The irony of sharing 42 screen-free activities to do during confinement on a website isn’t lost on me, don’t worry. I thought of calling each one of you individually and list all my ideas out loud, but a blog post seemed more efficient for everybody ;)
So, the big question: HOW ARE YOU?
I’m doing pretty okay on my end, considering the sci-fi-esque reality we’re living in. Luck is on my side (knocking on wood here), but this whole thing hasn’t yet wreaked havoc on my work. Consequently, my days are still relatively busy, so I haven’t had to find myself 29 new hobbies to occupy myself with.
Nevertheless, I’m spending more time in front of screens than I’d like. I’m working on my computer all day long, then I’m switching to my cellphone to keep up with the news, and then I get my mind off of things with Love is Blind. Not to sound alarmist, but I think I’m one love declaration away from my brain fully disintegrating.
Let me pause here: I’m not trying to shame you on your digital intake. Not at all. More than ever, you do you. If you feel good, that’s all that matters.
But for me, to feel good, I need some kind of balance between active and passive. Right now, I need to stretch my rusty hands. Get my creativity going.
Do you feel like you’re on the cusp of a Netflix overdose too? Well, you’ve come to the right blog post. Ladies, shut dow your computer, cellphone, iPad and pager (do they still exist?) and spoil yourself with some brain self-care with those 42 super duper fun activities.
1. Draw your self-portrait. How to do it: sit in front of your mirror, stare at your reflection while tracing yourself on a piece of paper, looking down at what you’re doing as little as possible. You can also do like my friend Léonie.
2. Take a shower with candles as your only source of light. It doesn’t get more relaxing than this, trust me.
3. Go for a walk and listen to a podcast. Need suggestions? Check out this amazing list by Man Repeller.
4. Try a new, bold makeup look. Orange lipstick, artsy cat-eye or neon eyeshadow, what’s so good about this one is that if you mess up, nobody will know.
5. Put together summer outfits and immortalize them on your phone. Because if I hear anybody cry ‘I don’t know what to weeear!’ when this pandemic is over, I’m going back to social distancing forever.
6. Read your coffee table books. For real this time. Raise your hand if you know all the pictures from your Helmut Newton book by heart, but never actually read the text around them! Me too.
7. Clean your jewelry because we all know it will be the last thing on your mind when this social confinement is over.
8. Practice the art of #boobiemasking. Yes girl, you read that right. We pamper our face, hair, hands, and feet with beauty masks all the time! Why shouldn’t our breasts be enjoying the same royal treatment?
9. Mend your clothes. Is your shirt missing a button? Did your coat’s side seam rip open? Are your new pants too long? Take out a needle and some thread and wake up your inner Minju Kim. I know you’re feeling courageous and all, but for your clothes sake, make sure you check a couple of tutorials before slashing through your favourite dress.
10. Count your beauty marks and then do the same with your significant other. Why? Just because.
11. Lie down on your balcony and glance at the clouds. A heart, a coffee mug, an opossum! The things the sky will show us if we give it a chance.
12. Learn the lyrics of a song by heart. Print them out and memorize one verse at a time. My first pick: Lose Yourself by Eminem. It’s time I learn what he says after ‘mom’s spaghetti’.
13. Write a poem to your best friend and ask her to do the same.
14. Work on your nail art skills. Take out your nail polish collection, pick a simple design and go for it. May I also suggest you do it on a Spice Girls soundtrack for the ultimate girly girl experience?
15.Make your own plant-based milk (oatmeal, almond, etc.). It’s apparently not as hard as one would think.
16. Cook your way through an intimidating recipe. In my case, that would be a homemade focaccia and dumplings. I’m planning on being a master at both by the end of this quarantine.
17. Switch your furniture around in a room of your choice. My apartment is too small to listen to my own advice, so think of me when you’ll do it. Thanks <3
18. Meditate using an app like Calm or Headspace. I like that the sessions are categorized by concerns, like if you’re feeling anxious for example (which is 98% of us right now).
19. Listen to a whole album, from beginning to end, while doing absolutely nothing. I used to do that when I was a teenager and it felt like such a fertile ground for imagination and creativity.
20. Make your own veggie broth by using scraps from all your delicious recipes and the abandoned and flimsy vegetables buried in your fridge.
21. Write a love letter to your pet and read it out loud to them. Either you end up laughing or becoming weirdly emotional.
22. Change the colour of a wall in your home. Because a bit of folly, especially now, is a direct road to feel-good land.
23. Read books that are being made into movies in 2020. Because we all know that the chances of reading a book after watching its movie version are extremely low.
24. Try new hairstyles, like we used to do right after watching She’s All That and Clueless. For up-to-date ideas, here are a couple great ones.
25. Reconnect (or reconcile yourself) with your body and sexuality. Here is a very insightful little guide by Isabella Frappier, sex educator, who you might have seen in the Goop Lab series.
26. Learn new words, in your first or second language. When I read in English (French is my mother tongue), I write down the words I don’t understand and find their definitions later on. My plan is to print out that document and study it. The nerds out there will get the appeal.
27. Learn how to draw a heart in your latte, so you can impress all of your friends next time they come over. Once the pandemic is over, obviously.
28. Find your ‘why’, the reason behind your goals and your wildest dreams. Got no idea what I’m talking about? Listen to this podcast, it sums it up pretty accurately.
29. Draw freely, without expectation. Need guidelines? Follow @a__vos__crayons on Instagram. They come up with a different theme everyday to inspire the artist in all of us.
30. Spring-clean your wardrobe. Nothing revolutionary here, but you have time, so might as well. This post as a bunch of very useful advice to guide you through the process.
31. Start a quarantine journal. How do you feel? What were the main events of the day? What did you do? We’re living one, if not, the most important event in modern history. I think archiving your memories in times like these is a great idea. Either as a daily self-therapeutic experience or as a very precious piece of personal history.
32. Start a correspondence with a friend, writing each other letters on real paper, with a real pen, and a real stamp.
33. Organize that cupboard that floods you with anxiety every time you open it. My personal organizational nightmare is the cupboard from my kitchen isle, full of ‘important’ letters from 2009 and a bunch of dried out pens.
34. Listen to an audio book. I’ve never done it, but I remember how reassuring it felt when my parents read me a story when I was little. And the idea of feeling reassured right now sounds nice.
35. Dance in your apartment to the beat of Robyn, Lady Gaga, Beyonce or any other pop queen, like nobody’s watching. Actually, nobody’s actually watching, so go for it.
36. Clean your dirty white sneakers to make them pristine white again. This article gives great tips on how to achieve this incredibly satisfying shoe makeover.
37. Listen to an erotic audio story on Dipsea, by yourself or with your lover. That should keep you busy for a little while. Bow-chika-wo-wow!
38. Cut out your old magazines and collage away, my friend. Type ‘collage art’ on Pinterest for some inspiration and cut + paste like there’s no tomorrow.
39. Read an author’s entire work. I suggest you start with one whose bibliography isn’t too extensive to keep it realistic. Aim for Zadie Smith, not Stephen King.
40. Buy a magazine (preferably from a local publication) and read it cover to cover. How crazy?
41. Get rid of that stain which has kept you away from wearing your favourite blouse for months now. It’s time you put that Spaghetti Party relic behind you.
42. Improvise a spa experience at home. Put on a playlist of ocean sounds, exfoliate your face, indulge in some multimasking (if you don’t have any of those at home, here are great recipes you can do with food you have in your fridge), and wrap up this unwinding session with chamomile tea. Or a bourbon lemonade. Whatever rocks your boat.
So, which activity has your name written all over it? Any other ideas?
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