

Are You Tracking Your Personal Finances?

In order to establish a clear plan on getting to your financial goals, you need to be tracking your income and your expenses daily and monthly.

You can do this manually with a journal or spreadsheet or you can use one of many online tools or apps that will do this for you. Some of these tools even connect to your bank account so that you can have everything sorted out automatically.

Mint and Quicken are two of the most popular apps that are trusted by many to track their finances. Personally, I use Ramsey’s budgeting app EveryDollar to track my income and expenses. I’m not able to use a smartphone app because of my location.

By tracking your personal finances, you’ll be able to know things like:

  • what you spend the most money on each month
  • how much debt you have to pay off
  • exactly how much money you bring in from different sources each month
  • how much money you’re saving each month
  • how much money you spend altogether each month
  • how much credit card debt you have
  • what automatic payments and subscriptions you have
  • how much money you spend on groceries each month

Knowing these things can help you to devise ways of lowering expenses, saving more money or paying off each debt faster so that you can get to your financial goals.

You Need To Budget

If you haven’t been budgeting or setting limits on how much you spend then this is something that you’ll need to start doing.

I’ve been using EveryDollar to budget my income each month. EveryDollar works by inputting your income from every source and then assigning every dollar to a budget item. You’d assign a dollar amount to things like your electric bill, internet cable, groceries, Netflix subscription, clothing, credit card payments, loan payments, savings and so on until you have no money left to assign to anything.

Once you’ve done that, you should aim to just spend the amount allotted to each item and track what you spend each day. This allows you to have better control over how you spend your money and lets you achieve financial freedom by tracking important savings like an emergency fund and debt paid off.

Set Financial Goals

I mentioned this above in another item on setting long term goals. This is important for everyone so that you can have enough money to retire on while continuing to live an enjoyable life.

And because of the current situation with coronavirus damaging the economy, your financial future may be uncertain unless you have a plan to weather the storm.

Set goals that are SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Set a plan for achieving this goal and start working on it immediately. The fact that you’re reviewing your finances at this time means that you’re serious about your financial future.

There are some more things that you can add to your financial review such as making sure that your taxes are done by the tax due date and calculating your net worth. Do you have a life insurance policy in place that will benefit your dependents? What about your retirement accounts?

Focus on each of these things as you review your finances and you should be better prepared for whatever the future may hold financially as things start returning to normal.

11. Learn a Language

Person holding Fluent City spanish book

Learning a new language can be fun. I’ve always been a big fan of learning Spanish and I can speak it a little and understand some of it when it is spoken. I’m not fluent though.

I started learning Spanish in school and got good grades for spoken and written Spanish. After years of not keeping up with the language, I only retained some of it but forgot a lot also.

A few years ago I decided to relearn the language using an Android app called Duolingo which is a very effective and simple way of learning any language. I had fun learning Spanish on Duolingo and learned a lot of the language including new words and grammar.

You don’t have to learn Spanish though. You can choose to learn any of the other major languages spoken around the world from French or Portuguese to Russian or Chinese. Duolingo even includes two fictional languages – Klingon (if you’re a Trekkie) and High Valyrian (if you’re a Game of Thrones fan).

Why Learn Another Language

Why would you learn another language though?

It’s not like you plan to move to another country. But learning another language has a lot of benefits.

  • It can give you more or better career options
  • You can enjoy foreign language movies better
  • Great if you travel so you can communicate with the locals
  • Helps you improve your first language
  • Keeps your mind sharp
  • It improves your memory and boosts your brain power

And who doesn’t want to look cool speaking another language when the situation calls for it. I remembered ordering food in Spanish at a restaurant in Puerto Rico when I was a teenager. The waiter understood me although I didn’t have to since he also spoke English.

Learning another language makes the world just a bit more smaller and less confusing and is a fun experience in itself.

Which Language Should You Learn?

I chose to learn Spanish primarily because it was the easier of two options I was given in school and found that Spanish was the easier option to learn. French was the other.

On Duolingo, Spanish is the most popular language for English speakers with over 24 million students. The second most popular is French with 14 million followed by German with over 8 million students.

Spanish is spoken in a lot of countries in the world especially in the western world. Almost the entirety of South and Central America speaks Spanish as their main language.

The language spoken by the most people in the world though is Mandarin Chinese with over 1 billion speakers followed by English.

According to Babbel, the easiest languages to learn in the world for English speakers are Norwegian and Swedish, both Scandinavian countries that have a Germanic language just like English. These languages have a lot of similarities to English and even some of the words look and sound the same. Spanish is the third easiest language to learn.

Which language you choose to learn is totally up to you and your motivations for learning a new language.

Resources To Help You Learn a New Language

There are many apps, courses, websites, software and books that can help you to learn a new language. Some of them are well known and some aren’t so well known but can be just as effective.

1. Duolingo

Leading the list is the app I mentioned before, Duolingo. It lets you pick from 35 languages you can learn at your own pace. Each lesson allows you to learn a few words and grammar in just a few minutes and rewards you with points to motivate you. There are also tests within the app to check how you’re coming along.

2. Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone has been around for years and is a leader in language learning software. They also have apps for Android and iOS so that you can learn on the go. With about 25 languages, you can start learning anything from Arabic to Vietnamese.

3. Babbel

Babbel currently offers 14 languages and can be accessed through their apps for Android and iPhone. You can also learn online by logging into the website and going through the lessons, built for different levels (beginner, advanced etc), in your browser.

These are just three of many options that you have for learning a language in the comfort of your own home. Take advantage of the time you have at home and start learning a new language. Maybe next time you decide to watch a new trending foreign language Netflix show, you wouldn’t so much need the subtitles.

12. Do a Home Improvement Project

Man installing tiles behind a chrome faucet

So you bought all the material a couple of months ago to do that backsplash but couldn’t find the time to do it. Well, now that you’re not going anywhere soon, you finally have the time to get that job done.

Doing a home improvement project that needs to be done is just one other thing that you could do with all the time you have at home right now.

Look around the house. I’m sure that there is something you’ve wanted to fix, install, build or just get done. It could be as simple as adding a fresh coat of paint to a wall or repairing a damaged fence.

DIYing these projects used to be tough before the internet came along but now all the instructions are just a click away with YouTube videos and step by step instructions for sites like WikiHow. You will also be able to just Google your project and find expert blogs and instructions readily available. No need to hire someone – at least you can’t risk doing that right now.

Before you start your project, make sure that you have all the necessary material and tools to complete the job. You don’t want to have to make an unnecessary trip to the hardware store for non-essential items.

What Not To Do While Stuck At Home

Now that you have plenty of options for things you can do while you’re stuck at home that will make you a better person when things get back to normal, I’d like to offer some advice on things you want to avoid.

These things will not move you forward or make you feel any better about the chaotic situation that’s going on right now.

Don’t Binge Watch Netflix Shows

It’s OK to catch a new episode of your favorite show when you want to relax and entertain yourself. What is not OK is spending an extended amount of time binge-watching episode after episode of Netflix shows.

When things get back to normal, you would have made very little to no progress at all in making your life better. Plus with the current state of things, you make even experience some set-backs.

Binge-watching doesn’t help anything and studies have shown that it can have negative effects on your health.

Don’t Binge Watch The News

We all know what’s going on in the world by now. The worst thing you can do right now is to constantly keep watching the news. There are going to be reports of more and more cases and more and more deaths.

These things can cause more harm than good by encouraging fear and panic to spread. If you do need to know what’s going on, check in on reputable websites such as World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also check with your local health authority for updates and advisories from time to time.

However, your time is best spend doing any of the 12 activities mentioned above, spending time and having fun with loved ones while staying at home.

Don’t Spend All Day on Social Media

Social media was designed to suck your time with their endless scrolling news feeds, engaging videos that autoplay into the next and notifications that pull you back after you’ve disconnected.

At this point in time, social media would be a huge waste of your time as there are very little benefits that you can get out of being on Facebook, Instagram and similar websites for extended periods of time. You can use them to see how your family and friends are doing but limit it to no more than 30 minutes each day if you can.

Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Control

Worrying about stuff that you can’t control is going to cause unnecessary anxiety and stress. The virus is spreading. The economy is taking a hit. The side-effects of these things are going to occur whether you worry about it or not.

Instead, engage in activities that you can do to take control over the situation. You can:

  • meditate to control your mental health.
  • start an online business to have a source of income
  • take an online course to level up on your current skills and qualifications
  • maintain proper hygiene so you can prevent getting and spreading the virus
  • stay at home and practice social distancing to avoid getting the virus

Everything outlined above was designed to give you more control and keep you from worrying about the inevitable.

Don’t Go Out

Different states have implemented different lockdown measures in an effort to slow down and control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. You should adhere to these measures and stay indoors at all times so that you won’t put yourself and your family in danger.

If you are allowed to go out, perhaps to get groceries or medical supplies, do so with care and observe social distancing requirements. Options to going out to get groceries are shopping online for what you need or having it delivered to your house or apartment.

I hope that you enjoyed this article, which took me days to research and write. I’m in self-isolation and found it to be a good exercise of practicing what I’m preaching.

Hopefully, you were able to find something or a few things that would keep you occupied and in a good mental state while locked down in your home with or without your family. Stay safe and have fun.

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