What to Do When You're Stuck at Home

Hey Owlets,

We’ve all been there - you’re stuck at home and the minutes feel like days. Maybe you’re ill, you’ve got a bit too much time off or you have somehow ended up with absolutely no plans on your day off, but one of the worst feelings is being bored and not knowing what to do. If you’re like me you end up wasting hours on your phone and regretting not actually achieving anything.  I’ve experienced this multiple times, so I’ve put together my best ways to help you pass the time.

Put Down your Phone, Pick up a Book

You know you’re guilty of this - you think you’ll look through Instagram for 10 minutes and suddenly it’s 3 hours later and dark outside, and you’re annoyed at yourself for wasting yet another day.  It’s fine to want to sit on the sofa and do nothing, but try reading a book instead. If you’re like me you probably can’t remember the last time you read a book, and if you can I bet it was a very long time ago. Reading a book is a great way to pass the time but instead of mindlessly scrolling you’ll feel like you’ve done something worthwhile. I personally prefer to read non-fiction books because I like to learn something, but if you want an escape from reality then a good story is just what you need. If you’re looking for some inspiration, sign up to GoodReads. When you sign up you’ll be asked to put in some genres or specific books that you’ve enjoyed reading in the past, and it will recommend some books that the system thinks you might enjoy - perfect for when you’re looking to waste an afternoon the right way.

 Learn Something New

If you’ve got a lot of time to spend at home, it would be the perfect opportunity to learn something new. There are a lot of great YouTube videos if you want to try things like crafting, but if you’re looking to learn a skill that could help you improve at work or change career then I would absolutely recommend Acuity Training. Acuity offers a huge range of courses on professional skills to help you advance in your career, like these Excel courses they offer. You'll find everything from the basics of Microsoft programmes to more creative tools like Adobe Suite, and career skills like assertiveness and leadership. Acuity also offers more advanced courses, so you can further your knowledge once you've mastered the basics. 

For more general skills FutureLearn is a platform that offers courses in just about every subject you can think of - they're not necessarily career focused, but more about learning something new for the fun of it. They have classes that outline the basics of a subject, but they also have classes for people who already have a lot of knowledge in their field but want to learn more. Of course, like with everything, there is a paid option which allows you to keep resources, take classes when they’re not being taught and print certificates when you’ve completed a course, but if you’re happy to wait for the course to start and learn for the sake of it, not for a certificate, then the free version is perfect.

Tick off the To-Do List

It doesn’t matter how much time off you have, it seems there’s always that “one day” list; the one where you think “one day I’ll get around to that…”. Well if you’re sat on the sofa looking for something to do then that’s the perfect time to get it done. Yes, it’s stayed on that list forever because you didn’t want to do it, but you’ll feel great about yourself when it’s finished. If you need some help getting motivated then read my article first - obviously that’s more procrastinating but it might help you eventually! 

Take Up a New Hobby

Is there something you’ve always wanted to try doing but never quite gotten round to it? Well now is the perfect opportunity to do something different. You probably already have a hobby in mind that you’d like to have a go at, but if not have a look online for inspiration - there are a lot of lists of unusual hobbies to try, and social media platforms are full of different hashtags to inspire you. If you look for something that you don’t need to buy loads of things to do then you can try it once, and if you decide you don’t like it then move on to the next one.

Take Some You Time

One of the things that most people forget about when they’re looking for something to do is just to look after yourself. Putting some extra time into your skincare, having a relaxing bath, putting on clean pyjamas and watching a film are all things that you tend to do one of but not the other, and it’s easy to underestimate how much better doing everything together can make you feel. There are also plenty of home workouts on YouTube that you could do, and burning off a little energy will also make you feel a lot better.

Hopefully these tips help you kill a little time and make you feel more productive while you’re stuck at home. If there’s something you like doing with the free time that I haven’t mentioned, then please leave me a comment and let me know!

Love and Feathers, 

 The Owlet 💜 

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