14 Things in 14 Days

cocoparisienne via pixabay

Does reading the news make you want to crawl under the covers in a self-imposed self-isolation? Whether we're staying home to be safe, because we were sent there by a boss or a school or because we're actually battling an illness, it can be hard to stay put in a society used to being mobile at will.

While the circumstances are terrible, the opportunity to be in one place -- the one we call home -- with time on our hands can also offer a gift of time. On Saturday, I voluntarily joined the ranks of those limiting excursions to only the essentials. I'm not sick, but I'd like to keep it that way and avoid the possibility of being the person who makes someone else sick.

As a self-proclaimed indoor parent who works from home, this was not a huge shift but, I suspect that as time goes on, it will be a bigger one than I expected. So, I'm being proactive and making my list of 14 things I can do in 14 days. All of them represent things I want to do -- a lemonade from lemons kind of approach -- and I sincerely doubt that 14 days is enough time to do them all, but I like having choices.

1. Hang out with my daughter. Like many college students, she is unexpectedly home for the rest of the semester. A golden opportunity.
2. Learn new technology. In the space of one weekend, I've moved from face-to-face teaching to online instruction. There's a whole new list of instructional tools to choose from!
3. Write! Whether it's working on my books or proposing new articles, unexpected time at home can easily become writing time.
4. Read. Still on a roll from my 29-day challenge, I now have an opportunity to make this a full-fledged habit.
5. Clear off my dining room table. A drop spot for both my daughter and me, this spot quickly spirals out of control. Is it too late to make a Lenten resolution to clear it off and keep it that way?
6. Clean out drawers and closets. Love doing it, never have/make time for it.
7. Rediscover my kitchen. Is it possible that, without time constraints, cooking and baking can be fun? 
8. Clean the basement. What a great time to create space by getting rid of what we no longer need.
9. Take advantage of online opportunities. Webinars. Online classes. Virtual museum exhibits.
10. Write a letter. Or send a card. Old school cheer to someone else stuck indoors.
11. Laptop love. Pare down my inbox. Reduce the number of tabs that give my students heart palpitations.
12. Update my online presence. LinkedIn. Goodreads. Pinterest. All suffer from benign neglect. 
13. Pull some weeds. Shh. Don't tell my husband. He calls it ground cover. I call them weeds.
14. Do my nails. Gotta get some self-care on this list, right?

Want more? USA Today has compiled a list of 100 things to do while stuck inside. I haven't read it yet (the news item popped onto my computer screen while I was working this morning) but plan to. Chances are very good that there will be items I want to add, particularly if 14 days stretches into something longer.

Nightly reports make it clear how much we have to lose. Why not opt to look at what we have to gain?