Coronavirus (COVID-19) has effectively brought the world to a stop. Businesses have shut down, tourist sites are deserted, a large number of airlines have stopped or severely curtailed service, and countries are closing borders and implementing travel bans in order to halt the spread the virus.

Originally, I was scheduled to visit my 100th country, but as the situation has become worse, I decided to cancel my entire trip for a later time since I could not take a chance on not being able to return to work. While it is certainly disappointing, my situation is far from unique since millions of other people are just as affected if not more.

In response to the virus, governments throughout the world are urging people to self-isolate and practice social distance. Since self-isolation and social distancing are the current new normal and might remain so for awhile, it means millions of people in the world need to stay home. This means people will need to keep occupied to pass the time since activities we are all used to, such as sports and outdoor activities have mostly been postponed until further notice.

Here are 10 things to do during self-isolation:

1) Clean

It is often too easy to let things go when we become busy with work. I can speak for this personally. Sometimes I get so caught up in work that things don’t get cleaned as often as they should.

If you cannot go anywhere, now is a great time to do a thorough cleaning of your home. Not only will you get a necessary chore done, but it can help prevent the spread of germs and disease.

2) Take Naps

During regular life, millions of people including myself don’t get enough sleep. Self-isolation can be a great opportunity to catch up on sleep. I’ve found this to be true for myself. Depending on your own situation, you still might have to do work from home, but you might still have opportunities to catch some “Zs” during the day that you might not have been able to do otherwise.

3) Catch Up on Reading

A wonderful way to pass the time is to spend time reading. I have personally found this to be a very enriching and relaxing experience. There are few things better than whiling away a few hours lost in a good book that is exciting, engaging, and leaves you wanting to know what happens next.

In addition to iBooks, I use an app called “Scribd.” This is a subscription service with millions of books and documents that allows you read as many items as you want. The first month is free then it becomes $9 a month. This is a great deal since the number of books I have read during the time I have used the app would easily exceed over $100 or more if I had bought them. Personally, I have have been very pleased with Scribd and will continue to use it for the foreseeable future.

4) Declutter

If you have to self-isolate, this can be a great time to go through your home and start decluttering and get rid of items that you do not need anymore. Oftentimes, people want to get rid of items but never seem to have time to spare to do it. How many times have you planned to clean out a room, but other responsibilities took precedent? Before you know it, weeks or months have passed and the room has not been touched.

If you need to stay home, this can be a big chance to go through that closet or room and decide what should stay, and what should go. Hopefully by the time the travel bans and restrictions are lifted, you will have a more spacious home with a little bit less clutter to worry about.

5) Do a Digital Declutter

When most people think of decluttering, they often think of going through a room and getting rid of tangible items like clothing and miscellaneous items. However, it is just as important to do occasional digital decluttering on your electronics. This means going through electronics and cleaning out/organizing photo libraries and files and getting rid of apps that are not used.

I recently went through my laptop’s photo library and deleted about 5000 photos. While I still have a lot of photos, there are now 5000 less photos that I have to worry about and organize.

6) Keep in Contact with Friends and Family

Even though the world has come to a halt, the internet still works, so people do not need to be truly isolated. It is very easy to feel lonely and isolated if you need to stay at home for long periods of time.

One way to alleviate this is to keep in contact with friends and family. Technology allows people to communicate in a variety of ways whether it via Facebook Messenger, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, and FaceTime along with a whole host of others. Make use of these applications since they are all free for the most part and very easy to use.

7) Start a Project

If you happen to have a lot of time on your hands, this can be a great opportunity to start a project that you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t had time. The projects can be anything and everything. You’re only limited by your imagination. If you have kids, you can try to include them in it since it will keep them occupied.

8) Binge Watch TV Shows

A wonderful way to kill time is to binge-watch TV shows that you have been eager to check out. There are a whole host of TV shows that can appeal to all kinds of tastes and interests, and one can easily spend days watching an entire series. This is a prime time to check some different series out since most of us usually don’t have the time to spend days binge-watching.

There are many streaming services available, but Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video are just a few of the many options out there.

9) Learn a Language

If you happen to have a lot of downtime, this could be an ideal opportunity to learn a foreign language. Learning a language does not need to take place in a classroom. There are a huge number of apps that can help a person learn a language on their own, such as Duolingo and Memrise.

Of course, while it is not likely that you will become fluent in a matter of weeks, regular practice in a language that interests you will help you develop a surprisingly large vocabulary that will definitely help with speaking and reading.

If you would like a speaking partner, you can also check out italki, which partners people together who want to learn languages. You can speak to each other via online, so you are still practicing a language with social distancing. Plus, you might even make a friend who lives across the world.

10) Take an Online Course

For those who want to enrich themselves in a more detailed way, self-isolation presents an opportunity to take a class online via a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). These are distance-learning courses that are run by universities throughout the world, such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale among many others. The course subjects are extremely vast and are not limited to what people might think would be “typical” courses. A lot of the course offerings are often engaging, interesting, and can appeal to all kinds of tastes and interest areas. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you can find a class that interests you, and then you can work at your own pace with little to no stress.

A major benefit is that a vast majority of these courses are free, and you can take them at anytime. All you need is an internet connection and a desire to learn about the subject that is offered.

Some good MOOC learning platforms that I have used myself are EdX, Coursera, and Khan Academy, but they are certainly not the only ones.

Even though these are just 10 ideas, there are still many other activities that one can do to pass the time, such as a learning to play a musical instrument, taking up a new hobby, and exercising.

In closing, even though self-isolation and social distancing in a time of Coronavirus is challenging, disruptive, and a huge inconvenience, it does not need to be a torturous experience with huge amounts of boredom. To put a positive spin on everything, this can be opportunity to catch up on rest and relaxation, declutter, and intellectually enrich yourself.

What are you doing to pass time? I’d love to hear your thoughts!