Our Self Isolation To Do List – 70 Things To Do While Stuck at Home

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This is our self-isolation to-do list. We thought that other people might be looking for things to keep themselves and their kids busy too. We are all stuck at home right now with Coronavirus quarantine/isolation. It can get boring and a bit depressing. We decided to make a list of all the things that we would like to accomplish while this is going on and fun things that we can do together. Since we’re all in the same situation right now, we decided to share this in case other people are in need of ideas to keep busy. It’s so important to stay home to keep yourself and others safe. Without further ado, this is 70 things to do while stuck at home.

1.) Decompress

How often can you take a day off to spend at home and just be? Resist the urge to check the news every five minutes. Take a day to just relax and decompress. Take a bath or lay on the sofa all day. Drink a glass of wine. Just do whatever feels right.

2.) Clean Your Home

You finally have time to clean the house. Granted with your kids at home, it may not stay clean very long. I’m taking the time to really clean the stuff that I don’t always have time to like wiping down the cabinets and cleaning the oven.

3.) Cook

Make a nice meal for your family. Let your kids help in the kitchen too. It’s a great bonding time.

4.) Call Family and Friends

Seriously, call your grandma! I know it’s hard to stay in touch with people who don’t text regularly but you’ll feel so good after catching up with everyone. Call or facetime your grandparents, parents, extended family, and friends. This will give you a chance to be social without ever leaving your house.

5.) Bake a Cake or Cookies

I always complain that I don’t have time to bake. Well, now I do and I intend to put it to good use.

6.) Laundry

While you’re cleaning your house, get caught up on your laundry and put it all away.

7.) Take a Virtual Field Trip

Everything might be closed down but a lot of museums offer virtual tours. This is a great thing to do with your kids to distract all of you for a bit. Some zoos also have cameras to watch their animals.

8.) Fix That Thing You’ve Been Putting Off

Finally, fix that thing you’ve been putting off, whatever it might be as long as you have the supplies. Today I tightened up a handle that has been loose and driving me crazy. It’s important to give yourself a small win every day especially while all of this is going on. It’s good for your mental health to complete something.

9.) Have a Movie Night

Pop some popcorn or make a snack and settle in for a movie night. This is a great way to spend an afternoon or evening as a family too.

10.) Play a Board Game

A wonderful way to pass some time with your kids.

11.) Read a Book

Put on your most comfortable pajamas and find a great place to curl up with that book you’ve been meaning to read. You could also read a family classic to your kids. Everybody loves a good storytime.

12.) Plan a Future Trip

Where are you going on your next vacation? This is a good time to think about where you want to go or what you want to do if you already have a destination in mind.

13.) Binge Watch a Show

Do you have a show you want to finish or something that you’ve been wanting to watch? Now is a perfect time. Enjoy the distraction. Looking for something to watch with your kids? Check out our post: 35 Shows to Watch with your Kids on Netflix

14.) Budget

Set up your budget. It doesn’t take much to set up a basic budget. There are app options or you can go old school with paper and pen. This is a very useful way to spend some of this time.

15.) Manicure/Pedicure

Spend a little time making your nails and toenails look pretty. You could even take turns doing your child’s nails and letting them do yours. Nobody will see them anyway and it will make you feel better.

16.) Take a Nap

No really, take a nap. How often do we have free time to indulge in such things?

17.) Play a Video Game

If you’re an avid gamer, you are thrilled to have time to play. If you’re not, why not try something new? Download an app, find a game online, or finally let your kids show you that game that they have been asking to. Maybe you’ll have a great time.

18.) YouTube

Pass a little time getting lost in travel vlogs or laughing at silly things on YouTube. If you like reality shows, check out Escape the Night. We did the free trial and binge-watched it because it was so good.

19.) Puzzle

Puzzles anyone? We love a good puzzle. There are a couple that we haven’t done yet on the board game shelf. We love doing big puzzles on the coffee table together. We started a 1,000 piece puzzle today. It will definitely help us pass some time.

20.) Declutter

Have you been trying to find time to declutter your home? This is a good time to clean out your closets. You have to set the things aside somewhere until you’re able to donate them but it’s still a good use of time.

21.) Get Your Wardrobe in Order

After you are done decluttering, take stock of your wardrobe. Are there other ways that you can wear certain pieces? Are you missing any key pieces? Make a list of those items to buy later. If you know you want a pair of black boots but don’t know exactly what you want, take a little time to research the style you are interested in.

22.) Facial/Face Mask

Do you have one of these lying around? Treat yourself.

23.) Color

Color a picture with your kids.

24.) Do a Craft Project

It doesn’t matter if you’re crafty or not, do a craft project. Paint something. Make something. Do something from a kit. Sew something. I’m horrible at crafts but they’re still fun to do with my girls.

25.) Clean Out Your Email

I talked about this in our recent Spring Cleaning Your Life post. It’s such a nice feeling to deal with everything in your email. Unsubscribe from things that you don’t want to keep getting. Make files to put stuff in that you need/want to keep.

26.) Figure Out That Thing You’re Embarrassed That You Don’t Know

Whether it’s politics, budgeting, or how to take the perfect selfie, now is a great time to figure it out.

27.) Social Media

It’s so easy to get lost in social media that I normally recommend avoiding using it too much but during all this, it can be a good time to indulge as long as you don’t go overboard or get swept up in the panic. While you’re there, clean up your accounts. Make sure your information is up to date. Clean up your following lists by getting rid of inactive accounts or people that just bother you.

28.) Take an Online Class

Check out an online class and learn something. Teachable and Skillshare often online classes in just about everything. Some public libraries and colleges offer free classes to the community. This is such a good way to use this extra time in a productive way.

29.) Spend Time in Your Yard/Garden

You can’t really go anywhere but if you’re lucky enough to have a yard/garden, now is the time to use it. Run around with the kids. Have a picnic. Get a little fresh air and sunshine.

30.) Cute Pictures

Just because you’re stuck in the house doesn’t mean you can’t take cute pictures of yourself or your kids. You can set up a photoshoot area with props and get dressed up or you can just play with Snapchat filters. Either way, you are left with some fun memories.

31.) Organize Your Planner

Take this slow time to organize your planner. You could even decorate it.

32.) Organize Your Pantry or Closet or Cabinets

I was so happy to have time to organize my pantry. We have been so busy that it was in a state of disarray and was driving me nuts.

33.) Vision Board

Make a vision board using old magazines and handwritten quotes. Don’t have supplies, download an app to make one on your phone.

34.) Goodreads Account

I read that almost half of adults in the United States and the UK didn’t read a single book last year. How sad is that? Start a Goodreads account and start a to-read list. The app will suggest books that you might enjoy. There are reviews and many books have a free preview so you can decide if you like it before you buy it.

35.) Amazon Prime

While talking about reading more, I have to mention that Amazon Prime has perks that most people never use. One of them is free Prime books. I love this perk and have read a few great books on there. In addition to books, you can also read magazines, watch shows on their streaming service, and listen to ad-free music. Use this link to sign up for Amazon Prime and get a free 30-day trial!

36.) Exercise

Exercise is a great way to boost your mood and improve your immune system. Lookup a free class on YouTube or Amazon Prime. This is good for your kids too. Our younger two girls love doing the free dance class videos.

37.) Dance Party

Crank up the tunes and dance. This is also a great way to get in some exercise without putting in a full workout.

38.) Spotify Playlist

Set up a few playlists for different things. We listen to a lot of music around our house. We have Disney playlists, travel playlists, family-friendly music, and I have a few for when I’m working on things with headphones on. It takes time to set up playlists. This is a good time to do it or edit the ones that you already have.

39.) Clean Out Your Car

We can’t really go anywhere but we can get our cars ready for when we can.

40.) Go For a Drive

Look sometimes you just have to get out for a few minutes. Once we get to that point, we plan to take a drive to the gas station to refill my gas tank. I’m still working outside the home a couple of days a week but our kids are completely stuck here. I know eventually, they will be happy to just drive around the block.

41.) Back Up Your Devices and Do Your Updates

Have you been putting off backing up your computer or phone? Do you need to do updates you’ve been avoiding? Do it and get it over with.

42.) Leave Positive Reviews

This is hitting small businesses really hard. Take the time to leave good reviews for all the places that you love. It will put you in a good mood reliving a good experience and it will give them a boost.

43.) Bucketlist

If you don’t have a bucket list, now is a great time to write one.

44.) Talk to Your Significant Other and Kids

Turn it all off and spend some time together without the distractions. Maybe you’ll come out of this closer than ever.

45.) Listen to a Podcast or Ted Talk

There are so many amazing podcasts and Ted Talks out there!

46.) Clean Your Electronics

I don’t know about anybody else but we don’t get around to cleaning our electronics nearly enough.

47.) Clean Out Your Purse, Diaper Bag, and/or Wallet

All the things that you are normally using while on the go, clean them out now.

48.) Spend Time with Your Pets

Cuddle all those little fur babies. Don’t have pets? Watch some videos of puppies and kitties to put a smile on your face.

49.) Teach Your Kid Something

They’re stuck at home too. Why not teach them something useful?

50.) Work On Home Projects

Do you have paintings that need hung? Walls that need to be painted? Finish any projects that you have supplies for.

51.) Write Your Own To-Do List

What would you like to do with this time at home? Write out a list of things that you want to do. Make a basic schedule for each day. If you’re working from home or have kids that need to do school work, this is even more important.

52.) Read Blogs

Get caught up on all of your favorite blogs.

53.) Write

If you’re a blogger or aspiring writer, get to it.

54.) New Hairstyle

Practice a new hairstyle. I’m working on perfecting dutch braiding my own hair.

55.) Photos

Look at old photos with your kids or on your own. Do you have loads of photos that need to be gone through? Nows a great time to do it. Delete the bad ones and edit the ones that need it.

56.) Build a Fort

Great way to play with your kids.

57.) Origami

All you need is a piece of paper for this item on our self-isolation to-do list! There are so many tutorials online.

58.) Playdough

Toddlers to adults!

59.) Puppets

Make puppets out of the recycling and old craft items. Spend the day making, decorating, writing a show, and then put on a show for each other.

60.) Build

Legos, magnatiles, blocks, or even boxes! Building is a must on our self-isolation to-do list.

61.) Draw

Draw a picture.

62.) Sidewalk Chalk

Do you have a patio or sidewalk that the kids can draw on? Put it to use.

63.) Learn a Magic Trick

Why not?

64.) Dye Easter Eggs

It’s close to Easter. Dye or decorate some Easter eggs with something nontoxic. You can have hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, lunch, or snacks for a few days.

65.) Easter Decorations

Make some easy Easter decorations if you celebrate it.

66.) Make a Cup of Tea

Relax with a cup of tea or have a tea party with your kids.

67.) Pay Your Bills

Look to see if you can lower any of your bills while you’re at it.

68.) Follow a Beauty Tutorial

Find something that looks fun on YouTube or a blog and give it a go.

69.) Old-School Game

Play an old-school game like Simon Says.

70.) Tell Your Kids a Story

Tell your kids your favorite family stories.

That’s our list for self-isolation ideas. If you have more, please share them in a comment below. Let’s all keep each other safe by staying at home! We can and should do this!

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