Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, being cooped up at home (especially if you are issued a Leave of Absence or a Quarantine Order) can be pretty daunting. Regardless, staying at home will definitely help curb the spread of Covid-19 now that daily numbers of confirmed cases are on the rise.

While there are many things we can do for entertainment in the comfort of air conditioning and wi-fi – like bingeing 10 seasons of Friends on Netflix or playing games on your PlayStation, here are our 5 suggestions on how to turn this house arrest, productive.

If you’re working from home, there is no excuse for you too. With the time saved from commuting to and fro – you’re probably saving an average of 2 hours daily. That’s 28 hours over a span of two weeks!

Learn new stuff

If you don’t know already, there are TONNES of free courses online by Universities and course providers. Check out this super neat list of 450 Ivy League courses for your scrolling pleasure. Courses included here are from Brown, Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia universities, and the University of Pennsylvania.

If you’ve ever wanted to pick up a new skill, for free, now’s probably the best time to do so. Many of these courses are designed to be consumed over 4-12 weeks. Now you can’t complain you’ve got nothing to do!

However, if you feel that securing a certificate might launch your career to greater heights; there are also paid courses with providers such as Coursera, Udemy, and edX – just to name a few. These courses are carefully curated, tailored to deliver information the best way possible over the inter-web across screens.

If you’re not a fan of learning through screen, finish that book you’ve been intending to complete since last Christmas, practice on your guitar, or try your hand at cooking. So many things to learn!

Make your home smart

Now that you are smarter, make your home as smart as you!

Not too long ago, the idea of controlling lights, electrical appliances and electronics with your phone was nearly impossible (or just too damn unaffordable).  Now, with just a few clicks on online shopping sites and taps on your phone to download the right apps, you can finally turn off the lights in your house, all from your smartphone or virtual assistant.

Depending on your budget, you could either opt to replace the wall switches around your house (MORE CONTROL!) or just buy adapters where you can plug your lights and your electrical appliances directly.

Planning a smart home takes some time – you’ll have to count the number of wall switches you have around your home, check if those switches are 1-way or 2-way, whether these smart accessories are compatible and take the time to shop or have them delivered to your home.

After you’re all done installing them, connect them to Apple Home, Google Home or Alexa and watch the magic happen by just saying commands out loud. Schedule lights to be on at certain times of the day, turn on the lights in the dark with your phone, automate the lights when someone is in close proximity. The possibilities are endless!

Once this pandemic is over, bet your friends green with envy of your smarter home.

Sell your junk

I’m talking about trash.

If you’re a frequent traveller, you should know what I mean. Things that aren’t essential to your everyday life should not be lugged around or kept.

Marie Kondo your wardrobe, drawers and storage. Pile whatever that doesn’t spark joy into a large heap and start snapping pictures. Perhaps sell that not-too-rare deck of Pokemon cards from your adolescent years to buy smart home accessories, or that Javascript course you saw on Coursera to upskill yourself?

Depending on where you are reading this from, there are many digital platforms that you can use to your benefit. Craigslist, eBay are popular in the U.S., Gumtree in the United Kingdom, Carousell in Singapore. 

Though it may be pretty inconvenient to travel outdoors to transact given the current situation, have your local couriers pick them for you! One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – I’m sure people would be willing to pay slightly more for door-to-door deliveries.

Catch up with your old friends

We all live busy lives, raising kids, hustling at work, and often too drained at the end of the day to meet Tom for a pint of beer at the pub. Weekends are for family, otherwise to run errands.

Now that things are different, you can meet Thomas and Friends online! With so many tools to choose from – Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, set a time with your old mates every week or every day with a drink in your hand and reminisce about the good old times!

Exercise

What if I told you that you could lose your beer belly in a month; with just 30 minutes of exercise daily?

Unless you want to have the body of Dwayne Johnson’s, exercise using your body weight is enough to reduce risks of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and most importantly, reduce the size of that belly you’ve been guiltily tucking in since I mentioned it.

There are many free tutorials on YouTube and paid subscriptions that you can choose from. But all will equally help in improving your health.

If this is too much a hassle to follow, cleaning your house is also a good form of exercise!

The spread of the virus is no laughing matter. With shopping, entertainment outlets ordered to close, Clarke Quay and Orchard Road are quieter than usual however, that doesn’t mean that you should be out and about! Let’s play our part and stay strong in the face of adversity – you and I can get through this.