Yesterday as I was recording a voice note to one of my besties, I sat down on the toilet, pulled down my pants and peed. Halfway through my stream, I realised that someone on the other side would be hearing this, and I unashamedly confessed how natural it felt to be taking her to the bathroom with me. Later I listed every single thing I ate during the day next to the exact times in a message to someone.
This morning I proudly entertained another friend with my multitasking: wearing a facemask while running a bath and cooking mushrooms for lunch. That conversation ended with me telling her I was going to put makeup on and maybe kiss some trees on my daily walk.
Based on the high levels of comedic entertainment I am receiving over text and voice and video calls these past few days we are all getting sillier, more creative and funnier. To avoid going entirely stir-crazy, I’ve listed the 10 best resources I’ve come across to stay busy in isolation.
Nike
When I decided to start running last year, I had no idea what I was doing. Then I found this app and quietly fell in love with the running coach’s voice ever stopped. Running has since become one of my favourite things to do. I love the sweat, I love the high at the end, I love playing music really f’ing loud and pretending I’m at a rave (except that I’m running forward in a straight line with a few occasional fist-pumps along the way. It doesn’t cost anything except some of your time.
Wave
If you identify as a sole-trader/self-employed/entrepreneur this is the perfect time to get your accounts and bookkeeping in order. Wave is free and does all the hard work for you (entering the data). All you need to do is go in and organise it so it makes sense to you and your accountant.
Milanote
If there’s ever a time to get your most organised inner nerd out it is now. After spending years looking for an easy-to-use tool to organize my ideas and projects into visual boards, I’ve finally come across the holy grail of digital planning that makes sense to my brain (and is free).
Spotify
An evident one but if you’re not having mini dance parties in your kitchen right now what are you even doing with your life? Plus, I’m very pleased with the playlists I’ve curated and proudly will share them with you.
WhatsApp
I’m hesitant to list this one because it feels too obvious but just in case you’re trying to find a place to leave a 30-minute blow-by-blow observation of what your neighbour is doing on his balcony to one of your best friends then this is the place. You can even use it directly from your desktop.
YouTube Yoga & Workouts
I’ve been using these for years… way before we had any kind of isolation and quarantine but now I am so grateful to have this list at hand so I don’t have to spend all of eternity figuring out which yoga or workout to choose.
Create a capsule wardrobe
Now you have all the time in the world to cull the excess in your life, and one of my favourite places to begin is with clothing. For a long time, I’ve been a proponent of having a style guide, figuring out what your uniform is, and building a small, long-lasting, wardrobe around it filled with pieces that you truly love.
Watch some really good films
Art will save us. So will hope, humility, connection and compassion. And while we are huddled into our little homes one of the best ways to feel connected to humanity to experience through the magic of film. I’m naughty and stream many films (when I can’t find anything on Netflix) for free from Putlocker.pro.
Do some personal growth work
It might not be the new calendar year but it is certainly the start of a new way of life so here are some things you can do:
- Determine your values and ask yourself these 3 questions to start a new life.
- Discover your human design for making better decisions.
- Get out of your head and into your heart.
- Learn how to listen to your intuition.
Delete Facebook and Instagram off your phone
It might feel weird because those two platforms are the best way to stay connected to others at the moment, but it might be worth deleting them, just for a day or two, and noticing how much more connected and at peace you feel with your immediate environment. All of a sudden you will find so much motivation and free up your creative energy to do things you love like drawing, playing music, learning a new song or dance, writing poetry etc.