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12 Fun Things to Do While Social Distancing (Plus Helpful COVID-19 Resources)!

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Social distancing, or the deliberate act of increasing physical space (professionals advise at least 6ft) to avoid spreading infectious disease, has been recommended by several health organizations as one of the best ways to maintain the health of ourselves, loved ones, and healthcare workers. 

First things first, we want to make sure you are staying up-to-date on COVID-19. Here are our favorite sources we’ve been referencing as this pandemic unfolds. We will make sure to update the list if we come across others in the coming weeks. 

Helpful COVID-19 Resources:

In an effort to embrace social distancing, we’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite at-home (healthy) activities to keep you (and us!) busy during the self-quarantine.  

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Social Distancing Ideas:

1. (Finally) Marie Kondo your closet

Who else has that drawer (or closest, guilty!) where you put all the random things that don’t have a place in your house? For all of you fellow semi-hoarders out there, the time has come to KonMari (organize) your place.

First, we recommend watching this show on Netflix (it’s totally worth it, we swear). Our favorite quick-fixes include using simple box organizers (or shoe boxes) to sort your pile of mixed-up items and to fancy-fold your clothes KonMari-style. Looking for a bigger project? Check out this budget-friendly complete closet organizer system that will keep you busy for at least a few days. 

If you find items you don’t love anymore, consider returning them for store credit at Madewell, H&M, or Marine Layer, or donating them to a local community organization. 

You can also make some money by selling them on digital consignment stores, Poshmark and ThreadUp. 

2. Read a book

Check out your local library’s online offerings (several city libraries have helpful apps). Amazon also offers several ways to try books that don’t involve going to a public place, including Audible, Kindle, and a Prime Book box for kids. 

Kirsten’s Top Books Include:

  1. An American Sickness

  2. The Omnivore’s Dilemma 

  3. Neverwhere

  4. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

  5. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City 

Bryanna’s Top Books Include:

  1. In Defense of Food

  2. Brain on Fire

  3. Originals

  4. The $100 Startup

  5. How to Change Your Mind

3. Take free classes online

Have you ever heard of a MOOC? Massive Open Online Courses are available to you straight from the Ivy Leagues - without any tuition cost (ya’ll know we love a deal)! We love that these cover a wide variety of topics and show you the time commitment up front. 

Keep up with your super hip friend by taking Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (aka ModPo), take an engineering class on the structure of vaults, brush up on best practices for biomedical research data management, zen your way through Buddhism and modern psychology, take an intro to computer science, marketing, or financial accounting, or get ready for your next promotion with intro to negotiation. There is seriously something for everybody!

4. Dig out your old boardgames (or order some new favs). 

Our favorite two-person games are: 

If you're quarantining solo, we recommend:

  • Puzzles (literally just bought a 1000-piece kitten one, no judgement please)

  • Legos Architect - Legos aren’t for kids anymore (but were they ever?). Check out some of these cool Lego Architect options! Kirsten owns the White House Legos, and Bryanna has been eyeing the Empire State Building.

  • Deck of Cards - Solitaire, the OG solo game!

5. Redecorate your home

There has never been a better time to knock out the list of projects you have going. Here are some of our favorite DIY ideas:

6. Start a new season of that show everyone keeps talking about! 

We’ve listed our personal favorites to kickstart some ideas (but also feel free to leave us recs in the comments, please and thank you)!

Kirsten’s Top Show Include:

  1. Parks and Rec (Netflix) 

  2. Narcos - both Colombia and Mexico (Netflix)

  3. Fleabag (Amazon Prime)

  4. Westworld (HBO) - new season just started 3/15! 

  5. The Good Place (Hulu)

Bryanna’s Top Shows Include:

  1. The Pharmacist (Netflix)

  2. Atypical (Netflix)

  3. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime)

  4. $chitt’s Creek (Netflix)

  5. Yeh Meri Family (Netflix)

7. Stay connected with family and friends

Social distancing might be just the opportunity we needed to rekindle old friendships and pause to take the time for long conversations with loved ones. Schedule digital lunch breaks, wine and cheese nights, games nights, or just give someone a call. There are a ton of free video services that make staying connected much easier than before:

8. Take virtual tours of famous museums

Some of our personal favs include: 

9. Workout at home

To stay both physically and mentally healthy, doing at home (free) workouts are music to the Healthcare Hustlers’ ears. Here are some of our favorite sources for free classes:

10. Show your plants some love

If you already have plants that need some more care, there are a few easy ways to improve their health. To start, if there are dead or dying leaves, remove them so the plant’s energy is directed to the healthy parts.

Use this snappy app to identify them (if, like us, you throw away the plant markers). Once you’ve determined what kind of sunlight/water/soil they need, give them a boost!

For easy-to-keep-alive plants, check out these bbs (and put them in these ceramic glazed pots!). If you are looking for something slightly bigger, we love this 3ft tall butterfly palm tree. Want to plant something simple and edible? Check out Lettuce Grow , a self-watering, self-fertilizing hydroponic Farmstand!

11. Try a new recipe

Check out some of these fun cookbook categories for inspiration, including raw, vegan, paleo, keto, instant pot, slow-cooker, smoothies, southern, pasta and salads. Bryanna’s been on an vegan-Indian-Instant Pot kick recently, making baingan bharta, aloo matar, and chana masala. Kirsten has been dishing up falafel bowls and chickpea stew. Have a great recipe to share? Drop it in the comments below! Need some ingredients? Check out these unique options, or set up a Shipt account to have them delivered to your doorstep!

12. Brush up on your healthcare knowledge

We know, this one doesn’t seem to be quite as fun as some of the others, but we can guarantee you that there are some REALLY interesting things to know about your healthcare plan that can save you money. There are also some awesome companies out there who help you get things like glasses, contacts, hearing aids, and birth control delivered to your door at a lower cost than you might expect. Check out these articles for the deets!

Want more ideas? Check out these additional resources!