20 Ways to Keep Busy During a Pandemic (Other Than Panicking)

When I said I was born in the wrong century, I meant I wanted to wear long linen gowns, make strawberry jam, embroider handkerchiefs and be courted from afar by a handsome suitor. I can’t say I was longing for the plague.

I’ve never been the sort of person to take things one day at a time. It’s just not my nature. I’m always planning, always running through the worst and best case scenarios in my head, trying to predict what comes next so that I can stay one step ahead. If I have a to-do list and a packed planner for the next three months, I’m thrilled.

Naturally, my nature hasn't found the current state of the world particularly agreeable.

I miss going out to restaurants and shopping malls, spending cozy evenings with my friends and even going to early morning classes. But until life resumes its normal course, the best I can hope for is that my family and friends stay healthy and that I can keep my mind occupied long enough to stay sane.

That being said, as a life-long introvert and lover of all things hands-on, I have a number of tricks up my sleeve to stay busy. Hobbies are invaluable in times like these, so I’ve put together a list of everything I hope to dabble in over the next few weeks, ranging from the cottagecore to the downright trendy. I've linked a few of my favorite tutorials, so feel free to steal one (or several) and hopefully we all can emerge from this difficult time with some small happiness, even if just in the form of a bit of homemade jam (I'm, uh, still working on the handsome suitor thing).

• Make an upcycled candle— useful AND eco-friendly

• Can some homemade jam

• Crochet a basic granny square—I actually already did this one! I kept going and made a cozy burgundy blanket that I absolutely adore

• Weave a trendy wall tapestry

• Fold an origami dragon—one of my favorite childhood pastimes

• Do that e-girl makeup that I’m too scared to wear outside the house

• Create a sourdough starter—it’s like a Tamagotchi… that you eat

• Make homemade boba tea to soothe my cravings until Ice N Bites reopens

• Improve my handwriting—you know, for all those love letters I'll be sending my suitor

• Work on my tap dance

• Try to recreate those incredible Galen Hooks choreo videos

• Whip up that fluffy coffee that’s all over Tik Tok

• To that point, perfect my Tik Tok dances

• Brew the perfect cup of tea—Zoom tea party, anyone?

• Bake biscuits for that tea party

• Press some flowers to use in crafts

• Practice fingerpicking on the guitar

• Or the violin

• Or maybe I still have my recorder from third grade?

• And finally, practice my transatlantic accent so I can fulfill my daydream of being a 1940’s starlet

Cover photo by Magdaline Nicole from Pexels