Busy Fingers: What to do when you are injured

Have you been injured recently and have to stop your usual routine? I made this list after I had to change my routine when I dislocated my toe. Hopefully, this list appeals to everyone!

Hobbies:

Learn how to knit or pick up the old knitting projects
Learn how to cross stitch or pick up the old projects
Learn how to crochet or pick up the old projects.
Learn how to paint or catch up on some painting. This could be painting canvas, wood, or anything else, for that matter.
Get into stained glass painting
Learn how to paint dishes and fire them
Make candles at home
Finish off any scrapbooks or start new ones
Organize the boxes of photos and photo albums
Learn how to work with clay
Do the mending on your socks, shirts, etc.
If you like to sew, time to finish all of the sewing projects that you have going.
Learn how to draw. Get some books that show you how to do people or landscapes (depending on your interests) and go for it.
Learn how to make homemade soap, body lotion, body wash, etc.
Get into woodworking or carving wood. You can make your own chess set.
Get some pre-made wood items (like a jewelry box) from a craft store and finish it off. This could be staining it or painting it.
Learn a new language. Get the software in the language of your choice with a bilingual dictionary and set a time every day to do it.

Computers:

Organize photos, documents, videos, music and anything else on your computer
Scan the old photo albums and organize the images on the computer
Watch some movies that you’ve been wanting to see.
Mine through fantastic websites like Wikipedia, eHow, Essortment, and various blogs
Learn how to do things on your computer such as mastering Microsoft Office applications, anti-virus software, e-mail, etc.
Organize the bookmarks in your browser
Download FamilyTree Maker (or a similar software) and start researching the family genealogy. Keep track of it in the software. See if you can get it all the way back to the mother country
Find your favorite podcast and keep up-to-date with the episodes. You may find that you become a fan of many podcasts.
Play video games -- even better, play them with friends and family.
Research the things that you've always wanted to know about.
Create an account on a site like Amazon and do some shopping. If you can't shop, create some wish lists.

Brain Teasers:

Make a puzzle with 1000 to 2000 pieces
Read the books in your collection that you haven't read yet -- or the ones that you haven't read in a long time.
Master sudoku puzzles, word puzzles and crosswords. Work on doing them in pen.
Actually read the manual for your computer, phone or car to find out all of the features that you never knew were there and try them out.

The Kitchen and the house:

Make meals in large batches that can be frozen so that you are cooking less. Also make use of the slow cooker and meals that are very easy to make and don't take a lot of babysitting (like roasted meats and a salad).
Start making your own condiments (ketchup, BBQ sauce, etc.), pickles and preserves.
Thoroughly mine cooking websites like Allrecipes and make a list of the ones that you want to try. Try them, then review them online.
Organize the junk drawer (or drawers)
Purge your bookshelves. This doesn't mean toss everything but take a good look.
Go through your dresser and closet for items to take to the Salvation Army - and take them!
Time to get into menu planning - plan menus for a month and write up the recipes and grocery lists for them. Then put them into practice and evaluate how long it took to make, if you like them, etc.
Take care of the clothes that needed special care - hand washing, ironing, steaming, etc.
Go through the medicine cabinet and toss all expired medication. Check all toiletries and personal products for expiry dates as well. Make a list of the items that you should always have in the house (Tums, Polysporin, etc.) and the items that you now need to replace as they are expired. Gather all of the old prescriptions as well and place in a separate plastic baggie. On an outing, take the expired medication back to the pharmacist and get the items missing from the medicine cabinet.
Start a remodel in one of the rooms of the house. This could mean a major clean-up as well as you may notice that some rooms are cluttered. Think of repainting the walls and/or furniture, taking down wallpaper (or adding some), etc. Or, you could plan a renovation in an area as well. You are home -- you might as well.
Tackle the to-do list that you've been making in your head for the past 10 years. This could be the little things like purging your old school notes or shampooing the carpets. Even better - find all of the post-it notes that you've been keeping, write it all up in a master list on your computer and go about getting it done.

Social and personal life:

Make social dates with people and keep them. If you can't get out of the house, set up regular phone calls or video calls over Skype and keep them.
Plan your next trip (or trips). This could be the next big trip, the March Break trip, the family reunion, etc.
Plan movie nights with friends (most likely at your place). You can theme it with dinner to match the movie (ex. watching the Godfather with spaghetti and meatballs, cannoli for dessert).
Plan your Hallowe'en costume for this year (and those of your kids)
Watch at least 2 movies that you've secretly wanted to see but always said no to (for example, if you hate comedies but have wanted to see a Will Ferrell movie, do it).
Get a jump-start on Christmas for next year. Go through the decorations and see if there is anything that you can toss or donate, or if anything needs to be replaced (like the lights, garland, etc.). Plan the menu and gifts that you want to give to people. If some require time to make, why not make them? At the end of the day, if you decide on something different later on you now have an extra gift that comes in handy for that person that gave you something that you didn't expect.
Start planning the next family reunion. Get everyone's address and phone number, plan a venue and any associated costs. Plan the events and the meal, what is needed and talk about who can bring what. If anything, the list with addresses comes in handy for Christmas card time.
Break a few bad habits. Time to stop smoking or drinking, or eating right before bed. Pick a few habits that you've always wanted to break and do it. You have the time!
Evaluate your finances. Sit down and look at where money needs to go versus the items that you want. This could mean a little tweaking or a major overhaul. Look at paying off debts and savings in particular. It's also a great time to make short term and long term goals like paying off the car and buying a new TV within the next 3 years. If you are feeling really ambitious, program the finances into your calendar software (like Micosoft Outlook) to give you reminders.

If you have kids:

Play board games. Get out the ones that you played as a kid and play those too.
Go on an outing once a week with them (if you can). This may be very difficult but try a location that is easy to maneuver around like the bowling alley, a museum or the mall.
Make your own playdough and make masterpieces.
Get out the lego.
Get out the dinky cars and the mats and play on the floor.
Teach them any of the above hobbies (woodworking, painting, knitting, etc.)
Go through the kids' wardrobe for items that are now too small and decide if these are hand-me-downs, can be reused in anyway or if they are going to the Salvation Army. Note anything that needs to be mended along with any stains and take care of that too.
Play video games together.
Go through the old photo albums together.

Exercise and healing:

Do all of the stretches required of you in order to heal
Go to physiotherapy appointments.
Take pictures of your healing injury – it might be difficult to look at (at first), but you’ll see the healing
Find games that you can play on the Wii that don't hurt or harm your healing.
Switch your workout routine to work an area that is not injured, for example, if your heel is injured then work your upper body. Just be careful as you may be overcompensating for an injury in other ways so don't overwork an area that hurts from regular activity.