Bored of being bored? These are 5 simple things you can do to keep your mind occupied while stuck in quarantine.
1. Find yourself in a good book
Reading will not only kill time, it will improve your word choice and your range of vocabulary. Now if you are thinking "Where do I start?" or "I don't have a book" then not to worry. You can download the app "Audible" which is linked to below, and purchase a large selection of best-selling novels and podcasts from all devices. Your first audible book will be free.
*Please note: I am not promoting Audible in any way, I am using this as a suggestion.*
If you would prefer to read books for free, there are tons of apps you are able to download, to read books and listen to podcasts for free. This is good especially if you don't want to spend a lot of money on books you'll probably only read once, but that decision is your own.
Myself personally, prefer a paperback or hardback copy of a novel. One book I had read recently is a book called "Painting the sand" by Kim Hughes. This is a true story that is based upon the author of the novel, in which he describes his experiences of being a bomb disposal operator for the British Army in Afghanistan. The whole meaning of this novel to show the amount of dedication and willpower you need to fight in the most deadliest war zones. If this book sounds interesting to you and you would like to have a look at it yourself, the link below will take you to the page on Amazon.
2. Cook a meal for yourself or for members within the households
This is a great way to interact with other family members in the house, especially if the younger children get to help their mum make a cake for after dinner. This also lets you and your children be creative in what you do, and even adding the smallest of things, can make the experience seem magical, such as making fairy cakes or making a Victoria sponge cake. As long as you are occupied and you're happy with doing what you're doing then you should definitely go for it!
3. Workout at Home
Since the UK Government has decided to close "non-essential" businesses until further notice, that sadly meant the gym or your local leisure center was closed with them! But that won't stop us getting exercise. You can still go out for a walk or a cycle ride, as long as you keep 2 meters distance from everyone. However, if those suggestions aren't for you, then a good home workout will do just as well. Not only will you burn off some steam for a while, this will become beneficial mentally and physically, and help release any tension or emotional stress you've been holding on to. Furthermore, it helps to release endorphins which produce a positive feeling in the body.
Now in case you think its easy as 200 press ups everyday - think again. A full body workout is more productive and helps target all muscles in the body, rather than trying to "spot-reduce". If you haven't properly exercised in a while, I would recommend you start off at beginner level just to get back into a routine, and prevent any muscle strains. But if you're a bit of a fitness geek (like myself), then continue the same fitness routine your currently doing, keeping the same routine will help you to accomplish your fitness goals. If you want to also lift weights while at home, it can be difficult if don't have any, but this problem can be solved, especially if you have items in your home that are quite heavy, such as a gallon water bottle, even your own body weight counts!
4. Have a movie marathon/day (whatever you decide to call it) and/or have a family video chat
Just chilling out fir the day and watching movies with your family or significant is a great way to spend time together, the same as video calling family members from other households. Before lock down, we got so caught up in our daily lives, we hardly spent time with those who we love dearly. Now is the perfect time to spend more time with your family and chatting to relatives online who you might not have seen for sometime now. Despite that its not the same experience being with them physically in the room, you are still interacting with each other.
So take this time to watch movies, play with siblings or your children or contact relatives and help bring yourselves closer to one another.
Now if we’re talking about movies, just know that Netflix or Amazon Prime isn’t the only way to watch the latest movies. You don’t necessarily pay a subscription to watch a ton of excellent movies, there are many apps on Play store or the Apple App Store that provide movies which you can watch online for FREE. So if you want to watch thousands of movies for free, I would recommend looking at different websites/apps such as Konopy which offers thousands of movie options free.
5. Take this time to self-medicate
If you suffer from depression, anxiety or PTSD/ADHD, then now is the perfect time to make yourself a better version of “you”. Meditating is one of the things I do to help myself feel better and have a more positive feeling in life. The app I’ve been using is called “Let’s Meditate”, it’s such a good app! It provides guided mediation depending on what you want focus on, like if you struggle sleeping or you want to de-stress your mind. It is much better than sitting listening to alpha sounds and I would recommend this app.
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