Four Home Activities to Ease Boredom During the Coronavirus Pandemic

As the coronavirus provides a very real concern to most of the world, one of the most common concerns among many Americans is how to face the immediate concern of boredom. The vast majority of us are practicing social distancing, and staying at home as much as possible.  However, you can only binge Netflix for so long, before the yearning to do anything else really kicks in. Now is a great time to think of ways to make this time as productive as possible.  Consider tackling some home projects to ease your boredom as we face this global pandemic.  If you need supplies, most hardware stores are still open, and many offer online ordering to minimize your interactions.  Here are some of my personal suggestions for staying busy around the home.

1.Tackle Deferred Maintenance

Before you start thinking about watching youtube videos on how to re-tile your master bath, it’s best to start with the regular routine maintenance you may have been neglecting.  Do you remember the last time you changed your air filters?  If not, now’s a great time to change them.  How about that towel rack that came loose 6 months ago?  Why not get out your screw driver and finally fix it?  Look around your home, and identify all of the little projects that you know need to be addressed.  Then, get to work on fixing them one by one.

2.Paint

While you are identifying the deferred maintenance items on your list, you may have noticed areas where you need to do some touch up paint.  Hopefully, you have some extra paint on hand, and can touch up those spots easily.  If you don’t, you may want to hold off on that project until after the coronavirus season.  However, if you’ve had aspirations to paint an accent wall, or like me have considered an elaborate paint stenciling project, now’s a great time to pick up the roller and get to work.  If you’re looking for inspiration, I ordered my wall stencil from a great US company, Cutting Edge Stencils, they have plenty of ideas for using their stencils on their website. Don’t limit yourself to just walls, you can also paint tiles, furniture, and patios.

3.Spring Cleaning

With everything happening in the world, the idea of spring cleaning is now more important than ever.  In addition to disinfecting hard surfaces, light switches, and door knobs consider some more extensive cleaning projects too.   Why not think about cleaning out your junk drawer, organizing your closet, and re-claiming your garage?  Why not Marie Kondo your entire home? You know you have the time.

4.Garden

I don’t know about you, but just seeing a bright colorful flower brightens my day.  That’s why I planted some blue delphiniums in my front porch planters early this week.  If you can’t make it to a store to purchase plants right now, that doesn’t mean you can’t work on your garden.  You can pull weeds, move rocks around to create beds, and prepare the soil.  You may also have some seeds on hand.  I found a bunch in my junk drawer earlier this week. Now, I have a nice little cropping of sunflower, tomatoes and basil seedlings that have started growing in my windowsill.  Now, more than ever you may recognize the benefits of growing your own produce.

These are incredibly trying times for all of us.  I hope that these simple ideas will inspire you to take action around your home.  As always, if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me directly by phone or email.