Coping while staying home--unique distractions/techniques

I am realizing that this next month or longer is going to be pretty boring. We are taking the dogs to the state park to walk as much as possible but there is still a lot of time to fill. Even my therapy day has gone from 2.5 hours of driving, 1 hour of therapy and a few errands to a phone call to my therapist and I cancelled my pdoc and will follow up on the patient portal.

I"m sure this isn't true for me alone so I thought we could share what we are doing to stay busy. I need to find things so that I do not get more anxious; I'm finding the idea of being at home anxiety-provoking even though I often go a week with only 2 trips out and one of those is therapy.

Mine:
-www.duolingo.com You can learn one of many languages. I've been learning Spanish for 6 weeks. I'm never going to be fluent but I have learned some and it keeps my mind busy.

- 12 Museums From Around the World That You Can Visit Virtually | Travel + Leisure | Travel + Leisure This is a number of museums you can do virtual tours of. I haven't tried it but I'm going to.

-For Christians interested in Bible study the app YouVersion has tons of studies and reading programs to choose from and it helps you stay on track

I'll add more if I come up with them. Please add more to this; I really need things to get me out of my head in the evenings when my anxiety is worst.

What a FANTASTIC IDEA! I'll have to add a few things!!!
Very Nice!
Thank You, BeyindtheRainbow!

Great thread

I'm so glad you posted this. I'm on the verge of panic at the thought of being confined and stuck inside my own mind. I'm having surgery on my foot 4/7 and was expecting to recuperate by reading, watching baseball, and doing some art work, and hopefully being able to do therapy as usual..

So...baseball is out for who knows how long. I'm stockpiling books as much as I can, for fear the library is going to close. My T facilitates a group, but the group is cancelled for a month. Therapy is on for now - but I won't be surprised if they shut down for a month.

Sorry, this is my vent more than it is suggestions. For me, reading a book is the most relaxing way for me to spend time. And I will spend some time meditating, too.

Just made a run to the library for that reason. Got more books than usual. Can always renew them online.

I spend a lot of time here and watching tv too. If need be I can raid my personal library of DVDs they've been boxed in the basement for two years and there's a lot there.

I do need to run to the dollar store for word game books. Need to stock up.

Could always sort though decades of photos and put them in a book

I like to watch random YouTube videos. Like, I get a bunch of recommended videos based on my interests, but I also get random ones that have nothing to do with my interests. I tend to pick the latter and learn about things.

Recently, I have been watching Special Books By Special Kids. The guy and his girlfriend who run it actually do interviews with people who have mental health conditions, physical disabilities, etc.. I find it great and very motivating, especially when you see someone who has many obstacles to overcome on a daily basis, but they manage and push through it and are happy.

Chris Ulmer, who does the interviews, actually travels a lot to meet people, and he has so many videos.

I also watch some British tv documentaries and shows. I don't know why, but for some reason, the stuff on these British documentaries and shows isn't acceptable for American TV. They aren't violent or bloody, nor do they swear really, but some stuff is very graphic. For example, I watch Embarrassing Bodies, which shows people who seek medical help because they have unknown conditions and have given up hope. (It's definitely not nudity/porn, though, as you don't see people's naked body parts. But for example, some British TV shows will show surgery without blurring out any part of the video.)

Also like the show "Undateables." It's a British TV show pretty similar to Special Books By Special kids, with the addition of people who want to date someone who accepts them for who they are. It's eye opening as you become educated.

My typical cleaning , I do want to paint my daughters old bedroom..

I really need to rake out my flower beds they are a foot deep in fall leaves.

We have board games and cards

We have a million DVD’s we have bought over the years

I have 2big tubs of family pictures, I bought photo albums yearsssss ago , but everytime I pull them out I get triggered. Maybe I can do a bit of that

I wander Here, Facebook ,tumblr, YouTube , if you need something hilarious check out Tucker Budzyn he’s a Golden Retriever and I love him ! His Mom “Linda “ is brilliant making videos.

I want to just pick some random topic and learn all I can about it.

Virtual trips to vacation spots.

I am glad I own land I can always wander around.

I don’t think I’ll have much trouble as we are homebodies anyway, but I’m sure it will be difficult for people who are use to needing to go out daily.

Thanks Rainbow for the Thread and links

Great thread!

I'm going to be using

Duolingo: To work on my Italian

Virtual Museum tours

Khan Academy: It's a free way to learn pretty much about whatever subject you want to learn. Check it out at Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice

Youtube

Netflix

Pinterest

Also, I have a Nintendo Switch and lots of videogames to play, and my old Xbox 360.

I love art, so I'll be doing a lot of drawing.

Reading of course,including re-reading The Lord of the Rings which will take up quite a bit of time

Playing/practicing ukulele

Card games, I have a single player Living Card Game, it's basically an RPG (role playing game) it's a lot of fun so that's another thing I can do

Cleaning, it helps relieve my anxiety for some reason

I have quite a few movies so I can always watch one of them

We intend to be outdoors as much as possible. We're planning on some hikes and picnics. We're also going to do some backyard camping one night. The kids really enjoy that. We can do all of that without interacting with other people.

I also want to investigate planting some veggies I haven't grown before. It will be time to plant them soon and I should have time to learn before I take it on.

Lots of reading and writing and I'm taking some time to work on my personal goals for the next year, 3 months and 3 weeks. I like to plan a bit when I know I'll have more free time. It ensures I leverage more of my time moving toward where I wanted to go.

I have lots of great, free books thanks to bookbub. Thanks for that.

I’m going to:
Work on household projects
YouTube
Pinterest
Read
Watch TV
Cook - there are some new recipes I want to try out
Send cards to my family & friends (for St. Patrick’s Day)
Paint
Do inner work through workbooks and Masterclasses
Hang out with my daughter

Great thread!

Thanks for this great thread, BeyondtheRainbow!

What a coincidence reading that two other people plan to put together photo albums. I literally have a pile of empty albums and photos ready for that exact project!

I am lucky that my husband is working from home, so that is lovely. I go into his office from time to time to kiss him and chat or tease. He likes that.

Hubby and I want to do some French studies together.

I always love cooking and baking projects. That's nothing new, but I become even more motivated when hubby is home.

The weather has been quite spring-like. Flowers are starting to bloom. Not only do I love walks, but even just sitting on my deck watching the birds at the bird feeder.

I would really like to start writing something for my blog or memoir again. Even if all I do is some editing of old writing that would be great.

I've been cranking up the music and dancing more lately.

I do need to do some cleaning tasks. In an ideal world, I would even paint some walls, like Christina mentioned. The time has almost come to do a clothes closet reorganization for the changing season.

I totally forgot about bookbub, that’s a great resource! I have several free books I’ve gotten from them that I plan on getting into soon too

Oh yeah, also lots of libraries are connected to services like overdrive and Libby so you can check out an ebook version to your kindle or whatever e reading device you have, or audiobooks

I hope this posts correctly and the link shows up. Cincinnati Zoo is going to be doing little education things daily while they are closed. It's probably aimed more for kids but I'm going to check it out.

(ETA the link didn't who so I"m posting the whole press release which should have a working link).

Cincinnati Zoo Temporarily Closing to the Public Starting Sunday, March 15 - Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden(R)

I like practicing instruments. Right now I'm focusing on keyboard but I have a guitar I fiddle with from time to time.
Also: listening to music, watching youtube videos, playing around in photoshop, playing with the cats, workout, garden (we have a lemon tree! In New Hampshire!)

Well, HBO was free this weekend and I am watching an entire series I wanted to see--very quickly.

I write and try to be as helpful and nice as possible.

I'm going to attempt to learn Bridge. There's a free computer tutor app which is excellent. There are a lot of rules in Bridge tho so i don't know if i can do it. That's what was great about Scrabble. There are very few rules and it's so easy to get started. Bridge is a big investment. But i so want to move on from Scrabble i must try my best.

You can spend about 10 minutes filling out your census report. You don't have to have a number from them yet.

www.my2020census.gov

I am feeling the same way when I was staying at a friends place CD e. Not sure what us permitted vs what I can do without making ways. Tho freed from dealing with 2 situations which involved narcistic types I feel at the mercy of a flu bug. Current I am living in a ymca . I was making some progress until this mess came up. I am basically ccx ally trapped btwn work and a dorm room since all social lnl places are now closed for the next couple month. So much for going to a movie theater or enjoying my museum memberships.

Lots of museums are having on-line tours

I attended a session about elephants at the Cleveland Zoo today (they gave an elephant a bath!) and watched panda bears on a livestream from Atlanta Zoo yesterday. Zoos seem to be running a lot of programs but they keep being at the same time as our daily walk or the state update. I'm watching what I can; I"m not in grade school but I'm still interested.

Hey Rainbow

I want to bring this back to Page 1 since we are all really into this stay home and social distancing..

How is everyone doing ?

Thanks Christina. I can't believe it has only been 14 days since I posted this. We were trying to figure out how long it has been since we put ourselves in isolation due to both being high risk and we can't. I know the last time I went to church was the 1st and therapy the 2nd. We started staying in for a while in there but went out vote the 12th and that was the official last day out for me. I think my state has been on lockdown for 2 weeks? It's all a blur.

We're baking a lot. I made snickerdoodles today and accidentally hit the wrong button on my mom's kitchenAid. I thought I was latching the arm and instead I turned it on with a whole bunch of loose flour in the bowl. So that went everywhere. Oops. Fortunately they came out ok and I think the flour is all cleaned up although it may turn up for days. We freeze most of what we make; by summer we'll need a new deep freeze.

Yes I was shocked to realize just how long ago this started. We are homebodies so I am more use to it than many people ..

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Yummy snickerdoodles ... Yes you will find flour for a while LOL :rofl