If you’re like me, you had your job send you home yesterday, for the rest of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. Or maybe you’re lucky enough to be able to work from home (I say lucky, because my income has stopped as a result). If so, you might find yourself with a lot of quiet time sitting around the house, even if your spouse/partner/roommates are also being sent home. It doesn’t help that we should all be engaging in “Social Distancing,” meaning you shouldn’t meet up with friends for a coffee/drink, or even go to their house for fun game nights.
So what do we do? Well, below are some ideas on how I’m going to be spending the indefinite amount of time in my home. Some of these are fun, so we don’t go insane, but some of these are productive ideas. Remember, during quarantine, Shakespeare wrote King Lear, and Sir Isaac Newton developed Calculus and the Theory of Gravity.
Read a Book
I still haven’t read The Chronicles of Narnia even though I have all the books. To be fair, I also haven’t read The Lord of the Rings, but that’s a much harder read. There are books upon books that I keep saying “I really need to get around to reading those,” but I never do. Well, now I’m sitting around my house, perhaps it’s time to pick up a book.
Write a Book
Even better! I have so many book ideas, or eBook ideas for The Nerdd, I can get writing on those. Sure, I already write a lot for this site, but that is a different kind of writing that uses a different part of the brain. Creating a story versus writing a listicle is not the same thing.
Online D&D
One thing I have gotten the ball rolling with, is an online game of Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a pretty large group of people that live within 30 minutes of me that consistently come over to my house and play D&D. Now, they can’t come over, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t play! I’ve heard so many people talk about Discord-based games, that it’s something I really want to try out. Also because if you can get used to that style of play, it broadens your potential game group to the whole world! In fact, keep an eye out for an article on how to best play D&D online (if it works out for me anyway).
Online Gaming
Not just D&D though. There are tons of games where you can play with your friends, that don’t require as much creativity. Of course, these are games you’re probably familiar with already. Games like League of Legends or Fortnite, really anything where you can find your friends and voicechat with them, it’s basically hanging out. It’s something I haven’t done much of, since I prefer single player story based games, but maybe I’ll change that.
KonMari Your House
Remember like a year ago when Marie Kondo and her “Does This Item Spark Joy?” question swept the nation? Well, coincidentally this pandemic is hitting in early spring (equinox is March 19), so why not get some spring cleaning in, and KonMari your home? Binge the Netflix show, and get to work!
Start a Blog
A blog? Who still reads blogs? You do, apparently. I started this blog a few years ago when my wife and I were working opposite schedules. She would work the classic 9-5 in an office, whereas I worked 4pm-11pm at a restaurant, and therefore would never see each other. So I started putting my opinions on nerdy things onto a website, and now thousands of people every month come to TheNerdd.com and read what I have to say. Why not start your own blog, even if it’s just “Sammy Lives Through COVID,” and it only lasts for the duration of your quarantine.
Or you can join TheNerdd team and start writing today!
Watch Better Movies
I know I have said to myself “I really need to watch more ‘cinema’.” You know, classic Tarantino, maybe some Hitchcock, really anything that is on the IMDb Top 250 list that I just haven’t gotten around to it. Why haven’t I gotten to it? Because most of the time I’m watching movies, is either new ones in theaters, or movies that make me feel good after a long day at work. This might be a bit tough, because the only place to really watch those “great films” is by paying, on top of your subscriptions already, and you might have a limited income right now. However, if you can, YouTube and Prime have most movies for only ~$4 each. So go watch some movies that will “broaden your cinematic horizon.”
Learn an Instrument/Art/Language
Learn! Whether it’s guitar, or drawing, or Klingon, this is a great time to dedicate 30 minutes of your day to learning something new. Personally, I really want to get better at ASL (sign language), because both the language and culture has always fascinated me. Sure it’s not going to take up a huge part of your day, but it’s a lot easier to say “right after lunch each day, I’m going to sit down for 30 minutes and do X.”
Exercise
Ugh. Exercise. Personally I dislike this a lot, but it’s something I should do. At the very least, going out for a walk each day might be more than you do currently, and they say every little bit helps. If you live in NYC or some other very large city, it might be hard to go for a walk AND maintain social distancing, but for the rest of us, I’m sure there’s somewhere you can walk to that doesn’t put you in the middle of a thousand people. Even if you can’t, doing some in-home body weight exercises, or maybe yoga, would be good for you. Do you have a treadmill that you just put clothes on? New rule: you can only watch that new show (maybe The Witcher) if you are also on the treadmill.
Call an Old Friend
There are three kinds of friends you have in your life. Friends for a season, friends for a reason, and friends for a lifetime. For all these friends, it’s probably been a minute since you’ve talked to them. Think about friends you were very close with, and as time has passed, you haven’t talked to them as much. Those are your season friends. Sure the season of that friendship has passed, but check in on them, see how their life has progressed without you in it. Then there are friends who your friendship is mutually beneficial, as opposed to entirely emotion-based. Check in on those friends, see if there’s anything you can do for them, and keep that relationship strong, even when things are tough. Then there are friends for a lifetime. Friends that, it doesn’t matter if you don’t see them for months on end, you still consider them some of your closest friends, and know that they will be there for the important moments of your life. Check in with them, talk for hours, plan that next time you are meeting up because “it’s been too long.”
The Nerdd 
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
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