COVID-19, the virus that put the world on hold. It’s spread all over the world and about 130 countries are currently dealing with it. Most companies are urging their employees to stay home or work remotely if possible. According to the worldometers website which is a verified source, there are currently more than 170,000 cases worldwide and the number is growing dramatically fast.

Although COVID-19 is not as fatal as other same-type viruses like SARS and MERS, it could be transmitted much faster and easier. In fact, every carrier transmits the virus to three people in average. Consequently, health officials all around the world are strongly urging people to stay home!

But staying at home can be difficult; especially, if you have children. As a programmer, here are some useful things to do:

Read

Unfortunately, most people don’t read enough nowadays. When it comes to reading, the first thing that comes to mind is book; but it requires you to leave your house, go to your first store, and buy some which could be dangerous. Alternatively, you can purchase your desired books online or even use the electronic versions if possible. Apple Books Store and Kindle are the most popular services to purchase an electronic version of your favorite books.

In addition, you may want to try the audio version of books as well. If you don’t have time for reading (which you should find some), it’s possible to listen! You can use audiobooks when commuting, washing dishes, gardening, etc.

Beside books, you can also try apps like Pocket and Feedly. Pocket allows you to add your articles on the web to it for later reading while it also suggest you related articles based your reading history. Feedly on the other hand is an RSS reader. It let you add your favorite websites to it and it automatically gather all new articles for you in one place.

Help your family

It’s not bad to wash the dishes or helping your wife or mom with chores. Even if you work remotely these days, you have at least two hours more (because you don’t commute); as a result, it’s now time to help you family. You may have some postponed tasks from a long time ago. These days are the best time to get them done.

As my friends know, I love cooking. Since the last week, I help my wife prepare the meals as well. sometimes, I prepare the meal myself. It’s really enjoyable.

Spend more time with kids

If you have children, it’s the best time to spend more time with them. Kids need to do more physical activities than adults. They need to run and play. But because these days they should stay at home, they get bored. Find new indoor games and play with your children is vital. If you don’t know what games to play, you may want to check out 75 Fun Indoor Games for Kids

Learn a new language

Most people think knowing English is enough. However, other languages can be helpful as they open a completely new world to you. At least, you can use those new-learned languages in your next travels! Language institutes are closed these days but there are several online services (most of them free) which can be used to learn a new language. The most popular services are Memerise and Duolingo. Both services has free services as well as premium features. But you may start with a free subscription and then upgrade to premium if you find them useful.

Workout at home

Although gyms are closed these days and it’s important to exercise. Therefore, you should find a way to keep up you workouts even if you’re at home. Some people may have some equipments like dumbbells and etc., so they can use them. But for those who don’t have any, I found a very useful app called Home Workouts that teaches you how to workout with absolutely no equipments.

Conclusion

Remember, the best thing you can do to prevent the 2019 Coronavirus from spreading is to just stay at home. While staying home for a long period of time can be boring, you can do a lot of valuable activities even if you’re at home.

Stay healthy and safe.