13 Things to Do While You’re Social Distancing

Many of us are currently participating in social distancing, which is a conscious effort to reduce close contact between people and hopefully limit the spread of COVID-19.

There are some of us being asked on a company-wide scale to work from home. Many schools are closing down or requiring students to stay away from campus and participate in online learning. Events, gatherings, and group activities of all types and sizes are being canceled or postponed. These are all ways organizations are trying to collectively do their part to halt transmission of the virus.

In short, we’re being asked to not congregate with groups of people. This could mean a lot of time at home by ourselves or with just our families or housemates and a lot of time we don’t know what to do with.

Different than a rainy day

So, here is a list of ideas of things to do while we’re social distancing. My goal was to not treat this like a snow day, or even a staycation, because even in those situations, we’re not trying to stay away from people.

I tried to come up with things that were different than a list of shows to binge-watch and ways to make sure we didn’t just spend this time with our heads buried in our phones, like many of us already do on a daily basis. I also figured things, like reading books, doing crafts, and house projects were already on your radar…so I left those off the list too.

“I’m not a doctor, Jim.”

Nor am I a public health expert so this is my list of qualifiers. This list was written with the mindset that you are symptom-free. If you do have symptoms and/or are a part of an at-risk group, I think you can still do the things that are in-home based but not the ones where you would have to leave your house.

Note, there might be things on this list that are not 100% social-distancing-friendly. Even public-health experts have mixed opinions about what’s “right and wrong.” For the ideas outside of the home, I mainly used the guidelines about keeping 6-10 feet away from other people and not going to places where large gatherings of people could be very close together. However, I wanted to include some outdoor ideas for those of us who would go stir crazy in a totally quarantined situation.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Distancing

The Atlantic

Of course, please use your best judgment on what to do. These are just meant to be fun suggestions during a time that can be challenging, depressing, nerve-wracking, and difficult for many of us.

The List of Things to Do While You’re Social Distancing

1. Phone a friend

Not a text or a comment on a social media post but pick up your phone and talk. Make a special point to reach out to friends who live alone.

2. Make it a party-line with video chat

Instead of scheduling a work-type meeting with a video chat or a web conferencing tool, coordinate a:

• Book club
• Parent Support Group where you’re giving each other ideas on what to do next with your kids before they drive you crazy
• Virtual happy hour (my favorite) where everyone makes their own drink(s) and hops on the line to chat.

I’ve personally used the web conferencing tool, Zoom, which works well. Note, the free version has a 40 minute per call time limit.

I would also recommend that you actually use the camera on your computer/phone cam so your friends can see you in real-time. It’s really the best way to create a real connection, which is one of the things we may feel we lose while being isolated in our homes. I know, I hate it too. I never do it for work but these are your friends & family. They know what you look like at your worst and still love you.

Here are some other options:

• Top 5 Free Video Chat Software for Groups up to 12 People
• The 7 Best Apps to Make Free Group Conference Calls
• Group FaceTime for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users
• Facebook video chat

3. Try new recipes

This is self-explanatory. You can always try out one of my recipes 🙂

4. Go for a walk or hike

I think there’s enough space in parks and trails to walk around and not have to get to close to people. Or just go for a walk around some neighborhoods in your town, given that you don’t live in a densely-populated area. This is a great way to enjoy areas that are close but you either never get to or typically just drive through quickly.

5. Bike, kayak, stand-up paddleboard

Same concept as above, just with stuff.

6. Do a solo photo walk

Bring your camera and walk around town taking pictures of whatever interests you. You could make it more challenging by giving yourself a theme (ex. graffiti, doors, coffee shops) or by limiting yourself (ex. use only one prime lens with your DSLR, photograph every item from the perspective of a dog).

7. Take an online class

I’ve just started seeing people share this Google Sheet listing out Education Companies offering Free subscriptions due to school closings. Here are some other online class offerings:

• Free, Online Learning Resources When Coronavirus Closes Schools
• 25 Killer Sites for Free Online Education
• Harvard Digital Photography (Free)
• MIT Photography Courses (Free)
• Creative Live categories include photo & video, art & design, music & audio, craft & maker, money & life

8. Get back(yard) to basics

We just jumped into daylight savings time, so we’re getting to enjoy more daylight and Spring weather seems to be introducing itself in places (even though there was snow in Seattle/Portland earlier today) – so get outside in your yard.

Have a picnic or go camping back there.

I originally had camping as its own thing and envisioned people heading out into the woods (not car camping sites). But I don’t camp enough to say this is really such a good idea if you don’t know where to go. So, if you know where to go to be isolated…do that. If not, set up your tent in your backyard.

9. Go on a scavenger hunt

Enlist a “partner” with another friend or family. Each of you create a list and then trade them. That way you’ll each be surprised and challenged with what you’ll have to find. You can text and share pictures with each other when you find each item. To start, here are some ideas:

• A location that has an address that matches the month and day of your birthday (ex. your birthday is June 21st, find a place with the address 621)
• A building with a water fountain in its lobby
• A green VW bug
• A house that still has its Christmas lights/decorations up
• A tombstone with the month that you’re currently in. Or make it harder by making it the same day you’re doing this hunt.

10. Order take out from a local restaurant

Many restaurants are getting hit hard right now as people are not patronizing them right now. This could make it tough for these small businesses to stay open and tough for servers and bar staff who rely on tips for their income. If you order take-out, you can support both without having to sit amongst a group of people for an elongated period of time. Important: remember to actually TIP!

There’s been some back on forth on this as some people feel that having other people handling your food adds risk. I’ve also seen suggestions to buy gift certificates so you can support the restaurants now but enjoy their services later-though that doesn’t help the tip situation. I’ve also seen suggestions to use food delivery services, like GrubHub-though I’ve seen that doesn’t pay the drivers very well.

Again, none of these solutions is perfect but I’m hoping the collective of people who can help are doing whatever is within their level of comfort and ability to help.

11. Spring clean

It is the season! Have each person in the house decide 10-20 things they no longer need/want, clean them well, then donate them. Or set them aside until we’re all socially interacting more.

12. Party like it’s 1935

I’m reminiscing about a time when life was so much simpler (nostalgic old-timey music playing in the background). Okay, not really, but I am thinking about a time before we had Xboxes, Bose headphones, tiny handheld computers… Heck, we didn’t even have TVs back then.

I imagine this time to be one where families sat around the radio listening to their favorite shows and simply spent time with and around each other in an engaged and pleasant way. That’s my vision for this set of ideas.

I’m not saying that everyone in your family has to ditch their phones or that you have to lock up the TV in a closet. Rather, I suggest that you and your family or roommates dedicate one hour each day doing something together, such as:

• Find a podcast that you, as a whole family or roommates, like and listen to it together, while sitting in the same room. Bonus if no one can use their phones or computers at this time.
• Do a puzzle
• Cook together – let each person have their own day where they decide what they want to be made and everyone contributes to making that meal
• Set a 5:00 pm Happy Hour (yes, I love HHs). This is actually something my friend’s parents did a — where the rule was that at 5 o’clock every day, everyone needed to meet (insert room) to have a pre-dinner beverage. The drinks don’t have to be alcoholic but serve all of them in the fancy bar or wine glasses. There’s something just so Mary’s Vineyard about this idea that I just love.
• Each night, have a different family member teach the others something new (ex. how to create a TikTok video, facts about another country, a dance, a card trick, etc.)
• Silly family photos — find funny pictures online and replicate them
• Exercise together — find a yoga instructor on YouTube and all do the class together, play a game of H-O-R-S-E with your basketball hoop or even a garbage can and crumpled up paper

13. Break out the bubble ball

And lastly, get a few of these and bounce off of each other. I have no idea if this mitigates the spread of the virus, especially since they are totally open at the top (you know, for breathing). But it sure looks fun! Of course, each person needs their own personal bubble, unless you clean them thoroughly after each person’s use

We’d love to hear how it goes if you try any of these ideas out or if you have other ideas of your own. Share them with us on Facebook or tag us @explora.mora on Instagram.