(Free) Things That Have Helped Me Through Quarantine

It is going to be about three months that I have been at home doing limited contact and outings. I am normally a homebody and surprisingly an introvert, but not to this extent. Since we are parents, we try to be careful with who we are with, to avoid getting our baby sick. Not having the freedom to go out or even the peace to go to a store for your household items has definitely affected me. I didn’t understand how much my routine out of the house kept me sane. I compiled this list as an attempt to help you keep your spirits up in a simple manner.

Walking is also exercise, and any exercise counts.

Cooking for my family. I thought that I did not enjoy cooking, but have discovered that what I don’t really like is cooking in a rushed manner or recipes with too many steps. During this time we have gotten better at meal planning, shopping, and adding variety. If you want to see what I am cooking, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or check out this page in the blog with the ones in my personal cookbook.
Libby. For those of you who don’t know, this is an app that you can tie to your library card and get all sorts of media on your personal device. I don’t give books as much time as I want to, but I still add reading to my daily plans. Having it at the palm of my hands let’s me get some reading done even while watching our baby. Also, the variety entices me to add books to my shelf that I would not have personally searched for.
Having an outlet outside of my daily responsibilities. Being able to continue to express my feelings in a safe environment allows me to keep walking down the path of growth. Writing for the blog is something that keeps me working for myself and others. Thank you for being part of this journey.
Going on walks. I absolutely love to walk, but unfortunately the climate where I live does not make it very comfortable. Nonetheless, we now go on regular walks as a family. Because we know that we can make them ten or thirty minutes, we either go in the morning or in the evening when the sun is shy, depending on our mood.
Listening to inspirational talks. We are all going through a difficult and very rare time. I need encouragement to not go down a dark path. I have been listening to Tony Evans and his daughter, Priscilla Shirer. Their family has been going through their own situations for about a year and a half before all of this started. This message was of great inspiration to me.
Video chat. Zoom, Marco Polo, FaceTime. Whatever tool you have available to speak to people face to face from the comfort of your home, take advantage of it. I had not heard about Zoom until after all of this started. We have used it for our baby’s birthday, our small group, and even for my sister’s graduation. It has allowed us to commemorate our loved ones and friendships safely in the midst of chaos. We have even set up FaceTime meetings with friends we don’t normally speak on the phone with and are so grateful to keep close to them.
Intermittent Fasting. Weird, right? Well, this gives me some sort of control on my eating when I don’t have much to do and have the time to bake every day (I wish, but I don’t). In my friend’s Bre‘s words, “this isn’t the time to be stepping on a scale.” Not eating all day helps me make better decisions. See my post about my experience with IF here.