Things are scary right now — for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a millionaire celebrity living in a mansion or you’re a single mom who lost all three of your jobs: everyone is stressed out right now. Sure, some are much more stressed than others, especially those who are dealing with health concerns or family issues, but there is no doubt about it: everyone is overwhelmed at the moment.
Everyone is exhausted, too — especially healthcare workers. Employment of healthcare occupations is projected to grow 14% from 2018 to 2028, adding 1.9 million new jobs. Currently, more than 40% of all physicians are burned out and that number is likely skyrocketing during this pandemic. Luckily, there are things that can be done to at least limit those stresses and actually smile during these difficult times.
Take a virtual trip
If you’re not an essential worker, you’ve probably just been sitting in your house for the last two months. Pretty boring, huh? The internet allows you to go anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. Sure, it’s not the same as visiting these places in real life — but it’s close! It’s time to embrace a new way to see the world!
Paint something!
Painting is a great way to let out some frustrations and have fun. If you have a house — start painting those walls! This is a great project that can be fun for the whole family. Painting your home a new color will allow you to use all those creative muscles you have and you’ll feel great afterward. A good paint job should last anywhere from 8 to 10 years by most experts’ estimations. If you don’t have your own home and walls to paint, that’s okay — get a big, blank canvas and get creating.
Start cooking (or at least learning)
By month 3 of quarantine, no one should be exclusively eating cereal. Learning to cook might seem daunting and many of us have put it off for years… sometimes decades. But now is the perfect time to teach yourself how to cook up some delicious meals. Start with small, easy cooking projects like scrambling an egg or two. Then, once you get comfortable in the kitchen, it’s time to move on to bigger, better, and tastier meals! Just have fun with it.
Build the best fort of all time
For those of you who are quarantining with young children — you all deserve medals. You’re probably extremely tired and stressed and annoyed and tired and very, very tired. That’s okay. Muster up as much energy as possible and get to work on building a huge fort. This will obviously be a blast for your kids but if you go into this project with a positive attitude, you’ll have a lot of fun, as well. PRO TIP: don’t think about all the clean up until later…
Just because a global pandemic is going on doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun. Take a break from worrying so much and have some fun!
