From the familiar creaks in the floorboards to your favorite easy chair, there's no place like a cozy home when you are engaging in social distancing. But let's face it: Too much time inside doing nothing can make you stir-crazy.
WHAT IS CABIN FEVER?
Cabin fever can dampen your mood, energy level and motivation traditionally during the brutally cold winter months or when required to spend time at home more than you are used to. Not sure if it's happening to you? Here are some signs:
- You feel cooped up and restless.
- You have difficulty concentrating on what’s in front of you.
- You feel lethargic or simply unmotivated to do anything.
- You feel irritated and on edge for no apparent reason.
If you can relate to any of those signs... you’re probably dealing with cabin fever. But before you take up permanent residence on your couch or start to sleep out of sheer boredom, we have good news. Check out this list of fresh ideas to help you (and the whole family) beat cabin fever, once and for all.
1. Read a Book
There are many free options using your public library or Amazon prime, but many don't want to wait for a title of need a larger number of options. For those persons we recommend Kindle Unlimited Plan that you can read on any tablet or phone. The free trial may get you through this period of social distancing.
2. Exercise
Our guide to some general and different workouts on the road or at home!
Our guide to one of our favorite YouTube Channels BodyFit by Amy with links to specific workouts and gear you can use at home!
3. Declutter
Our favorite inspiration is on the Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, a reality television series developed for Netflix and released on January 1, 2019. The show follows Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant and creator of the KonMari method, as she visits families to help them organize and tidy their homes.4. Play a game
When your children are home, keep them active indoors or out for their health. Spending meaningful time with them is important and for your health play the game with them! We love the Goodminton game that keeps you moving indoors or out.
5. Education for the Family
For you kids some fun online learning games are great! We encourage you to do these projects with your children because you probably don't realize how much you've forgotten from school!
Search the web for anything that may appeal to them (and you). Our personal favorite is the Smithsonian Learning Lab which is free and full of programs! Click the photo below to go to their website!
From ABC's to ACT's has a great list of educational websites for children of all ages.
6. Go for a walk
In time's of social distancing follow the recommendations of the CDC please! We know that walking is a healthy low-impact exercise to help with our cardiovascular system, joint health and mental well-being. Moreover, any walk is good but a walk in nature compared to the city may be more likely to soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health.
7. Start a new hobby!
There are lots of ways to learn to play an instrument or start knitting. Here are some good examples of ways to start this at Amazon:
This book is free if you have Kindle Unlimited like we suggested above! See the benefit of having it?!
8. Tour a Museum or Historical Site!
While we love to go to museums locally or when traveling, most are closed during times of social distancing. But you can tour over 500 museums or historical sites virtually with Google Arts and Culture. Explore by color, architecture, location, genre and many more. There are even apps on Google Play or the App Store to view anywhere in your home with ease!
Here are links to some of the larger and more iconic collections available:
- MoMA - New York
- Van Gough Museum - Amsterdam
- Uffizi Gallery - Florence
- Musee D’Orsay - Paris
- The Met - New York - educational artifacts, furniture and art
- Tate Britain - London
- Georgia O’Keeffe Museum - Santa Fe
- Scottish National Galery - Edinburgh
- British Museum - London - good for educational artifacts
- The Gardner Museum - Boston - One of our favorites because of the great heist! Read About it in this book!
- The Victoria and Albert Museum - London - Take a look at the Fashion collection
- Versailles - It may be hard to appreciate the shear size of Versailles the virtual tours is the next best thing!
Find a collection on the site you love? Tell us about it in the comments!
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| You may not be able to go to Versailles in person right now, but explore it virtually! |
9. Educational courses for adults
All eight schools place in the top fifteen of the U.S. News and World Report national university rankings.
These Ivy League schools are also highly selective and extremely hard to get into. But the good news is that all these universities now offer free online courses across multiple online course platforms.
So far, they’ve created over 500 courses, of which around 450 are still active in some of the most interesting and popular fields:
- Computer Science
- Data Science
- Programming
- Humanities
- Business
- Art & Design
- Science
- Social Sciences
- Health & Medicine
- Engineering
- Mathematics
- Education & Teaching
- Personal Development
10. Learn a Language
If there is one thing you can do now to make traveling easier in the future, it's learning a language! There are three good reasons to do this as an adult:
- You already have an understanding of vocabulary and grammar making the transition to those concepts in another language easier
- There are many opportunities available for you like taking a class online, using an app or another program
- Language Learning Slows Down Aging -- Brains are a lot like bodies in that the more you exercise them, the more fit they become
"The positive changes in the structure and functionality of adult brains indicate that there are anti-aging benefits of learning a new language. Learning a foreign language imparts a protective effect on memory. One study has shown that, after taking into account factors like education, occupation, gender, and where the subjects resided (urban vs. rural), bilingual subjects with dementia manifested symptoms about 4.5 years later than monolinguals with dementia." -- BrainBlogger
Some of our favorite resources are:
- DuoLingo.com App - this is a great starting place to learn the basics of a language to see if you want to pursue it more!
- Babbel.com lets you learn a language online
- Rosetta Stone - look for it at your library or at an online store like Amazon
- Textbook methods - tried and true and something older individuals are used to using!
11. Stream a Performance
The Metropolitan Opera is streaming performances through March 30 for FREE! We expect other performance venues to follow suit so be watching and we will do our best to update this post as things become available!
12. Take a Virtual Cooking Class
If you haven’t gotten the chance to try Gucci Osteria's new Italian restaurant by now, given the coronavirus pandemic it might be a bit before you can head to Rodeo Drive and dig into some tortellini at the Osteria.
Fortunately the chef behind it—who just so happens to be one of the most famous culinary figures in the world—is teaching you how to cook to tide you over. Bottura wants to help cabin fever with a nightly, free cooking series he’s launched via his own personal Instagram page.
13. Take a Virtual Tour of a National Park
One of the best things America ever did was establish the national parks system, conserving the nation's ecological heritage and pristine wilderness for everyone to enjoy.
But, while visiting the parks is a family road trip classic, it's not something we cannot do right now.
Good news! You don't actually have to leave your couch to see some of America's most glorious landscapes. Powered by Google Earth, a whole bunch of parks offer free virtual tours. Click the photo below to take you to Arches National Park in Utah!
NOTE: Google Chrome is the best browser for this.
Remember, if you have questions related to your health, always consult your doctor or medical professional. The information presented here is informative only and is not medical advice.
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