100 SELF-CARE ACTIVITIES TO PRACTICE DURING SELF ISOLATION

This is an extremely unreal time we’re living in. Most of the world’s population has been forced to live their life indoors, whether they want to or not. The COVID-19 virus doesn’t choose who it targets, it simply looks for a suitable host then it makes its home there. Because the virus spreads so quickly and has the potential to have such a devastating impact, it’s important that we all adhere to the government’s guidelines and practice self isolation. Here in the UK, we’re pretty much only allowed to leave our homes to shop for food, medication, go to work if you’re an essential services worker and to exercise. That’s quite limited, which means we’re compelled to find ways to spend all this extra time in a productive way at home.

While you don’t have to be productive all day every day, it does help to spend your time in a very specific way as the days have the potential of becoming very long and it’s starting to look like “lockdown” is going to last for a quite a while. So why not put your time to good use and practice as much self-care as you possibly can. And I don’t just mean putting on a face mask, although if that’s what self-care means to you, then by all means go ahead. But take the time to really look after yourself, to do things that will make your life easier, and to remove things from your daily surroundings that usually fuel your anxiety. In other words, do things that will uplift you and make you feel good from both the inside and the outside.

To help you, I’ve put together a list of 100 self-care activities to practice during self isolation that will help you achieve it. Read on below.

SPIRITUALITY

1. Pray.

2. Meditate.

3. Read your Bible / Torah / Qur’an / Holy Book.

4. Practice gratitude by starting a gratitude journal.

5. Practice mindfulness.

6. Practice positive affirmations.

7. Create a vision board.

8. Attend Church / Synagogue / Mosque/ Place of Worship online. There are some great pastors, preachers and spiritual leaders on YouTube and social media.

RETAIL THERAPY

9. Shop Online

This pandemic isn’t going to last forever and just because you can’t pop out to your favourite high-street store doesn’t mean you have to forego all forms of retail therapy. For the most part retailers are still offering online shopping and this could also be your opportunity to discover some newer boutique stores and independent businesses that you might otherwise never have heard of.

I’m particularly in love with this gifted black crossover knit top from Chicwish. Paired with the tulle skirt, also from Chicwish, it’s giving me such 60’s vintage vibes that I just cannot get over this look. Chicwish is obviously coming through with the vintage vibes!

And just so you know, I took these photos before lockdown.

WARDROBE

10. Declutter your wardrobe.

11. Start a capsule wardrobe.

12. Figure out your personal style.

13. After decluttering your wardrobe, decide which clothes you’ll give to charity and put it aside to give away once this epidemic is over.

14. Reorganise your clothes in a system that works for you.

HOBBIES

15. Start a blog.

16. Start a YouTube channel.

17. Plant a herb garden if you have one. Alternatively start growing some herbs from your kitchen or living room window sill.

18. Start doing Yoga at home.

19. Learn a new language.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

20. Call your loves ones.

21. Video call your loved ones.

22. Send your parents cute photos of your children via Messenger.

23. Send your loved ones WhatsApp messages everyday.

24. Host a live online get-together for friends and family on platforms such as Zoom or Houseparty.

SKIN CARE

25. Go through all your skin care items and throw away products that are out of date or ones that you simply don’t use anymore.

26. Organise your products into two categories: ones you use everyday, and ones you use less frequently or for slightly more special occasions. I find that when I keep all of mine together I start to feel overwhelmed as it’s just too much to look at all at once!

27. Give yourself a full body scrub before you get into your bath/shower. It’s incredibly invigorating.

28. Choose your best products and have a full-on pamper session.

29. If you don’t already have one, invest in the best quality eye cream you can afford. You older self with thank you for it one day!

MAKE-UP

30. Go through all your make-up items and throw away products that are out of date or ones that you simply don’t use anymore.

31. Wash your make-up brushes.

32. Store your make-up brushes in a creative way instead of just letting them lay loosely in a drawer. I keep mine in clear vases filled with raw rice kernels.

33. Develop your everyday make-up look.

34. Choose a few days a week where you put on a full face of makeup. It will lift your entire mood – I promise!

35. Finally learn how to do a winged eye-liner.

36. Finally learn how to do a basic cut-crease eye shadow look.

SOCIAL MEDIA

37. Have a social media detox for a few days or weeks.

38. Unfollow accounts you’re not relating to anymore.

39. Follow new accounts if the content speaks to you and connect with the creators of those accounts via Direct Message.

40. Catch up on your favourite YouTube channels.

41. Start a TikTok account. I have one, even though I have not created any content for it yet. It seems like a lot of fun though! Find and follow me as @eleanorbarkes.

MUSIC 

42. Listen to your favourite artists.

43. Start a few Spotify playlists, one to play while you’re cleaning, dancing, cooking etc.

44. Update your existing Spotify play list.

45. Swop play lists with a friend and discover some new music.

46. Listen to some Classical music purely for the calm and relaxation it can bring over you.

BOOKS

47. Read those books that have been gathering dust on your side table for ages – fiction or non-fiction.

48. Start a book club and recommend some books to others and read their recommendations.

49. Read a personal self-help book.

50. Read a book that’s going to help you develop your business.

51. Set aside old books that you’ve read and re-read to donate to charity once the pandemic is all over.

52. Colour-code your books to make them look more aesthetically pleasing.

COOKING

53. Re-ignite your love for cooking. I’m concentrating on this as I used to love cooking and baking and lost my passion for it somewhere it along the way.

54. Learn a new recipe.

55. Cook something by your favourite celebrity chef.

56. Cook a plant based meal and incorporate more of them into your weekly meals.

57. Cook up a dinner party, lay the most beautiful table runner/cloth you have, bring out your favourite cutlery and enjoy your own or your loved one’s company over a beautiful meal.

58. Bake something ridiculously creative and technical and bask in the beauty of it before you allow anyone to eat it. This is something I like to do 🙂

59. Meal prep for the week.

EXCERCISE 

60. Do an exercise class with a fitness YouTuber.

61. If you have a treadmill/stationary exercise bike that’s been gathering dust, get it out and start using it again.

62. Wake up early and go for a long walk/run. (Currently it’s still permitted to go out once a day to exercise.)

63. Do some yoga, toning and strength training in your garden. Examples include planks, crunches and leg lifts. YouTube swill serve up many tutorials.

64. Get out your skipping rope and try and master this sweat-building skill! (This is on my to-do list).

CLEANING

65. Spring clean your entire house in one go.

66. Spring clean your house room by room over a stretch of time.

67. Wash your walls. This is especially needed if you have young children who tend to get the walls dirty with crayons and grubby hands.

68. Try eco-friendly cleaning products just to switch things up.

69. Enlist the help of your children to help with the cleaning. If you don’t actually get any extra cleaning done with them, at the very least it’s a fun activity to do together as a family.

70. Wash your windows. This is often neglected, but is just as much part of the cleaning process as vacuuming your carpets is.

COURSES

71. Take an online course in any topic you’re interested in.

72. Revisit an online course you did before and see if your mentor/teacher has added any updates.

FINANCES

73. Assess where you are with your financial goals.

74. Create new financial goals, if you don’t already have any.

75. Start a saving fund.

76. Teach your children about the importance of saving money.

77. Re-evaluate how you have to manage your money during the pandemic. Do you have to shop less but purchase more at any one time? Have you been “furloughed” and now have less money to work with for the time-being? Be sure not to neglect this.

Outfit Details: Top – Chicwish; Skirt – Chicwish

SHOP THIS OUTFIT BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW

BONUS

78. Set new goals, both personally and for your business if you have one.

79. Reassess where you are with your current goals, both personally and for your business if you have one.

80. Go to bed an hour earlier and wake up an hour earlier to enjoy some quiet time.

81. Take afternoon naps.

82. Have a dance party.

83. Play board games.

84. Have a solo date night.

85. Order a take-away delivery.

86. Help out small businesses by ordering from them online.

87. Cuddle your pets.

88. That instrument that you haven’t played in years, get it out and start practising again.

89. Dust your plants.

90. Unsubscribe from all emails that you don’t need.

91. Plan your next holiday for when all of this is over.

92. Trim your own hair. We don’t know when all of this is going to be over and you really don’t want to walk around with split-ends and fairy-knots indefinitely, even if it’s just in your own house.

93. Give yourself a manicure.

94. Fix those loose drawer handles that you never get round to doing.

95. Change the light bulbs that you’ve been putting off forever.

96. Sit in your garden or on your balcony and enjoy the beautiful weather the UK is currently experiencing.

97. Build a 1000-piece puzzle. It’s guaranteed to keep you busy for hours.

98. Read books to your children in the garden.

99. Do some arts with your children outside.

100. Have a family picnic with everyone in your household, either in your living room or in your garden.

So there you have it: 100 self-care activities to practice during self isolation. I’ve read that some people are actually bored during this time. You really don’t have to be as there are so many things around the house that you can get on with. Personally my husband and I are rather grateful for this time together as it’s made us more productive in quite a number of these tips that I’ve just shared and we’re also appreciating the time that we wouldn’t normally have to spend together like this. Be sure to follow me on Instagram where I share a lot more of my personal journey and where my husband and children tend to pop onto Stories. I also love the personal connection that tends to develop over there. Of course, I’d also love to hear from you here, so if you enjoyed this list please let me know by leaving a comment below. Do also feel free to share which of these tips you’ve been following and if you have any more to share please do leave them below. Can’t wait to chat!

Photography by Anna Felicia Photography