Are you feeling lethargic after staying at home for months? You may be limited to four walls during this pandemic, but it doesn’t need to be boring.
Here are some productive activities you can do to inject some spark and excitement into your life.
Learn a new language
Learning a new language can open many doors for you, especially when it comes to your career. With this extra time under lockdown, you can brush up your command of a second language you’ve learned, or pick up another language. Thanks to technology, we can easily learn new languages by using an app such as Duolingo, or enroll ourselves in an online class.
Enrich the mind through podcasts
Are you bored of watching films and TV shows? If so, listening to podcasts may be well worth your time. Listening to podcasts which hold great discussions about interesting topics can help enrich your mind and worldview. Since podcasts can come in any genre, there’s something for everyone. You can tune in to comedy shows and crime stories, or even start your own podcast.
Read a book
During this long period of self-quarantine, it’s the perfect time to tackle your ever-mounting pile of unread books. Reading can help improve your vocabulary, provide your imagination with an escape to other worlds, and teach you something new. With the availability of ebooks online, you can resume your joy of reading without worrying about bookshelf space.
Learn to play a music instrument
Many do not realise that playing a musical instrument helps to stimulate the brain and help improve memory and abstract reasoning skills. In other words, playing a musical instrument helps make us smarter. It’s time to dust off your piano or re-tune your guitar, and start playing. If you don’t know how, it’s never too late to learn. There are numerous online classes now ranging from beginner to advanced levels.
Clean the house
Since we’re spending a lot of time at home now, it only makes sense to give it a thorough clean, because we don’t know when we’ll have the chance to do so again. It’s also a good time to reorganise the kitchen cupboards and chuck out whatever that is unneeded anymore.
Organise the wardrobe
After cleaning the house, you can move on and start organising the wardrobe. You’ll definitely realise that there are some clothing items which you’ll never wear again. These clothes should be packed and given away. Soon, the wardrobe will look neater with more space to boot.
Sharpen cooking and baking skills
Give your Maggi noodles a rest, and start learning how to cook proper meals. Even celebrities such as David Beckham, John Legend and Henry Cavill are using their free time to improve their cooking skills. You can easily learn how to cook or bake using online recipes, cook books and even through Youtube videos.
Repair old clothes
You might find old clothes you still love but it just require a minor repair. It could be a stitch to close up a hole in the jacket pocket or to get a zipper unstuck. With just a few minutes of concentration and work, your old clothes will look brand new again, with strangers none the wiser of the ‘magic’ you performed.
Perfect the art of the manicure
With nail salons prevented from operating, manicure addicts have no choice but to perfect the art of painting their nails with salon-like quality. You can take the free time now to learn how to draw nail art at home. For nail art inspiration, hit up Pinterest or watch video tutorials online. Manicure supplies can be easily ordered online too.
Start a herb garden
Starting a herb garden at home will pay off in the long run. With a herb garden at home, you’ll never run out of herb and spices, and there’s no need to run to the store to stock up. Having herbs on hand will also enhance the flavours of your cooking in a healthy manner. Some of the herbs to plant include basil, rosemary, cilantro and mint.
Update your resume and CV
Some of us might be out of a job or planning to switch jobs in this job climate. Before making any hasty decision, it’s advisable to take stock of and update your resume, CV and other professional accounts. This is so you know what skills you need to add and brush up on, before checking in with your professional network.
Take an online course
It’s also a good time to brush up on your professional portfolio and gain new skills, or pick up a new hobby. Either way, it’ll help kill boredom while you learn something new, such as picking up sign language.
With online learning courses available, we can learn anything we want from the comfort of our own home. If you’re hard up for cash, you can find a treasure trove of information on websites like Youtube.
Make the dream bucket list
The idea of travelling may seem miles away, but it’s better to have an idea right now rather than wait until much later. List down the things you want to do or places you want to go once the lockdown is over and it’s safe to travel.
Making a bucket list in this prolonged lockdown can also help lift up the mood a little and spark an inspiration, which is better than moping around daily.
Begin writing your novel or blog
Do you have a story idea that has been playing in the back of your mind? It’s time to put it all into words, whether or not it gets published into a book.
Even if you don’t have a story to write, you can start documenting or writing down your thoughts in a blog or a diary.
The act of writing and reflecting on our thoughts can be a therapeutic and much-needed activity in these uncertain times.
Listen to more music
While in a normal working environment, it’s likely that you would not be able to listen to music. Why not spend some time going over music albums and discover something new now that you’re working from home?
With YouTube and Spotify, you can listen to new music from your favourite genres, or find a list of best albums for the genre and listen to them all! Create your own playlist and share it with friends and family members, or even have impromptu singalong sessions. Music is a brilliant way to chase away the lockdown blues.
Experiment on social media
You might use Facebook to connect with friends and family, and LinkedIn for your professional profile, but you can do so much more than that. Why not join the online communities like Reddit and Pinterest and connect with like-minded people from around the world on subjects that matter to you. From discussions on your favourite Marvel TV series character to parenting, there is a whole wide world waiting to be discovered.
Or you might want to try something a little more fun and creative like TikTok and Snapchat. The possibilities are endless!
Keep in touch with family and friends
Despite being isolated from the people we usually spend time with, we also have more means to remain connected to them than ever before. Make time to catch-up and have a virtual drink with your friends and family. From Zoom to Microsoft Teams, there are a ton of apps you can use for this purpose.
Get artistic
If DIY and gardening is not your thing but you’d still like to do something creative, you might want to consider art and crafts. Give yourself room to express yourself and channel your creative juices via painting. You can paint canvasses, doodle on a sketchpad or rope your kids in for a fun time with colouring books.
Going a step further, you can also try knitting, candle-making or jewellery-making. Explore various websites that provide guides and ideas on arts and crafts activities you can undertake during this period of increased downtime.
Start a vlog or journal
Keeping track of your thoughts, activities and learnings is always a good idea – and a highly productive one at that. You might look back at this time and process your memories or even process your thoughts for the day or the week that has passed.
You can do this privately on your computer, smartphone or even a notebook. Challenge yourself and take it step further by setting up a personal vlog and share your thoughts with the world!
Subscribe to a streaming service
While watching a stimulating TV series on the streaming service of your choice is a great way to pass the time, it can also lead to prolonged periods of unproductivity as you find yourself binge-watching on the sofa all day long.
What you can do is split your watching habits equally between your favourite shows and something educational like documentaries, biographies and the like.
Meditate
While you’re putting in the effort to be productive, the load of mental stress from being indoors for prolonged periods in this uncertain times can still add up.
In the midst of all these, you should also be mindful of your wellbeing. Meditation is an excellent way to help you get a bit of peace of mind.
Find a quiet space, light some candles and clear your mind. Putting on some therapeutic meditation music can help you feel relaxed during the meditation session too. Meditating is one of the best things you can do right now to relieve stress and improve your wellbeing.
Headspace.com is a good place to start if you are new to meditation and mindfulness.
