We’re all home from work and school and now seems like the perfect time to meet up with friends and family who are all stuck in the same boat. No more complicated planning around everyone’s busy schedules—the next few weeks look wide open.

But before you hop in the car to see a friend, it’s important to remember why we’re all at home in the first place.

We’ve all heard the phrase “self-isolate” so many times throughout the past couple of weeks, along with all the reasons why we should be taking it seriously. The word “pandemic” is not one lightly thrown around by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the coronavirus has proved itself to be just that—a global threat.

Even though the elderly are the most at risk, young people should also be aware: this virus is very contagious. Even more so than the flu, according to the WHO. You can also be an asymptomatic carrier, which means you can have the virus and not even know it. So, even if you likely won’t get sick from this virus, you can still pass it on to older people or those who are immunocompromised and put them at great (and sometimes even fatal) risk.

While we remain cautious, it’s also important that we make the best of our situation. Here are some ways we can keep busy at home and still connect with our friends.

All this time inside doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself. Have you always wanted to get more into cooking or perfect your newfound cookie recipe? Now’s the time to work with what you’ve got.

Jessica Kopew, 23, has been home from graduate school since March 13.

“Being cooped up in the house all day is hard,” she said. But she understands its benefit in the long run. “Without isolation, many more will die because the healthcare system can’t handle all of the cases at once. Allowing people to be infected at a slower rate means that the hospitals will be less overwhelmed and therefore better able to save lives effectively.”

Her online classes don’t start until next week, so she’s been keeping busy making tasty treats and meals like homemade ice cream, plant-based burgers and hot dogs, mac and cheese and much more.

She finds recipes online that are easy to put together. She’s even found an easy way to steam milk for her coffees and lattes: Shake the milk (until there are lots of bubbles), pour into a glass jar and microwave (without the lid) for a minute. She has a chai concentrate she pours over it to make a chai latte, but coffee works too.

Check out allrecipies.com, onceuponachef.com or loveandlemons.com for ways to make soups, desserts and pasta dinners. (These sites include vegan and vegetarian dishes as well.)

Whether you’re into music, photography, crafting, writing, crocheting—whatever it may be—you can really put some effort into doing what you love, instead of having to squeeze some practice time into an already busy schedule.

This helps add structure and relief to what might seem like an endless day or a day spent taking classes online.

Laurie Epstein, 22, is adjusting to a semester online (her last day in a real classroom was March 9), and while she is serious about her academics, she is also intent on keeping her schedule busy with activities she likes to do.

Lately she’s been engrossed by the collection of Stephen King novels she found buried in her attic a couple of months ago. Epstein has also been learning new songs on her ukulele and doing a lot more drawing and sketching.

The risks of spreading the virus hits closer to home for her than for some others—literally.

“I have a family member living with me who has a heart condition,” she said. “If I ever, God forbid, catch the virus, I would hate to pass it on to them and put them in a dangerous state. So as frustrating as the isolation has been, I understand that it’s my responsibility to follow the advice of those who know better than I do so that my family and I can stay safe.”

Rachel Benji, 18, is also looking for ways to keep her daily routine steady. When she’s not taking her online classes, she takes time to practice the piano or work out.

“I try to stick to the same routine I had before this pandemic began,” she said. She’s been home since early March. “I’m only leaving my house if I truly have to.”

Now might be one of the few socially acceptable times to veg out in front of the couch for a couple hours. Make the most out of your (or your parent’s) Netflix, Hulu or HBO subscription. But don’t stay glued to a screen all day. Now is also a great time to take a walk outside or go for a run. Just remember to keep a six-foot distance between yourself and others.

It’s never too late to take on an extra mitzvah or two, get up a little earlier to daven Shacharit or make reading some tehillim part of your daily routine.

Shira Sedek, 17, has been home since March 5. She still has some homework and projects to get done, but she is also working in some time to connect on a spiritual level.

“I’ve been saying a lot of tehillim and davening,” she said. She also takes walks outside to get fresh air, and likes to do indoor exercises with the help of (free) YouTube yoga and Zumba videos. “Reading, watching TV, watching shiurim and helping out with Pesach cleaning help keep me busy.”

She’s been tempted to meet up with people but chooses to call or FaceTime, instead of seeing them in person.

“I especially want to see my grandparents,” she said, “but I know it’s for their safety that I don’t.”

Just because you can’t see your friends in person doesn’t mean that you can’t see them at all. We live in an age that allows us to spend time together even if we’re apart. There are tons of online groups that allow you to connect with your friends remotely.

Kopew recently used the free Chrome extension app Netflix Party in order to watch movies with her friends virtually and talk about them using the program’s chat tool. If you don’t have Netflix, the website Watch2gether lets you invite friends to watch YouTube and other online videos.

“I also FaceTime and call a lot of people,” said Kopew. “There was one day where I was on the phone for five hours calling four or five friends.”

Epstein and her friend Shaina Joseph, 22, use the app Discord to chat with each other and other friends online. While the site is used primarily for video gamers to share their screens and play together online, Epstein and Joseph use the screen-sharing feature to watch movies together and talk.

Discord is free to use; all you have to do is create an account and send a personal invite link to whomever wants to join.

Facebook groups also offer a chance for Jewish kids to connect. Zoom University Hillel is a forum (with more than 11,000 members and counting) for people to keep each other company, post memes, discussion questions (“who’s your favorite Jewish celebrity”) and surveys (“pick your favorite cereal”). The forum is also a way to offer words of encouragement and ways for people to get involved safely during this crisis, such as remote volunteering opportunities and links to donate blood or bone marrow.