I know self-isolation must have hit you with surprise bringing this unpredictable stuck at home situation. Being an introvert, I definitely enjoyed a longer pause from society, but I still need contacts and some days, it’s just too much for me.

Yesterday my husband and I shared the talks about our future. We did a lot of planning and then he said: “how likely will we be this positive during the lockdown if we haven’t had our 4-year-old to entertain us all the time”.

So, if there’s anyone on the planet Earth who knows how to entertain herself, that’s me. I don’t have a problem with boredom.

But three months of agony and fear, waiting in line with paranoia, thinking of people who have lost the battle. Overthinking, as the greatest enemy of conscious beings is on its highest level right now.

Though staying sane is hard, it’s not impossible. Like never before, there’s plenty of free time to make progress on whatever we always wanted to do but were lacking time.

So let’s feed our lives with productivity during self-isolation. Here’s my great 40 self-isolation list to feed our minds, bodies and souls.

Brain boost

1 Read.

There are actually lots of sites and apps with free books! Here are some of them: Amazon Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, Overdrive, Wattpad, Project Gutenberg, ICDL.

2 Learn new skills.

Anything you wanted to learn for a long time but never had a chance?! Now’s finally your time. There are some really great courses online (you can enrol in some free too) according to what you wanna learn.

Search for them here: Udemy, Skillshare, Envatotuts, Udacity, Alison.

3 Create a course yourself.

You can make money while in quarantine selling what you’re good at! It can be anything from baking and playing music to marketing techniques, meal plans and workouts.

I’d strongly suggest you make your course on Teachable since it’s easy to navigate through and they’re all ready to help you succeed and make that money faster.

4 Start a blog.

Another great idea to make $$$! To those who are passionate enough and start seriously, blogging becomes a full-time job pretty soon. Here’s a complete guide on how to start a blog correctly.

I also wrote a post about how can a newbie blogger make money in less than 4 months, take a look at it here.

5 Write a book.

It’s about time your draft comes to reality, isn’t it?!

6 Sell digital products online.

Create planners or cute wall art with Canva.com and start your online shop here. Promote products on Pinterest and enjoy your business growth!

Pairing this method with blogging is better since that’s how you can have multiple sources of income at one price (start your blog at $3.95 with my guide here).

You can even make your online shop as a category inside your blog too. It’s super easy to create with WooCommerce.

7 Become an online English teacher.

Seven of my friends earn great money for living doing this. Try out these websites to make extra cash during self-isolation: VIPKID, 51Talk, Cambly, iTalki, iTutorGroup.

8 Affiliate marketing.

It’s the method many bloggers use to earn a lot of cash. However, you don’t need to have a blog to do it. You can promote affiliate links (products you love: fashion, cosmetics, food etc) on social medias and Pinterest too!

If you want to make a difference in your life, then this is the course I strongly recommend you enrol today: Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.

The owner of this course makes $50,000 per month and she teaches all of us who enrol in her course to get close to that number too. (Yep, I took it too) This is her blog.

She’s always there for our questions and I love that we share how much we’ve earned each month in our private Facebook group. So inspirational! Those people are family.

9 Make some music.

Whether you’re good at writing songs, singing or playing instruments, OR BOTH, do it. You can easily find people to make music together online.

10 Science project.

This is for the rare group of people. Finish your project, work hard on it, make a difference.

11 Study for exams.

Don’t just fall into a rut with this during self-isolation, it’ll get pretty hard later. So students, do your job on time!

12 Watch the National Geographic and History channel.

13 Start a podcast.

Mind & body self-isolation boost

14 Become a morning person.

It releases endorphins and boosts productivity when you figure out it’s 9 AM and you’ve already crossed off several things from your to do-list.

15 Sleep at least 7 hours every night.

16 Don’t drink coffee first thing in the morning.

Have a glass of lemon water and a nourishing breakfast instead. You’ll give your body a chance to wake up naturally and you won’t risk feeling too tired once the caffeine stops working.

17 Exercise.

18 Start yoga.

Here’s my weekly workout plan for inspiration.

19 Meditate.

20 Have one green portion per day.

Start your day with a morning smoothie or a green salad. Green veggies are super antioxidants, you’ll feel less bloated and your skin will look better!

21 Journal.

Wouldn’t it be funny to look back at how you survived months of quarantine?!

22 Social media detox.

I’d suggest you do it for 5 days straight unless your work requires using it (or some other strong reason). In that case, put you phone away from you for 3 hours for 5 days!

23 At home SPA.

24 Nap whenever you feel like napping!

25 Hydrate throughout the day.

When we don’t hydrate enough (recommended daily dose: 8 glasses of water), we are sleepy!

26 Movie night marathon.

With kids and your partner, popcorns or dinner, wine and freshly squeezed orange for littles! Watch age-appropriate movies/shows/cartoons.

27 Morning family walks.

28 Vitamin D on the terrace.

29 Play with kids as kids play!

Really get into the roles.

– Related: 20 screen-free activities for kids during self-isolation –

30 Create new playlists for different mood.

Productivity boost

31 Create goals.

Start from yearly and go all the way through monthly, weekly and daily to-do lists. Having goals in front of you helps you focus on working harder to make the magic happen because the list reminds you. It’s great if you put motivational quotes beside each goal!

– Related: 30 days healthy goal challenge –

32 Master to-do lists.

Meaning: learn to prioritise the first 3 most important.

33 Declutter!

Declutter whichever area of your life needs some free space and organisation. You’ll breathe safely after that.

– Related: 5 ways to declutter your mind –

34 Buy some pretty planner.

35 Finish hard tasks first.

I know it gets tempting to get yourself right onto doing fun and easy tasks first, but don’t! Do harder tasks when you’re still fresh and concentrated.

36 Use time blocking method.

37 Apps.

There really are few of great apps that I use on a daily basis that help me get my work done and stay productive. I’m currently using Smarter Time app which is great for time management and focusing on one task at a time.

It also tracks the time I spend on my phone, so I can easily see how much am I scrolling through social media while working. Great one to show you what stands between checking it done and you.

And Fabulous, which has been one of my favourite apps for long time. I love that it reminds me of my rituals and motivates me to join amazing challenges to improve myself.

38 Stop multitasking.

I was the best multi-tasker in my previous life (read: before motherhood). And I never really stopped doing it now, except for I refuse to multitask while I’m doing something that reqires a lot of concentration and my dedication.

Multitasking, yes while cooking and cleaning kitchen. No while working, eating lunch or playing with the kid.

39 Don’t remember things.

Write them down as they happen.

40 Say NO.

Remember that one time you had a great business idea to work on and your friend called you to walk dogs together? Or that day you decided to dedicate to deep cleaning the house and your cousin came to visit?

Well, for the sake of your productivity and your goals, learn to say NO. Learn to prioritise your life. Your choices and your existence.

See! It’s not that hard, right?! 😉