Time is a funny thing. When we don’t have enough of it, we wish we had more. And when we find ourselves with too much of it, we wish it away. Perhaps it’s human nature to never quite be satisfied with what we have. Right now, I suspect many of you find yourselves with some extra time on your hands as we all try to navigate working at home, staying at home, socializing via Zoom and Facetime and generally trying to get through this “new normal.”

First off, I hope this finds you and your families healthy and safe. That is number one priority for all of us right now. But there is a secondary measure to this, which is how to keep our minds healthy as well. I’m hoping to offer some ideas of ways to use up some of your free time. 

1) Coincidentally, the timing of this coordinates with a little thing we affectionately call spring-cleaning (insert sarcasm). Whether you tear your whole house apart, or just attack one project, it’s a great time for cleaning out that closet (the one where you put things when you don’t know what else to do with them), washing windows and shampooing carpets. 

2) Begin your gardening. Depending what part of the country you live in, you can start to plant flowers and veggies outdoors, or start some seeds inside until it’s warm enough to transplant them outside.

3) Try that recipe you found on Pinterest but just never found the time to make. Cooking can be great therapy, and eating it is usually pretty fun too!

4) Connect, or reconnect with family and friends. Sometimes, it feels like we’re all on a hamster wheel and while we have the best intentions, we don’t always make that call, or write that email. Use this time to check in on loved ones and talk to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.

5) Read; a book, a newspaper, a magazine, an article online…reading allows your mind an escape.

6) Take a walk. Whether it’s a brief stroll down your street, or a lengthy hike in the woods, get your body moving and enjoy the sights and sounds around you.

I wish you all good health, I hope for all of us to be able to get back to work and back to the lives we knew but I also hope that perhaps there is a silver lining in all this, in that we all find ourselves with time to appreciate the love, joy, and laughter we already have in our lives.