THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU’RE BORED

28/03/20

With the current state of the world (looking at you covid-19) we all have a lot of spare time at the moment, whether social distancing or quarantined. Some of you might still be working full time however with no commute and no possibilities of dining out with mates, we could all do with a few extra ideas on what to do with these gained hours. 

START A BLOG / VLOG / INSTAGRAM PAGE

This is up first because *case and point I started a blog after three days of lockdown*. The internet and social media provides us with so many creative outlets. 

Are you finding yourself enjoying cooking meals from scratch with your pantry items? Make an instagram to showcase them, or film some cooking videos to post on youtube for fun. 

Create an instagram for your art, start a blog for your short stories, post your ukelele covers on instagram. Possibilities are endless. Sure you may not become an influencer overnight or be discovered by Justin Bieber but it’s a fun project nonetheless.

YOGA

Yoga is amazing for times of anxiety and it’s focused around breathing and grounding yourself. Search it up on youtube and start off with a 10 minute yoga flow if you’ve never tried it before. 

I’ve been enjoying Sarah Beth Yoga on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYY8KovKO3M 

GET FIT

Ok yes this is an obvious one and I’m sure most people have dabbled in a bit of extra working out during quarantine already but it really is a great opportunity to really commit this time. Set a goal and stick to it!

JOURNAL

This pandemic thing has never happened before. Why not take account of your thoughts and happenings daily? How weird will it be to look back on in 10 or 20 years and see what you did over these four weeks. I’ve started to write daily accounts of everything I’m doing and thinking, but to be honest journaling is a great daily habit to create nonetheless. 

READING

Finally, we have time to read. Pick something that inspires you.

LEARN A LANGUAGE

Nerdy suggestion, but who doesn’t want to be bilingual? This is the time to learn a language! Yes we can jump on duolingo but when 8pm rolls around and you just feel like watching movies, pick a movie in your chosen second language to watch, watch with english subtitles and hey you’re soaking in more knowledge. Podcasts are also great too if your 10 minute duolingo lesson feels too quick. 

Duolingo: https://www.duolingo.com/

French movies: The Intouchables, Amelie, Blue is the Warmest Colour

Spanish movies/TV: Roma, Narcos

Italian movies: Perfect Strangers, Life Is Beautiful

COOK SOMETHING NEW

Hey why don’t you treat yourself to a slow cooked roast dinner (subject to grocery availability of course), or do a bunch of baking if you’re one of the lucky ones locked down with flour. Antoni from queer eye has amazingly been posting some ‘Quar Eye’ cooking demo videos lately which I’d recommend if you don’t cook often and need some inspiration. 

It’s amazing what you can cook from scratch with a little bit of spare time. I’ll link below some videos that have inspired me this week:

Jamie cooking pasta from scratch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z-WKvuYp6s&t=12s

Lauren cooking with what she has in the pantry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLP7J29fYiw&list=PL4oJDnDBCw1_3yeXXQvTKtOW3Je4oHxc9&index=21

WORK ON YOUR BUDGET

If you’ve been putting this off for a while then this is a great time to reassess your finances. If you’re temporarily out of work and may struggle for the next wee while then creating a new budget will be important as heck, so that you can make sure to live within your means and not sink your teeth too deep into your savings. Alternatively if you’re working from home and are actually able to save a lot of money not spending money on $10 salads monday-friday or topping up your hop card, then it’s a great time to put aside a chunk of change so that maybe someday you can travel *my fingers are crossed for this year*.

ORGANIZE YOUR PHONE / EMAILS

It is sooo therapeutic to get to inbox zero in the ole gmail. In the same way, going through all of your photos and screenshots etc and deleting everything you don’t need (or exporting it all to the cloud or google photos) will make you feel lighter than you ever thought possible. 

WATCH SOMETHING INSPIRING

Two words: TED talks. 

Yes we have stuff we’ve been meaning to binge on netflix (or disney plus) but when you’re starting to feel down or unmotivated then TED talks are a perfect pick me up. 

HAVE A PICNIC WITH YOUR BUDDY

Pack up your lunch, a blanket, and your other half/family member/dog/bubble buddy and go outside for a picnic. Fresh air is gold.