Monday Matters: Over 60 self care ideas and activities to keep you busy and mentally well when self isolating or social distancing

The current UK government advice is to practise social distancing in order to minimise the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). With this in mind, I present over 60 ideas and activities to help you make the most of your social distancing or isolation time if you are still feeling fit and well. Hopefully, these activities will keep you safe but productive at the same time and encourage you to support yourself in staying mentally as well as physically well. Of course, some of the suggestions will be more suited to your lifestyle than others and some may just be completely inapplicable but hopefully you can use at least half of them so that’s over 30!

1. Paint your nails or give yourself a manicure or pedicure
2. Give positive feedback to someone (e.g. thank someone at the supermarket for doing a good job or write an email to someone who has shared a great article online)
3. Wash your car (or get your husband to do it – that’ll be me then lol)
4. Send a loved one a card through the mail telling them how much you care about them
5. Organise your wardrobe
6. Put some food out for the birds and watch them feed through the window
7. Have a video call with a family member or friend
8. Light a scented candle and meditate whilst watching the flame
9. Research a topic of interest online – maybe make notes in your BuJo or other notebook
10. Enjoy a long soak in the bath
11. Do a jigsaw puzzle
12. Start a craft project that you’ve been meaning to do for a while
13. Peruse Amazon and download a new book for your Kindle
14. Practise calligraphy
15. Wash your hair and spend ages styling it to perfection
16. Create an upbeat playlist of songs you love
17. Take a free online class
18. Watch a YouTube video that teaches you a new skill
19. Walk barefoot on your lawn
20. Listen to an audiobook
21. Get out your photo albums and revisit happy times (or flick through old digital images on your mobile phone
22. Snuggle up under a soft blanket and watch a movie
23. Have a home pampering session e.g. put on a face mask
24. Do some colouring in
25. Shine your shoes
26. Practise Yoga or Pilates (there are lots of videos on YouTube that show you how)
27. Re-arrange the furniture in your house
28. Do an observational drawing of something in your house
29. Enjoy a cup of coffee or tea whilst reading this list and make plans for your day
30. Write a nice comment on a website or blog
31. Find a new recipe and try it out
32. Write in your journal about how your day has been
33. Play cards or a board game with a family member (or plan an online game whilst being in isolation from others)
34. Join an online community on Facebook and start a discussion about one of your interests
35. Buy yourself something nice online for home delivery
36. Try out some new hairstyles
37. Find some online journal prompts and do some writing
38. Make up a poem about how your day has changed for the better since practising social distancing
39. Learn about your family tree
40. Savour a bar of chocolate
41. Do a wordsearch, crossword or other word puzzle
42. Make a gift for a family member or friend which you can leave on their doorstep
43. Do some origami
44. Visit Etsy and support a handmade business by choosing and buying a little treat for yourself or a loved one
45. Make homemade pizza
46. Sing in the shower
47. Massage hand cream into your hands (particularly good if your hands are dry from all the handwashing)
48. Play games on your tablet or phone (my current favourites are Angry Birds 2 and Candy Crush Saga)
49. Share a photograph online of something new you’ve tried whilst self isolating
50. Buy some new stationery from an online shop
51. Spend an hour reading your favourite magazine with a hot or cold drink
52. Make homemade bread
53. Sit in your back garden tonight and do some stargazing
54. Learn to juggle
55. Give your muscles a good stretch
56. Send a text message to a friend checking that they are safe and well
57. Write a list of all the things that you are grateful for right now
58. Make a list of reasons why you love your friend / partner and share it with them
59. Spend time engaging in one of your long forgotten hobbies
60. Watch a favourite movie and munch on some popcorn
61. Do some embroidery or cross stitching
62. Cuddle your pet and show them some love
63. Enter an online competition
64. Repair something in your house that you’ve been meaning to get around to fixing for months
65. Have an indoor picnic in your house (put out a picnic mat or blanket and sit on the floor in your living room)
66. Make some (virgin) cocktails (don’t forget to drink responsibly)
67. Do a Sudoku
68. Close your eyes and do 5 minutes of soothing breathing

I hope you’ve found at least some of these ideas useful. Let me know if you have other suggestions which I could add to the list.

Stay safe everyone and remember, just because you’re practising social distancing, doesn’t mean you need to isolate yourself from the world completely. As best as you can, and in a way that is safe, keep in touch with loved ones and most importantly, look after you!

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