5 creative ways to make the most of the self-quarantine period

With 5 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Gujarat, the state, like the rest of the world is slowing down and getting into the social distancing mode. In this trying times it is imperative to stay positive and continue the fight against the global crisis by way of self-awareness and preventive personal behaviour. As people have more time on hands, here we list down 5 activities that individuals and families can engage into during the self quarantine mode.

With Corona Virus loitering around our streets, people have to stay inside their houses to stay away from infection. As much as this is a challenge, this is also a time to engage in activities that one didn’t find time for. This no-strings-attached isolation can be perceived as an opportunity. The time when you can actually check off things from your to-do list; well, those that do not require going out. And in this global wave of social distancing and Janta Curfew here are 5 interesting ways to make most of the self-quarantine period.

Avail some online courses

The most productive way to utilise this time is to invest in a good online course. It could be something that can help you academically, courses that provide a deeper understanding of the market or just brush up your skills. And you have multiple online platforms to serve you.

Masterclass.com is a place where you can learn from leading industry professionals across a plethora of domains. Take a film-making class, tutored exclusively by Martin Scorsese, cooking lessons by Gordon Ramsey, or learn to mix music with Deadmau5. With a small investment, you can finally be coached by artists and leaders whom you have admired.

If you seek to hone your academic skills, you should definitely check out Coursera. It is an education platform that brings top universities and organisations from across the globe to your computer screen. Moreover, these courses are absolutely free! And with a little fee you can also receive a certificate.

But if your mind is set to get a curated curriculum from 8 of the Ivy League Universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, then Class Central is the site for you. Class Central offers up to 450 courses, ranging from computer science to art and design. And, to make the pot even sweeter, they are all free.

Finally, work on your fitness

With so much time to kill, you can finally work on rejuvenating your physical and mental health. Yoga, High Intensity Workouts and meditation can help you wash off the stress that your body has built up. And with the thousands of different fitness channels on YouTube, you can even spice up and design your own routines.

For an entertaining cardio workout, check out Caleb Marshall’s channel, The Fitness Marshall, which is filled with comical, entertaining and heart pumping dance routines.

Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home is a channel where you can find easy-to-follow workout routines that even people with physical limitations can follow. And its cheesy 1980s style and tightly synchronised movements might seem easy, but will help you break a massive sweet.

But if you are looking for some High Intensity Training, the you should check out Sixpackfactory.com. With its fat destroyer workouts and quick muscle building exercises, you will be done with 2 hours’ worth of gyming in just 15-20 mins.

Read Books

Books are truly the best conceivable way to effectively utilise your time. And especially when you can stretch long hours and divulge deep into a story. Might just be a good time to take on long form reading, and select stories that are built in series. If you haven’t you can take up popular international series like JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter or India’s Amish Tripathi’s The Shiva Trilogy. There are many more interesting volumes that are available online in e-book format

While a lot of you must have a ‘books to read’ lists, those who are just in search for some good recommendations, there are a couple of sites you could check out. If you are looking for some similar books to those that you have read earlier, Goodreads or Riffle are two reliable sites to go to. What Should I Read Next is a site where you can type in the title of a specific book, and its incredible algorithm will find similar books for you.

But, if you seek a book based on a specific mood, emotion or certain elements of a book, Whichbook is the place for you. With various mood adjusting scales, like Happy-Sad or Expected-Unpredictable meters, you can procure a book which you were looking for.

And once you have found your book, you could either buy it on Amazon Books, iBooks, Google Books, or just get a free pdf from libgen.is  or openlibrary.org.

DIY

Have you always wondered that your living room needs a table, or you need to get a bookshelf to organise your books? Well, make them. Do It Yourself (DIY) is the latest trend and people all across the world are adopting it to refurbish their apartments. It is also a great way to get the family together as a team and get things done by joint efforts.

And, again, YouTube is the best catalyst of such unique ideas. There are numerous channels that give detailed tutorials of how to make weird and bewilderingly life improving objects that will prove a great life hack. To suggest a few good, reliable channels, you can check out The King of Random or I Like To Make Stuff which will teach you just random stuff which are fun to make. To try your hand at making some cool tech, Tech Builder and DIY Tech will prove really helpful. Then you have Steve Ramsey for some incredible woodwork tutorials, KipKay and Make: that will unravel some mind-boggling life-hacks and Nastazsa can help you make some stellar decorative objects and table-tops.

If you have a home garden space, than working in your own little garden can be very therapeutic. You can take assistance from channels like MIgardener or Epic Gardening to help you with some organic gardening ideas.

Play some games and bond with your family

In the hustle-bustle of everyday routines, rarely do people get an opportunity to spend some quality time with their family and cherish some quality time. Now that you have an opportunity to be with them, make the most out of it.

To keep your kids occupied and entertained, you can have fun games like treasure hunts, take virtual tours of heritage sites, space and museums with Google Arts and Culture, bring out some old board games, or the all generation favourite; card games. There are also DIY channels specifically dedicated to art and crafts, like 5 Minute Crafts  and Mad Stuff with Rob.

And if you are a married couple, you could spend some romantic time together, have some quality conversations, take up learning a language together, or just experiment with some new cooking recipes.

Apart from these, there are a lot of things one can do. Listen to their favourite playlists, watch movies and sitcoms, clean wardrobe etc.