Things To Do When Bored While You’re Stuck At Home

These are some of the best ideas for productive things to do while you’re self isolating and stuck at home in 2020 and 2021. Here’s how to cope with quarantine and pass time when bored and alone.

I am a huge fan of escapism. Life gets rough for everyone occasionally, but even more so this year. Plus, this time, all of us, worldwide, are going through a similar unpleasant reality. Some of us are still fortunate enough to be able to distract ourselves from what’s going on out there. So let’s do that. Who says we have to focus on the negative? Who are we helping by giving so much of our attention to it? Absolutely no one.

In this post, I’m sharing a few ways that my family and I have been distracting ourselves and practicing escapism. It’s natural for people cooped up at home to start to feel angsty, irritable and frustrated. But it’s important to bounce back from those feelings quickly, and start doing something that makes you feel happy to be alive.

Sitting around can quickly get boring. It helps to have a variety of activities to occupy ourselves throughout the day. Even though the U.A.E has been opening up, it’s still not safe for a lot of vulnerable people (like myself) to be out and about. A lot of other countries around the world are also going into a second lockdown.

Image credit: Yuiizaa September, Unsplash

So if you’re still spending most of your days at home (good on you!) and are looking for things to do, to help keep you busy, here are some of my favourite ways to pass time safely:

Bake or cook something you’ve never made before:

I’ve cooked and baked more this year than I have in my entire life. My sister has too. These are a few new things that have been made in our household recently. Olive bread (countless loafs), French bread, cheesy garlic loaf, chocolate cake, cupcakes, marble cake, udon noodles, different pasta recipes, pizza dough from scratch…and I’m sure I’m forgetting something. There’s also a lot more on our “to-make list.” We’ve probably consumed more flour this year than we have in the last 5 years. It’s been very entertaining for amateurs like us to try making new stuff. I recommend you try making something new too. For ideas of what to make, log onto Pinterest. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be my most used app this year.

Image credit: Monika Grabkowska, Unsplash

Play games online with family & friends:

A great way a lot of people have been staying in touch and keeping themselves entertained is by playing games online with family and friends. For a majority of the past few months, my family and I have been playing Ludo on one of many apps we have now added to our phones. ‘Yalla Ludo’ is the one we’ve been using for a while now, because it allows us to audio chat while we play. It’s the highlight of most of our days. Another game we played online was Pictionary, for which we used drawize.com. If you’re quarantined with someone, play board games or card games. Uno, Rummy, Bluff, Go fish, Monopoly, Cluedo, Ludo, Dominoes; there are so many options. Trust me, it’s a great way to lift your mood and pass time while having fun.

Dance/Workout:

Okay, I have definitely not been working out enough, but dancing is a great way to keep yourself moving and lifting your mood. Put on your favourite playlist and sing/dance your heart out! Who says you need to go anywhere to party? Have your own party! The best part of dancing at home is, there’s no one to judge you. Move however you feel like. It’s liberating. Try it today. It’s a stay-at-home game-changer.

Learn a new language:

Growing up in the U.A.E., I’ve always felt strange about not knowing Arabic. This is the perfect time to start learning! The app DuoLingo is what I’ve been using. It’s really user-friendly and makes learning easy. You can choose what you want to learn from a variety of languages. Try it out yourself. It’s free to use and it’s set up like a game with different levels. Another great way to spend a few minutes of your day and hopefully come out of this with a new language learned.

Learn how to play a new instrument:

I’ve always wanted to learn an instrument; I think most of us have at some point in our lives. I have a ukulele lying around and I’ve been meaning to start practicing. It’s very easy to learn an instrument online these days. There are countless free apps and YouTube videos to learn from. My favourites are the Yousician app and TheUkuleleTeacher on YouTube.

If you want to learn an instrument, there are so many options of instruments that require little investment and can be delivered to your doorstep: Ukulele, Harmonica, Flute, Guitalele (yes, apparently that’s a thing.) You could even just learn to sing from professional classes; your voice is an instrument too. I think this would be a great project to make this year a little better. At least we could come out of it with a new skill.

Art:

A lot of people have been exploring their creative side during the pandemic. This is great. Art can be very therapeutic and cathartic. Let out your frustrations and have something to show for it. Paint, sketch, make collages, colour in books/apps, make a vision board, anything you wish! It’s a great release and very satisfying to have created something. Inspiration is everywhere.

Keep a journal:

I’ve been journaling on and off my whole life. I’ve always had a personal diary, and have found writing in it to be my favourite way to release pent up thoughts and feelings. I’ve probably filled in more pages in my journal during the pandemic than I have throughout my life. It’s very helpful in dealing with the feelings of anxiety and frustration that we all have right now. I like to look at it like this: there’s an unravelled string of yarn tangled up in my mind. When I write, I slowly untangle the string and form it into a sorted out ball of yarn, that’s ready to use. I don’t give myself any pressure of writing everyday and keeping my journal neat. It’s just my brain-dumping space. No pressure; only catharsis.

Image credit: Alina Vilchenko, Pexels

Start watching a new series:

If all else fails and all you want to do is escape your reality by getting engrossed in someone else’s, start binge-watching a new show. Everyone knows this and already does it. But, I don’t think enough people realize how helpful it can be as a form of escapism, to simply get your mind off of your own life and simply enter another’s for a bit. My favourite show that grabs all my attention is The Blacklist. It’s on Netflix. Check it out. You won’t regret it.

Start a blog:

One of the main reasons I started my blog, Thoughtful Snippets, was to escape from a difficult time and have an outlet to focus on. Then, we also started logueonline, as an outlet during this pandemic. There are so many things you can do with a space of your own on the internet. You can make it whatever you want it to be and share it with everyone or no one. The choice is all yours. Make something you’re proud of and make it your own. Write about things your passionate about, speak about issues that are bothering you, create feel-good lifestyle posts, share photos, share art projects, even just one sentence a day. It can literally be anything you want it to be.

Some platforms to start your own blog are Squarespace (what we use for this site), Blogger.com (what I use for Thoughtful Snippets), Wordpress (what many other bloggers use), or Wix. I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones I hear most recommendations for. I’d say Blogger is the best for a beginner with minimal investment, and Wordpress can be confusing when you’re just starting out and want something simple. Squarespace seems super easy to figure out and get a professional-looking site, but it’s going to cost you. Blogger is free and easy, but your site probably won’t look and feel very professional. There are many blog posts you can search for that help out with the whole process of starting your own blog. I highly recommend it. I mean, why not, right?

Image credit: cottonbro, Pexels

All my fellow over-thinkers can probably relate to the habit of hanging onto negative thoughts for too long. It’s important to be aware of what’s going on around you, but it’s also important to know when to stop focusing on it. Do your part to stay safe, but other things that are out of our control do not need more of our attention. By focusing on things out of our control, we just end up harming ourselves and helping absolutely no one. So break the chain, and start living to the best of your ability under the current circumstance. I know it seems easier said than done, but all we have to do is try.

Love to you all and stay safe. Do whatever you can to make this easier for yourself.

Thanks for reading.