It has been 30 days since the Netherlands implemented lockdown measures to combat the pandemic disease Covid-19. In fact, it is not only Netherlands that has to suffer this Covid-19 lockdown but the whole world! People are encouraged to stay at home in order to flatten the curve of the impact of corona virus. Perhaps many were wondering what does this flattening of the curve mean and how does it relate to staying at home? The flattening of the curve means reducing the daily rate of infection of the coronoa virus by limiting contact betwee peole. As an effect, the infection rate is reduced, effectively flattening the curve of total infections. If the hospitals gets overwhelmed or not able to accommodate the daily increasing number of infections, the situation may get out of hand. Many infected patients could not get the care they need leading to more death. In order to reduce the daily rate of infection and to protect the more vulnerable people such as the elderly and those with underlying health problems, people are advised to stay at home. By staying at home, we are helping the governments and front liners to combat the disease.

Staying at home brings mixed reactions from many people – some get bored since they are the outgoing type. Others get depressed because they lost their jobs while there are some who were worried on how to sustain their daily living since if they stay at home, they will have no income to pay for their daily needs. Of course, there are also some who are happy since they can finally find time to relax at home and even take care of their kids.

For us, staying at home gives both happiness and challenge at the same time. I can do my work remotely therefore I feel more freedom from work and I can just work whenever I want. I don’t need to wake up early to go to work, thus I can get more sleep. More importantly, I can take care of my kids and even educate them myself. However, work-life balance is definitely a challenge especially during this Covid19 lockdown. I have to work, parent my kids, and do some household stuff that sometimes 24 hours in a day is not enough! Luckily, time does not matter this moment and I always make sure that I do atleast one or two relaxing activities to make sure that staying at home is fun and fruitful.

How to enjoy staying at home during Covid-19 lockdown?

Are you the ones who are bored being at home during this Covid-19 lockdown? Don’t worry there are many things to do to make sure that you don’t get bored or depressed staying at home. Below you find a list of 15 things that you can do when at home.

1. Read books.

When you use to go to work or to school, you might not have time to read some books. But now that you have the luxury of time, maybe it is time to open your favorite sci-fi, romantic, or suspense novels. It could also be a good time to open some educational books such as history, finance, or scientific books. Come and try! Before this lockdown ends, you may have increased your knowledge and depth!

2. Watch Netflix during Covid19 lockdown.

Being at home during Covid-19 lockdown is also the best time to watch movies and shows in Netflix. Netflix offers different varieties of shows – for family and kids, history, comedy, cartoons, and many things to choose from. I am specifically a fan of history, thus I watch (and finished many history shows). In fact, I was able to connect and learn in-depth the European history by simply watching Netflix! If you want to start watching, here are the titles of the shows including the countries: Vikings (Scandinavian countries), The Roman Empire (Old Rome), Outlander (Scotland), Reign (France), Tudor (England), The Rise of Empires: Ottoman (Turkey), The Last Kingdom (England), The Musketeers (France), The Last Czars (Russia), Jan de Lichte (Belgium), Marco Polo (China), The Royal House of Windsor (England), Secrets of Great British Castles (England), and Crown (England). If you want some American series that resembles reality, I can recommend Suits, Designated Survivor, La Casa de Papel to name a few. Simply watching in the couch is a definitely cozy time with family.

3. Do gardening.

Gardening makes a person relax. Now is also the best time to do it, the weather is getting better and the sad reality is that the food is getting scarce. If you don’t have much space to do gardening, you can always enjoy doing indoor gardening using recycled bottles and small pots and containers. Isn’t it a rewarding feeling to grow your own fruits and vegetables?

4. Homeschool your kids.

If there are people who are the happiest in this lockdown, I guess they are the kids! As I mentioned in my blog Raising a happy and balanced kid the Dutch way, a secret for having a happy kid is that both parents spend more time with them. In this lockdown, kids can definitely get the time and attention from their parents. They can even play with them. Enjoy this moment with them. For sure it will be one of the most memorable months that they will remember when they grow up.

5. Cook foods and bake cakes and pastries.

One thing that is interesting about this lockdown is that the numbers of youtube searches for cooking enormously increase! People are starting to learn or improve their cooking skills. Why not try it – cook your traditional dishes or experiment on foods that you wanted to eat but couldn’t do so since restaurants are closed. More importantly, have fun doing cooking and baking with your kids! You are not only developing your own cooking skill, but are also those of your children. There are many available recipes online such as on youtube, google search and even on the packages you buy. Don’t miss this out! 😉

6. Enjoy eating and having barbeque.

Of course, it’s even more fun to enjoy eating the food that you cook or bake in a garden, terrace, or any nice place at home. No need to be in the restaurant when you exactly get the same feeling being at home. For those who are on temperate countries, now is also the good time to enjoy doing barbecue at home. Spring is in the air and definitely a cozy time with family!

7. Exercise and lose weight during the Covid19 lockdown.

The Covid19 lockdown could perhaps not give you anymore an excuse for not exercising. While at home, you can simply do some dancing, push-ups, weight lifting, or simply running after your kids. Definitely less boring and good for your health!

8. Learn to paint and/or play instrument in the lockdown.

Time to learn some new skills, whether it is painting or playing intruments. Get your paint brush and canvass. Alternatively, you may pick up the guitar, violin, or flute and play some music. Dont forget to share your masterpieces, it will definitely bring joy to other people who are also in lockdown.

9. Clean the house.

Of course, being in a lockdown is not an excuse for cleaning the house. In fact you should do it regularly. But since we stay at home for every long (and given an indefinite period of time), time to remove some clutters and bring some orderness in your house. Clean the places that need cleaning or work-out on room that needs some designing. It gives tranquility feeling when everything around you is organize. You may not even want to leave the house.

10. Do yoga and meditating.

Enormous free time also means more space to reflect on life and whats really important and to meditate. Doing yoga and meditating is the best way to relax and to achieve balance in both body and mind. Have a try, perhaps you may nurture and appreciate more yourself and unlock the introvertness inside you.

11.  Learn new language.

Covid-19 lockdown is perhaps the right time to learn also new languages, whether it is German, French, Dutch or Spanish! Having the language skill is definitely an advantage, especially at work. Besides, it is also fun to speak and communicate using different languages. If you want some beginners or free lessons, there are many online courses such as Coursera and Babbel.com. Alternatively, you may also use Google search to find some free language websites.

12. Do online courses.

During the Covid-19 lockdown is one of the best moments to level up your skills. Take some online courses. Schools and universities worldwide are physically closed due to the lockdown, thus it is transforming the education sector into online courses. Fortunately, it is possible to attend online courses for free! If you need to get certification for following free courses, Coursera is maybe something to check out for.

13. Blog/vlog.

Still bored of being at home? Well perhaps it is also the time to level up your social media skills by blogging and/or vlogging. Interestingly, we see lately a boost in use of Instagrams, Facebooks, and Tiktok applications. But if you want to level up your blogging, you may also make it more professional using Youtube – blogging/vlogging cooking, your exercise hobbies, previous travels before the lockdown, and many more! Blogging is not really on top of my lists to do during the first month of the lockdown. But similar to many companies, the number of travel-related visitors of my site was literally cut into half so time to work again in blogging. 😉

14. Play games.

There are also many games to play while being at home – whether it is playstation, board games, or computer games. In case you have kids, you may even want to maximize educating them by playing games such as domino, memory games, and puzzles. Definitely good for stimulating their minds.

15. Do lots of sleeping in this Covid-19 lockdown!

If there is one thing that I definitely enjoy during the lockdown, it is sleeping more at home. I don’t have to wake up early to go to work and I can take a nap in the afternoon whenever my husband and I switch for taking care of our kids. Try to restore the state of health that you were once deprive of. Sleep during this Covid-19 lockdown. In the end, being healthy is definitely a good weapon in combatting the corona virus.