Keeping yourself entertained at home
As we continue to keep living in the pandemic, with most things that we’d usually be doing outside closed, and not much else to do, how do we stay entertained during this pandemic? After all, life is not all about working and studying, and when we do find ourselves with some downtime, we should try and have some things to do to avoid getting bored and feeling down.
There are the obvious answers: Netflix, gaming, talking to your friends online and just scrolling through social media. But there’s only so much of that you can do, and it will only be fun for so long. Doing tasks like this are great for the short term, but once you begin binge watching netflix or gaming for hours, it becomes detrimental to your health. Naturally, you’ll always want to keep doing new things, and being stuck at home makes this a bit harder. It’s not impossible though.
One thing you can do when you find yourself with a bit of time is explore your creative side: this could be in any way from writing, drawing, making something, doing a bit of DIY and even cooking or baking. It might seem like a lot of effort to start something new, but once you start, you will find it easy and effortless if you’re enjoying it. A lot of people find that doing something like this can even be therapeutic in a way - it's a nice break from your usual rigid work/school schedule where you’re always told what to do and have deadlines to meet. Hopefully it will be a lot more fun having that sort of creative freedom. It is useful to do things that use very different parts of your brain that your work does - it gives it a break.
Another thing you can do is try and spend more time doing fun things with the people you live with. If this is your family, start doing more things with them and get closer to them. You can also create mini games to play as a household using things inside the house - there are loads of examples of these on social media and they will probably be great fun. Having strong bonds with those you do get to see on a regular basis is so important now more than ever. Make sure to catch up and check on people that you don’t live with or cannot see regularly - phone a friend, or get a virtual coffee together on zoom, or even just study with each other on facetime - people need support in these times, and even just sitting in silence with someone on a video call doing work can be comforting for you and them.
This is also a great time to learn new skills - hopefully, there will never be another time in your life when the world shuts down like it has. Make use of all this time, and try new things. Cook that dish you’ve been wanting to try, or learn that instrument. There are loads of virtual classes you can join too from yoga to improv acting. In addition, you can enroll yourself in an online course on websites like Coursera or Udemy to learn more about your favourite subject, or gain more qualifications to put on your CV.
However, it is very easy to beat yourself up for not being as productive as you perhaps were before quarantine. Nobody is unaffected by this, and every little thing you do helps. Everyone has those to-do lists that aren’t quite finished, but celebrate the things you did! Going for a short 10-min walk is better than nothing, cooking that simple but healthy dish is better than eating fast food for another meal. Whatever you choose to do, be selfish and make sure it's fun for you. It’s the time you’re getting to yourself after working hard so it shouldn’t be something that causes you any distress or makes you more tired than you already are. Take care of yourself and have fun!