During self-quarantine, I have come up with a few ways to keep myself occupied. If you are feeling as bored at home as I am, maybe these creative activities can help.

Reading

When school was still in session, I didn’t have enough time to enjoy a good book due to my busy schedule. I have taken advantage of the extra fee hours in the day I now have to read more. If you are looking for something interesting, I recommend “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng, because it’s guaranteed to have you at the edge of your seat through its captivating portrayal of motherhood.

Strava

My teammates and I have been using the workout app Strava since before our track season was cancelled, but now it serves as a great tool to keep us all connected. You can post your workouts on the app to share with your team and comment on their posts. You can also make Strava interactive by comparing things such as calories you burned or the total mileage you achieved in a week with friends.

Taking Photos

I saw my camera collecting dust on my shelf the other day, so I decided to take it with me on a walk. Even though I can’t take pictures of football games or pep rallies, it was nice to get out of my house to photograph random items and sceneries like plants and birds in my neighborhood.

Game Bracket

To channel our competitive energy, my friends and I have been using a bracket system to play the GamePigeon app on our iPhones. We play competitively using a bracket system, but GamePigeon also offers many other games such as Crazy Eights and an “Uno” substitute in which games can be played by everyone all at once.

Yoga

Another thing that was left forgotten in my house was my yoga mat. I never really understood the hype around yoga until I started following videos of it on YouTube last week. Although I am not the most flexible person, it is still a very relaxing activity to do, especially after my daily workouts.

Baking

Many members of my Italian-American family live in North Carolina, and since spring break has been canceled, I haven’t been able to visit them like I usually do. To cope with this, my family spent three days baking Italian cookies, which we later sent to my family members with handwritten notes to express our support. Since I made so many, I also dropped some off for my friends on their doorsteps.

Slideshow Journal

Since my close friends all have a Gmail account, we thought it would be fun to make a “Slideshow Journal” on Google Slides to document what we have been doing during quarantine. We titled it the “Corona Diaries.” We each can post whatever we want, such as recipes or a simple journal entry. To make it even more interesting, we also added fitting pictures and links to funny videos on YouTube for each other to see.

Painting

Although my artistic abilities are limited to stick figures and doodles, I bought a paint by the number kit. It is very time consuming, and although I’m not halfway done yet, it’s a fun activity to be able to come back to from time to time. I bought my kit from Amazon and you can also find other arts and craft kits on there as well.