Busting the boredom of social distancing

The schools are closed. Places of business are sending employees home to either work remotely or wait until they can work again. Social gatherings of 10 or more are no longer allowed in the city. And a lot of us have more time at home on our hands than we know what to do with. 

Here are some simple ways to break up the monotony of practicing social distancing:

• Discover the wonderful and somewhat weird world of YouTube tutorials. There are a lot of them and you can learn almost any skill — plumbing, woodworking, watercolors, guitar and much more.
• Research volunteering opportunities in San Marcos or Hays County and mark down the opportunities most interesting to you. When the quarantines and isolation ends, many will still be in a pretty precarious situation, so making a personal contribution of time or money could really help out the community. 
• Maybe use this time to learn something that’s not exactly “useful,” like juggling, drawing flowers, etc.
• Make a shared playlist on Spotify and ask your family, your friends, even your neighbor to add a few songs to listen to in moments of melancholy.
• Start keeping a quarantine diary: it might be fun to read it again in a few years. Might.
• Make a list of all the annoying tasks you’ve got coming up in the next few weeks and months. It’s kind of like having a semblance of control over life right now. 
• Use this time to explore the world of cinema. Watch some movies that you might not normally pick — ones with all subtitles, ones with “niche” interest, or simply films that are  “not really your thing.”
• Organize. Clean out your closet, clean out the junk drawer in the kitchen, clean out your bathroom cabinets and desk drawers. After all, when else are you going to have weeks to get your life organized?
• Memorize a poem.
• Call your grandparents.
• Call your mom. 
• Call all your loved ones and catch up.
• Bake. Make a cake from scratch. Bake some cookies. Make a sourdough starter so you can have delicious bread, pretzels and pizza crusts whenever you want.
• Update your resume. Make it beautiful, so the next time that perfect job comes along, you’re ready to apply.
• Teach your old dog a new trick. Furry friends are getting to spend more time than ever with their owners, make use of that time — Youtube also has a tutorial for that.
• Download the Chrome extension Netflix Party and watch Netflix remotely with friends and family. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.
• Go on an unsubscribe spree through your emails. Annihilate the unnecessary flack clogging your inbox.
• Finally learn how to knit: And if you’re like me, you will get so angry at the tutorial you’ll forget about everything else for half an hour at least.
• Garden. It is spring after all. If you have a yard, weed the garden beds; order tomato seeds and start seedlings, start a container herb garden.
• Incorporate meditation into your schedule. Learning how to quiet the mind is a useful skill in stressful times.
• Dust off that old Nintendo and finally beat Super Mario. Your 13 year-old self would be so proud.
• Rearrange your house, move beds, couches, bookshelves and find out how you like them best.
• If you are young and healthy — and not exhibiting any symptoms — make yourself useful to the more vulnerable members in our community. Go to the pharmacy for them, or pick up those items they need from the store, cook an extra meal and take it over. And of course, wash your hands.