Week 3 in quarantine: 7 things to do

It’s week 3 and many of us are trying to make the most of our time at home. I feel like things are getting a bit tougher as we’re not sure how long these measures are going to last. But here is another week of activities to help you get on.

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Monday: make your own postcards

After drawing a card with Paperfuel two weeks ago and sending some out last week, I upped the ante this week and made some cards myself. I had some blank cards lying around that I bought in Hobbycraft a good while ago. Inspired by some of the examples in Paperfuels’s handlettering book I drew some well wishes on them for my parents, grandparents and friends who welcomed their daughter recently. It’s not very hard to make your own cards, but I underestimated what a relaxing and fulfilling activity it would be!

 

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Tuesday: work out with a friend online

Last week I wrote about doing an online workout with my gym, Basic Fit. I wouldn’t exactly call that nice, but it’s a good way to stay fit and convenient as I can just do it in our garage. Activities tend to be nicer though if you can do them with a friend. In these corona times that often means by videocall. And that is what I did on Tuesday, but the cool thing was: one of my friends actually taught the online class! It was a Strong by Zumba class (a HIIT workout) and in total some 150 people joined in! Mental! All in all I wasn’t even that bad (or so it seemed, based on the comments in the chat).

 

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Wednesday: download free ebooks

A friend of mine shared a post on Facebook about free ebooks, so naturally that caught my eye. Ebooks can’t beat real books in my opion, but they can be a cheap alternative. One of the free ebook providers was Haymarket Books. Their free ebook giveaway has ended in the meantime, but all their ebooks have a 40% discount at the moment, so worth a look! Verso books also made 5 ebooks freely available for download until 5 April, so if you’re quick you can still get your hands on them. Missed the deadline? No worries, there are still plenty of free ebooks available at Project Gutenberg for instance.

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Thursday: get some Headspace

It was a very full-on and stressful week at work and i could feel it was starting to get to me: I had more trouble sleeping, kept waking up at night and had multiple dreams about work. On Thursday I decided it was time for some Headspace. It’s an amazing app to try out mindfulness that is super accessible, so if you’re in need of some quiet time, breathing exercises or want some help to get to sleep I definitely recommend it. You can try out 10 sessions for free, but signing up to access the whole library is well worth it.

 

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Friday: sourdough starter discard experiments

During our first week of quarantaine I joined the hype and made my own sourdough starter. That attempt failed, but after scoring some more flour I started my second attempt last week. It gets bubbly, but it’s not rising as it is supposed to. Then again, it hasn’t been very warm of late, so I’m giving it a bit more time. Only … you end up with a lot of starter, and it would be a waste to chuck it away. That is why, with some help from the internet, I tried making spring onion and sesame seed pancakes and pizza dough with the discard, and both worked out well!

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Saturday: #StayAtHom free resources

I enjoy a good newsletter, but a new favourite of late has Lauren Hom’s‘s weekly prompts. She has now made a big effort as well to help people stay at home (#StayAtHom) and keep them occupied. To do so she created this wonderful section on her blog, packed with resources! There are video’s, podcasts, blog posts and more to learn from. I had been waiting for a good moment to dive into it and on Saturday evening I finallly did. I’ve only explored the tip of the iceberg so far, but oh my, I’ll spend many more wonderful hours with all of this material.

 

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Sunday: prepare for #the100dayproject

This Tuesday (7 April) the 7th edition of #the100dayproject kicks off!  Last year I took part for the first time and while it wasn’t easy, I also found it a very enrichting challenge. I handlettered one word per day, every day in a different style. I had prepared a list of words beforehand, but the styles I usually picked on the day. This year I’d like to build on that and draw an entire alphabet every day. That way I’ll end up with my own little typography library. In preparation I’ve been researching different alphabets, compiling a list and preparing an outline in my new notebook.

 

That’s it for week 3! I hope week 4 get’s a bit easier, at least workwise. In the evenings I’ll be busy with #the100dayproject but am looking forward to it! You can follow along on Twitter and/or Instagram (see below) for daily updates. What nice little (or big!) things have helped you through this week?

 

Need some inspiration?

• Read about week 2
• Read about week 1 

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