How To Avoid Going Stir Crazy When You’re Stuck At Home

What do you do when you suddenly find yourself stuck at home and how do you avoid going stir crazy?

If you’re anything like me, then the past week has been like a shock to the system. I’m not used to spending all of my time stuck inside my house. In fact, I tend to stay on the go all the time.

So, now that my normal activities have come to a grinding halt and I’m forced to stay home…what the heck do I do to when I start going stir crazy?

I put together a list of activities and projects I’ve been turning to in order to keep myself occupied.

Workout

I’m used to being on the go pretty much all the time. So, the fact that I have to stay home for such a long period of time is making me very restless. To work off that restless energy, I’m mixing up my workout routine. I’ve been using Beachbody On Demand for a few years now and I have a review posted about some of my go-to programs. Since writing that post, I’ve also started using Chalean Extreme for strength training and it’s one I highly recommend.

 BOD is, in my opinion, a great, affordable option for at-home fitness (my subscription charges me around $40 every 6 months). Buy, if you’re looking for something free to use at home during this time, then YouTube is your friend. My favorite channels for free workouts are PopSugar Fitness and FitnessBlender. Both have a great variety of workouts for all levels of fitness. I’m also a big fan of doing workouts that are effective and fun which is why I like throwing in dance workouts too. I’ve been trying out this YouTube channel for Zumba workouts and loving it.

Clean & Organize

If you’re anything like me…you might be tired of cleaning and organizing at this point. Especially if you have dogs that insist on tracking muddy paw prints all over your freshly cleaned floors. If not, it’s one activity that will keep you busy for a little while…even if it doesn’t exactly sound like the most fun. To make things less boring, I usually put in my headphones and jam out to a fun Pandora station (that station may or may not sometimes be a Disney station… don’t judge me).

Read

Give me a good book and I’m good for days (okay, maybe a day or two if it’s a long book). But it’s also something I don’t always have as much time for as I’d like. So, if you’re like me and have a long list of books you want to read and haven’t gotten around to yet…here’s your chance. I have a post listing ten of my all-time favorite books. I also just finished Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewel. Both were captivating reads that I would definitely recommend. I also have several books ordered that I’m waiting on to arrive, so I’ll be posting another reading list soon (yes, I ordered actual books and not just digital e-books…I just prefer them that way).

Since there are a lot fewer distractions these days, I’m trying to tackle some of the organization projects I’ve been putting off. So far, I’ve made a pretty good dent in making my office more functional (it really needs shelves that I’m planning on making myself once I can make a trip to Lowe’s) and this week I plan to work on my closet and dresser drawers.

Dance Party

Remember what I said about working off that restless energy? This may be especially true if you have kids that are suddenly home all day instead of in school or taking Spring Break vacations. Turn up that playlist of your favorite jams or a fun Spotify or Pandora station and work off that energy.

I love using the Pop Fitness or 90’s Summer Hits stations on Pandora. And, of course, my Disney station.

Get Creative

Got a Pinterest board full of craft or DIY pins that you swore you were going to try one day? Or a recipe board full of recipes you want to make? Or maybe you like painting but haven’t had as much time to do it? Well, here’s your chance. Me? I’ve been trying out a bunch of easy crafts that I’ll be putting together in a post soon. I’m also trying to work on my writing.

If you’re just looking for something to keep your hands busy, adult coloring books are actually a thing and very therapeutic in my opinion. You can even try having a little fun with tie-dye (like I did here) or learn how to do something new like knitting.

Nothing

Let’s be honest, this is a really weird time. And while it might make sense to try and take advantage of the time we have to get things done around the house, it doesn’t mean we have to do everything. I’ve had my days where I honestly couldn’t find that motivation, and that’s fine. Curl up on the couch and binge-watch trashy TV shows. Veg out on junk food. Take a nap or a bubble bath. With all the crazy happening, give yourself permission to take a break from reality.