By Barbara Lazaridis, Emily Saks, and Adrian Velonis
Running out of things to do in quarantine? Social distancing rules might prevent you from seeing all of your best friends, but there are still plenty of things you can do to stay motivated and on-track (and have fun while you’re at it). Here’s a list of a few things that we thought of to help you through this difficult time.
Professional/career:
- Freelance – Are you skilled in writing, editing, or graphic design? Or do you know another language or have tutoring experience? There are many online job postings for freelance gigs that can be completed remotely. You could earn a little extra money by selling your skills, or add the experience to your resume.
- Take a free online course – If you’re someone who enjoys learning, you might be missing school now that classes have ended. If that’s you, try looking into the variety of free online courses offered through websites like Coursera and Edx. There are courses in music, linguistics, law, computer science, and much more. Fee free to explore an area that’s completely outside the realm of your major.
- Check out the opportunities shared by Bi-Co career centers – Bryn Mawr’s Career & Civic Engagement Center and Haverford’s Center for Career and Professional Advising have plenty of resources that can help you on your academic and career track!
- Polish your resume – If you’re planning on applying for jobs and internships during quarantine or in the near future, keeping your resume up-to-date is extremely important.
- Write for the Bi-College News! – If you are aspiring for a career in journalism, if you’d like to get some articles published to boost your resume, or if you’d just like to try out something new, writing for the Bi-Co News is a great opportunity! We will be writing and publishing throughout the summer, and everyone’s work is welcome. Through the Bi-Co News, you can publish news pieces, academic articles, opinion articles, or anything else. Reach out to news.bico@gmail.com.
Personal development:
- Keep a diary or journal – Simply writing down your thoughts and experiences at the end of the day can be a great way to de-stress and reflect. It can also motivate you to continue to live an active life, despite stay-at-home orders. Lastly, it can be a way to document your experiences living through a pandemic. Who knows? Maybe your story could be something you tell your children or could inspire your future memoir.
- Reflect – Alongside journaling, setting time aside to reflect and plan can be very important. Sitting down with your thoughts, and a pen and paper or your laptop, can be a proactive way of envisioning your future. There are so many things to reflect on! You can ask yourself questions like, “Where do I want to be by the time I finish college?,” “What have I enjoyed/not enjoyed this far, and how would I like my life to change?,” or even deeper ones like, “What do I want out of life?” Some good reflection can be insightful for all of us.
- Improve your time management skills – Doing some research into time management could prove very beneficial, especially for us college students. Some tips on how to manage your time better include:
- Set up a schedule in Google Calendar and stick to it every day. Just remember to leave yourself time to relax!
- Control how much time you spend scrolling through social media.
- Beware of things which give you instant gratification (i.e. procrastination). Things that seem enjoyable in the moment might release a lot of dopamine all at once, and can make some more beneficial things, such as reading a book or learning a new skill, less exciting. This can hinder how much we achieve in the long run.
- Invest time in learning how to read faster and more effectively – Given that a lot of our work depends on being able to read large quantities of text, investing some time in becoming better at reading would be a great goal for the summer. You can find a lot of advice for how to read fast and with greater comprehension on the internet. Learning how to do this mostly involves doing drills where you try different techniques of reading more efficiently with a timer.
- Learn a new language – Whether it’s something you’d like to try out, or whether learning languages is your true passion, studying a language this summer can be a great use of time. Picking up this new skill not only makes you more competitive in the workforce, but it also benefits you personally by giving you insight on a different way of thinking and by exercising your brain. You can find resources for learning up to 48 languages on this website, shared by Bryn Mawr’s career center. Other resources include apps such as Duolingo and Memrise, language exchange websites and apps such as HelloTalk and Conversation Exchange, as well as podcasts, YouTube videos, and newspapers in the language you’re aiming to learn.
- Start a new exercise routine – It doesn’t have to be anything complicated, but maintaining your physical health is more important now than ever, since we aren’t going out as much. Exercising regularly also has a positive effect on your mental health. If you never exercise, simply taking a walk or doing some yoga every day can be refreshing, and is also a nice time to reflect. More intense exercise such as going on runs and body weight workouts are also totally possible to do while obeying social distancing guidelines. Many trails are still open for use as long as you wear a mask! The important part is to find a type of exercise that you enjoy and then stick to it.
- FIX YOUR SLEEP SCHEDULE! – Whether you’re an early bird or a later riser, one of the most important things that you can do for yourself is to maintain a regular sleep schedule, making sure that you go to bed and wake up at around the same time every day. This will prevent your body from becoming confused. Getting better sleep can help to improve your health, your mood, and your productivity! If you have trouble falling asleep, try to avoid looking at screens for 30–60 minutes beforehand.
Giving back:
- Give back to your community – This is a chaotic period of time for many families around the world, but there are things you can do to help and support others. The American Red Cross is facing a severe blood shortage, and you can sign up to donate. Look into volunteer opportunities near you, such as programs that aid healthcare employees and other essential workers.
- Join a movement! – There is so much activism that needs to be done to reach that better future we all want and need. Activism is a good way to gain new skills and new experiences while fighting for a better future. Movements are generally easy to get into: for most grassroots movements offering to volunteer is all it takes (no need for resumes, cover letters, etc.). Some movements which you can join this summer are the Sunrise Movement, the movement to #SaveCongoRainforest, striking online every Friday on instagram and twitter with @fff.digital, and many more. In addition, this link will lead you to a toolkit which you can use to advocate for and stand in solidarity with indigenous communities in sub-Saharan Africa and in South America. An article on this with more resources will be coming soon.
- Clean up litter in parks – More people are spending time outdoors now that the weather is getting nicer, but that unfortunately also means that more trash is being left out. One of the best things you can do for your community is to beautify these areas so that everyone can enjoy them to their fullest and so that wildlife stays healthier. With a mask, a tough pair of work gloves, and a big trash bag (a contractor bag is sturdiest, but even a normal trash bag should work), try going out to a park or wooded area and searching for garbage lying on the ground. Look for anything synthetic or reflective, such as bottles, cans, plastic bags, wrappers, and other junk. Watch out for sharp objects like metal or needles, and be sure not to disturb any animals you come across. If you’re cleaning up trash on a trail in a suburban area, you may have to leave the path to find some pieces of litter that have blown in, but be sure that you know where you are at all times! Share your work on Twitter with the #DeTrashed hashtag or on the /r/DeTrashed subreddit!
Hobbies/activities:
- Spend time with family – If you’re quarantined with your family, why not spend some time actually getting to know your parents, siblings, or relatives? A lot of us study or work away from our families and hometown, so quarantine could be the perfect time to reconnect with loved ones.
- Start a personal project – Many of us have personal projects that we’d like to complete, but feel that there is never enough time to start them. Whether it’s writing a short story or poem, learning to knit, starting a DIY project, or teaching yourself to do the splits, your time at home could be a great time to start on something you’ve been meaning to do for a while.
- Learn how to play an instrument – Do you have a piano, guitar, or another instrument at home, that you were going to start learning but never got the chance to? This summer could be the chance you had been waiting for. There are resources on YouTube, as well as on numerous websites which can be reached through a search on Google.
- Experiment with new cooking recipes – This is a great time to try recipes that you’ve never done before, and cooking an actual meal instead of eating another bowl of cereal for dinner can feel really satisfying! Mess around with new ingredients and types of food to see what works.
- Find new ways to train your pet(s) – Your pets are probably just as bored as you are! If you have a dog, it’ll be more than happy to spend time with you while you teach it some new tricks and how to behave better. Even cats can be trained with enough time, and you certainly have a lot of that right now.
Remember to follow your area’s social distancing guidelines and other regulations, and stay safe!
Image credit: Sourland Mountain Spirits, CMA Solutions, Centraljersey.com
