Coronavirus quarantine has given us more free time than we ever asked for. We’re all struggling to fill the long days, whether or working from home or temporarily unemployed. We don’t kill time the same way, though, and our approaches to keeping busy (or just numbing out) depend a lot on our personalities. We’ve analyzed the top 12 quarantine activities and are laying out what each says about you.
Cover Photo: Alex Liew (Getty Images)
You are what you watch: What Your Favorite Streaming Service Says About You
Steer clear: 10 Kinds of Shoppers You’ll Encounter (And Who Will Annoy the Hell Out of You) During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Help Prevent the Spread of the Coronavirus
Visit the Centers for Disease Control at CDC.gov or the World Health Organization at Who.int for the latest information on the coronavirus and learn what you can do to stop the spread.
Follow Mandatory on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Quarantine Activity Says About You
-
Binge-Watching 'Tiger King'
You're addicted to drama, but prefer to ogle it in other people's lives rather than engage in it yourself. Netflix's Tiger King is the perfect vehicle for you to vicariously experience the rage, greed, and lust you can't in your regularly buttoned-up life.
-
Shopping Online
Coronavirus has hit you hardest in your wallet, and it’s not because you aren’t working. It’s because shopping and amassing stuff makes you feel safe, and there’s no time in history when you’ve wanted to feel safer than right now. You’re on Amazon at the break of dawn to see what deals you can procure and you shop ‘til you drop (usually sometime around midnight). The arrival of various packages (many of which you don’t even remember ordering) adds variety to your day. Just the unpacking of purchases and breaking down the boxes is time-consuming in a satisfying way. You probably have more stuff than you can ever use in your lifetime (especially if it’s cut short by COVID-19), but you just feel better surrounded by the towers of supplies.
-
Playing 'Animal Crossing'
You're an extrovert who is social distancing as instructed, but your need to socialize hasn't ebbed at all. That's where Animal Crossing comes in, providing you with a childlike escape while also allowing you to interact with others, even if only digitally.
-
Cutting Your Own Hair
You're adventurous and impulsive, which can be a dangerous combination out in the real world. But in lockdown, it's relatively harmless...except for your hair, which you've taken to cutting on a weekly basis. It's a work in progress, but you're reassured that any mistake you make should grow back by the time you have to show your face (err...head) in public.
-
Cleaning and Organizing
Admit it: you're anal. You're the kind of person who wipes down your entire stainless steel fridge if you see even one little fingerprint or smudge on it. Quarantine is the ultimate excuse to indulge your OCD tendencies and completely clear out clutter, get organized, and simplify your living space. Of course, you're doing all of this alone because who would want to be friends or live with you?
-
Baking Banana Bread
You've always loved eating banana bread (one of the top comfort foods ever created) but now that you're in lockdown, you finally have the time to bake banana bread. Turns out, it's not that hard and you can swap out delicious add-ins with every loaf. Finally, a way to let your creativity run wild while also filling your belly! When the quarantine is over, you'll be fat, but you'll be happy.
-
Getting Baked
This whole pandemic has you on edge, so you turn to your most reliable anxiety treatment: weed. You have a pot dealer on speed dial and you aren't afraid to trouble him at all hours to deliver your much-needed remedy. Since you're not working (or "working" from home), nobody's the wiser about your puff-puff-pass habit, except your cat, who seems to be enjoying the secondhand effects of you getting high.
-
Getting Drunk
Let's be honest: you were a heavy drinker before quarantine and now the only difference is you do it alone and at an earlier and earlier hour every day. You're a depressive, and when you get drunk, all your emotions come out. You spend your evenings draining the bottle, crying a river, and revisiting every misstep you've made. It's no way to live, but then again, we're all going to die soon from coronavirus anyway.
-
Taking Naps
The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" is your favorite song. Short of sedation, sleep is the next best thing. If you could, you'd doze until this whole COVID-19 blows over and life returns to normal again. Since that's not an option, you indulge in frequent naps throughout the day, relishing every time you wake up and realized you've managed to kill another two hours asleep. If napping was an Olympic sport, you’d be a gold medalist.
-
Doing Puzzles
You're a brainiac and you're not going to let your grey matter atrophy while in quarantine. You like challenges and have the bottomless patience to work through them. You're a bit of a nerd and a loner, but who's laughing now that you're enduring lockdown better than most?
-
Working Out to Online Videos
This quarantine is making you antsy, and you can't sit still for long. Without your daily trip to the gym, you're bordering on stir crazy. That's why you're grateful for online workout videos, which you do once, twice, even thrice daily just to stave off cabin fever. You're going to come out of this lockdown in the best shape of your life -- and hopefully in time for swimsuit season!
-
Home Improvement
You’re an optimist. You believe you'll survive this pandemic and you don’t want to waste any of your free time moping. Nope, you’d rather create the ultimate bachelor pad while you have the time. That’s why you’re spending your quarantine doing home improvement project after home improvement project. It’s almost a shame that by the time you finish perfecting your man cave, you’ll have to go back to work again.
