100 things to do while stuck indoors on lockdown!

What’s there to do while stuck indoors? We’ve compiled 100 suggestions to help make your lockdown time fun and interesting – and perhaps life transforming!

1. Complete a jigsaw or puzzle: Puzzles are great for brain training and come in so many forms – how about a giant jigsaw, a Rubik’s Cube, wordsearch, sudoku or Crossword puzzle?

2. Start a journal. It’s a great way of getting everything off your chest, it can be about the coronavirus, your life or even directed to someone but it’s a diary that’s never seen or read by anyone else!

3. Learn an instrument – If it doesn’t bother your neighbours why not play a few strings and strike a few chords

4. Make peace with friends and family – if there is anything we’ve learnt from Coronavirus is life is too precious and it feels great to make peace if you’ve fallen out with someone!

5. Write – blogs, autobiographies, poetry. We all have a story to tell even if it’s just for our family! Just try it!

6. Box sets and movies – make a list of all the box sets you want to catch up on and really long movies and veg out on the sofa for a tvfest! 

7. Learn a language – If you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, here’s your chance! Babble is a great app to start learning!

8. Reading – it’s the most relaxing pass time and helps to slow the brain and reduce stress. Whatever you enjoy – read it cover to cove and review it on Facebook to inspire your friends!

9. Meditation and mindfulness – there are amazing guided meditations on YouTube to follow by Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Ekhart Tohle and others so lie down with your eyes closed, palms up and while focusing on your breath whilst those soothing words slow down your thinking and calm your mind!

10. Affirmations  – can’t stop the negative thoughts about Coronavirus? Pick an affirmation that helps to boost your immunity just by what you say to it!

11. Indoor Aerobics – squeeze into that lycra and do a virtual class! Everyone’s offering them – there’s so many options to choose from

12. Go to the Med in your mind – create the most amazing meze for dinner from what you have in your and cupboard and sip it with a glass of something bubbly – close your eyes and go on holiday!

13. Learn a new skill – there are so many lessons on-line of weird and wonderful skills you can pick up, circus poi, belly dancing, baking, cooking, jewellery-making, knitting – you can target yourself with a new skill a week

14. Learn whilst teaching the kids – forgotten the difference between sin, cosine and tangent ? home school yourself whilst teaching the children!

15. Dance – whether its on the wi, karaoke or just whilst watching MTV, groove to the tunes of your favourite track and get those hips moving!

16. Board Games – spend time with the family if you’re not self-isolating to play a board game for hours of fun and laughter!

17. Catch up on your favourite soap – go on have a binge afternoon on the sofa under a duvet

18. Organise – have a spring clean! Tackle a cupboard a day! Organize your Tupperware so that the lids match the containers, get a charity box ready of old stuff

19. Go through that Wardrobe and de-clutter – try on all your clothes and be ruthless! Serve that 6 month rule to anything you haven’t worn and get those clothes bank bags ready

20. Get those green fingers gardening – its spring and a lovely time to grow things in the house and garden! 

21. Cook something new – whether you dream to be Nigella or Jamie show off your culinary skills with a new dish or cooking skill you’ve never tried!

22. The smell of fresh bread – MMMmmmm – there’s nothing more relaxing than bread making by hand and then diving into a warm loaf with a big helping of butter!

23. Oscars Night – catch up on all those Bafta and Oscar winning films that you only manage to watch on a flight! 

24. TikTok – create an exercise or dance routine on TikTok and shed those pounds 

25. Video diaries – share great news via videos and Facebook with friends and family. 

26. Teach online – do you have a great skill that you can share with the world? Maybe its make-up? Skincare? Alternative remedies? Clever Hacks? Whatever it is be proud and share them with the word?

27. Help the most vulnerable – offer your assistance to someone who needs help shopping, cooking and cleaning 

28. Start a project – Knit or crochet a scarf for a friend or relative who will love something that’s so personal

29. Video Calls – Use Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp or zoom with your long-distance friends and family

30. Organise those toiletries – Let’s face it, we are all guilty of half empty, finished cosmetics and toiletries in our bathroom and handbags – here’s your chance to clear it out

31. Paint a portrait – Learn how to draw and paint – start off with your plant, then a person and who knows there could be a Van Gogh in you! Its so therapeutic!  

32. Pull out those smelly salts and candles and take a long bubble bath to soothe the day away

33. Make a classic cocktail, from negronis to Manhattans and aperol spritzes. Don’t forget the garnish.

34. Adult Colouring books – so fashionable as a way to reax and concentrate adult painting books are just so much fun

35. Take time to reflect – What goals are you setting for yourself when we all get back to normality? What do you most wish to achieve in your life? What are you going to do less of? Get writing and make that change

36. Book of wishes – create your very own book or dreams and wishes of what you want to create in your life and watch those thoughts become things as you write them down and start believing that you have them! 

37. Get Handy – fix those niggly things you put off every weekend – pull out the toolbox and get the house summer ready with your DIY skills

38. Family Fun – Turn your living room into a sleepover for the kids with all blankets, popcorn and movies.

39. Moisturise those hands – after washing your hands every hour, they become dry and wrinkly – get moisturising and looking after your hands and nails!

40. Pilates and Yoga – stretch those muscles and lengthen those limbs with a Pilates or Yoga workout

41. Old fashioned games – teach your kids old fashioned games lie hopscotch, cat’s cradle and others for hours of fun 

42. Learn how to change your hair style – hair ups, pinned up, buns and plaits

43. Design your family tree – there are so many Apps such as DNA Ancestry and My Heritage to help you to create your family tree and leave a piece of history

44. Create History – Interview your parents and grandparents over the phone and save the audio about their life in the good old days  

45. Clear your phone – go through your camera roll and delete downloads and images to give the phone some space again

46. Make a collage – pick out those favourite pics of each member your family and friends and make a photo / scrap book of them

47. Calender it – request everyone send their birthdates and create a family calendar so you never miss a date!

48. Gratefulness exercises – Make a list of things for which you are grateful and remind yourself of them every morning and every night 

49. Cocktail masterclass – raid the drinks cupboard and create the most delectable cocktails to devour!

50. Money Saving Ideas – if you’re not making money, you can save money! review your finances and look at where you can save money, cut costs and refinance to save more money. 

51. Freezer suppliers – batch cook every night so you have Tupperware containers of food on the days you feel lazy!

52. Save food – freeze foods near their use by date so that you can pull them out to reduce your social interaction at supermarkets and local shops

53. Support retail – Buy a gift cards from your favorite businesses to help keep them in business while we lockdown.

54. Review your diet – always feel you don’t have time to review your own eating habits to get more healthy? well write a food diary and create your own diet plan to start a new way of living whilst you have the chance!

55. Write a book with your children – Pick a character and each member writes a chapter about their adventures everyday whilst self-isolating

56. Family Competitions – How about getting the family to have fun with cleaning competitions, Scrabble tournaments to teach new words, cooking competitions

57. Organise that shoe cupboard – get rid of old footwear with a clear out of the shoe cupboard

58. What’s in that Garage stays in that Garage! Not now you could get ready for that next car boot sale by organising your old stuff and garage antiques!

59. Share a videocall – get all the family sharing a video call with the grand parents to make their day

60. Volunteer – if you are fit and well, why not volunteer to help those in need, the NHS or neighbours who can’t get out whilst following government guidelines!

61. Write your CV – have you been putting off writing that CV for your next job. Here’s your chance! There’s lots of resources on-line to make sure you shine when you finally apply for that dream job!

62. Write a letter or card to your loved ones. Its personal, its old fashioned and its just so heart-warming! 

63. Clear up that computer – put your affairs in order on your PC by organising and filing documents into folders and subjects

64. If your drier always chews up one sock and you have a drawer full of mismatches – rearrange your sock drawer – it will save hours in the long run

65. Create a list of countries you want to visit when you are finally allowed to travel

66. Days Out – make a plan of all the museums, sporting events and concerts you want to visit when they finally reopen.

67. Teach your pet new tricks – spend an hour teaching your dog new tricks for an hour of stress relief 

68. Rearrange your furniture to make it seem like your home is a totally different space. 

69. Learn card tricks – Practice shuffling playing cards and learning new card tricks like the pro’s do

70. Organize your spice cabinet in order of how often you use them!

71. Clear the garden – clean the garden and make it summer ready for when we can finally enjoy a beer on the sun lounger!

72. Do sums in your head – relying too much on the calculator or phone. Start adding up sums in your head, the old fashioned way!

73. Home school – create a school environment for the kids, it provides great structure and ensures that they don’t get into bad habits

74. Catch up on snoozing – catch up on your zzzz’s by going to sleep early. Its good for your physical and mental health

75. Organise your paperwork – if you are terrible at least unopened mail and bills at the bottom of the stairs, here’s the time to put everything in order in a folder so its easily accessible and you start to understand more about your personal affairs as well as throwing away all that junk mail

76. Learn a new style of dance via YouTube, from bhangra, belly dancing, strictly ballroom to breaking dancing

77. Update or write your will and organize your affairs. Its morbid but let’s face it. It’s a task many of us avoid because we put it off, now we have the time, its great to be organised 

78. Create a space for circuit training with the family to get that blood pumping

79. Bring out the Lego and have a family competition of building the most realistic structure!

80. Birdwatch in your garden – create a haven in your garden for birds to feed and see if you can identify all the spring birds that are cheeping at the moment

81. Covid beards are a thing! Grow it, moisturize it, groom it, love it.

82.  Learn how to be ambidextrous by doing things with your other hand, from writing to brushing your teeth. Its great training!

83. Do some breathing exercises – in times of stress we are not aware that we don’t breathe properly with many of us who shallow breath. Become conscious of your breath and fill your lungs and body with oxygen

84. Attempt things with your non-dominant hand, from writing to brushing your teeth. Prepare to be frustrated.

85. listen to your favourite podcasts whilst doing the cleaning – catch up on your favourite podcasts or enhance your knowledge through Tedtalks with bitesize teachings

86. Memorise your favourite song for a family sing song night – make it a game so you start a song which begins with the last letter of the last song!

87. Organise all your photos and memories into an album or a memory box if you find yourself finding cards and photo’s at the bottom of every draw

88. Learn Magic – show off your party skills when we all celebrate the end of lockdown by learning some magic tricks

89. Deep moisturise for hair – use coconut and almond oil the night before for a deep cleansing hair treatment for those long locks

90. Learn Feng Shui – the house can become filled with lots of mixed energy and emotions as you are constantly in the house. Learn about how Feng Shui can help to maintain good energy in the house

91. Make people laugh – create a skit, tell jokes and do something silly! Keep the atmosphere light with happiness and laughter

92. Donate to Food Bans – If you are able to help families struggling to get meals, there are charities and supermarkets where you can donate to food banks

93. Learn a new word and use it in a sentence each day – why not pick up a dictionary and learn a new word that you can understand the meaning of to stretch those muscles in the head

94. Learn a champion board game – master a classic game of chess or draughts for long games with a whisky through the night

95. Slow down – we all move at a million miles an hour normally. We don’t have a choice but to slow down right now. Enjoy a new pace of living!

96. Create a quiet space and haven in the house for when it gets too much – breath, listen to music, light candles and enjoy happy thoughts so that you can get back to the rest of the gang, a happier person

97. Make a list of all the good points about your partner and read them aloud so that they know you appreciate them!

98. Random acts of kindness – help a neighbour, help someone understand their rights whilst we are all off, do more in the house, say nice things to family and friends. Being kind increases your feeling of well-being!

99. Pretend you’re at school again – imagine this lockdown as being at home in the school holidays and enjoy every minute of being at home as its probably been a long time since you had this time to do nothing, something and everything!

100. Live in the present – we are all living in uncertain times and it’s a great time to learn not to dwell on the past or think of the future. Just enjoy hear and now

Happy Self isolating all!