Being stuck at home in your social-distancing effort might feel like the end of the world and the beginning of infinite boredom. It’s easy in times like these to lose motivation to accomplish anything. However, this is a good time to bring back that long-abandoned list of skills to learn, things to watch, and places to clean. After all, when have you had time for any of that before?
Food and exercise
Image courtesy of Steve Buissinne
- Make your own food
Practice your cooking skill, make some healthy new dishes and maybe throw in a baking project or two. No matter the cuisine and equipment on hand, there are recipes for pretty much any dish on countless websites, blogs and even YouTube channels. Even Udemy, which is mostly known for its tech courses, has lots of cooking classes, including one on Indian cooking specifically. Your body will thank you for the home-cooked food when the pandemic blows over! - Make your own fresh juice
With a virus going around, vitamin intake is more crucial than ever. Being confined to the indoors will mean getting less sunlight and thus vitamin D. As such, it’s important to keep track of the fruits you eat and the vitamins your immune system is lacking. To encourage yourself to eat more fruits, why not try making your own fresh juice? A sturdy slow juicer like the one by Smeg is an investment in your health. - Follow an exercise routine
To keep your body moving, you don’t need a full-blown gym. YouTube, for instance, is full of exercise routines by people like Pamela Reif, which you can complete directly from home with no equipment. From full-body workouts to niche exercises, your fitness needs will be covered for months. - Practice mindfulness
One issue many people are facing during this outbreak is a struggle with their mental health. Being confined during such difficult times with nothing to take your mind off things can take a toll on anyone’s wellbeing. While mindfulness is not a cure-all, it can help you relax and focus your mind on less negative thoughts. There are countless mindfulness and meditation tutorials on YouTube and even whole apps like Headspace dedicated to the practice.
Around the house
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- Sort through your wardrobe
There has never been a better time to sort out your wardrobe. If you own a lot of clothes and have made a mess of them over the years, you might be genuinely surprised at what’s inside. To get you started, follow some expert tidying advice to effectively sort through your clothes. You can even make the process fun by watching Marie Kondo’s Netflix series about tidying up while you do it. - Mend your own clothes
Once you’ve dug up all those old clothes, you will quickly realise that they are not in such great shape. This is a good opportunity to try your hand at mending your own clothes. Just get hold of a sewing kit (you can order one if you don’t have one at home) and follow a beginner’s sewing tutorial. Good to go! - Do a deep-clean
To take things one step further, use your time at home to do some deep-cleaning. Neglected areas of the home, such as windows, could use with a good polish every now and again. Now that you’re stuck at home, a view through clean windows will make your stay that much more pleasant as well. - Organise your fridge
One neglected part of the home that you have probably never organised? The fridge. Sorting through expired items and making sure everything is on the correct shelf can be harder than you think, so it’s worth doing a bit of research. You can also read our guide to fridge organisation in the April 2020 issue of SquareRooms. - Give DIY projects a go
For lovers of home decor and handmade items, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as completing DIY projects. From coasters to jewellery trays, we have a whole list of easy DIY projects to get you inspired.
Skills and courses
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- Learn a language
What could be a better time to take up a new language? Nowadays, there are countless free language-learning apps to kill your boredom, the most popular one being Duolingo. Aside from the apps themselves, there are also online sites dedicated to finding real people to practice the language you are learning with. This will help you deepen your new skill while also easing loneliness during isolation. - Take a free course
If languages are not your thing, there are plenty of other free and affordable online courses you can take and skills you can learn. Places like the Open University have announced a variety free courses this month, covering multiple disciplines and subjects for those looking for academic brainfood. Coursera is another platform similarly dedicated to online learning. - Pick up a new skill
For hands-on learning, Skillshare and Udemy are great places to pick up anything from coding to painting. Skillshare is subscription-based, while Udemy has separate prices for each course. Do keep a look-out for offers, as Udemy courses especially go on sale very frequently, saving you hundreds of dollars.
Read, watch, listen
Image courtesy of Perfecto Capucine
- Join a virtual tour
Since the spread of the virus, many museums and cultural sites have started offering virtual tours online, including places like Machu Picchu. They’re a newly accessible way to visit museums for people with reduced mobility, but also come in handy during this pandemic. If you’ve never quite had the time to explore cultural and historical sites, these virtual tours are a great place to start. - Read a book
Did you know that libraries offer ebooks and audiobooks alongside physical books? Through the Libby app, you can access thousands of free ebooks and audiobooks from the National Library catalogue. And, contrary to popular belief, these books are not all old, dusty classics. Libby users in Singapore are especially lucky, as the catalogue is updated with new releases at least once a week. No more excuses to put off reading! - Listen to podcasts
If you think it’s time to learn something new but want to go about it the fun way, podcasts might be just the thing for you. They are much like blogs, but in audio format, and often focus on explaining obscure topics. Some of the most popular podcast subjects on Spotify include finance, general knowledge and science. For a fascinating astronomy podcast full of humour, Daniel and Jorge Explain The Universe is a top-notch choice.
