Who would have thought that as it turned out, many people are not that afraid of coronavirus itself, they are more fearful of the self-isolation, the timing of which is unlimited.
People are worried about the inability to go to a museum or a cinema, and many trips also had to be postponed. For people with an active lifestyle, this is a lot of stress. But risking your life and health for a lifestyle you’re accustomed to is unforgivable selfishness.
We suggest you change the way you look at the current situation and at the same time we’ll tell you what to do at home so as not to go insane out of boredom. We’ve prepared a variety of options: from those that you were previously afraid to spend time on, to those that will pump up your skills. You will definitely find an option to your taste.
Enjoy your second childhood
Most of us are respected, serious, and mature people. Even at 18, you can be an utterly adult person who shouldn’t wear Mickey Mouse pajamas and watch cartoons because it’s somehow not “smart,” so you better watch a documentary.
But when, if not now, is the right time to feel like a child again, especially if it’s the best way to chase away the blues? Take out your hidden pajamas or a T-shirt with a “childish” print, plush toys, and children’s books, and re-read them with pleasure and nostalgia to literally feel warmer. You can construct models out of LEGO bricks, put together a puzzle, play Monopoly, or any other board game. Or you can throw a pajama party with your friends via FaceTime. At least for one evening, forget about the hustle and bustle and adult problems.
Binge-watch something
A binge means a period of excessive indulgence in an activity, and to watch means to indulge in an activity. Binge-watching is a term applicable to viewing the entire season of your favorite series in one day. This model of content consumption is popularized by Netflix, a popular video streaming platform.
We couldn’t not offer you this. Moreover, we ourselves love doing this. Binge-watching TV shows saved us more than once, it’s another effective way to deal with the blues. Therefore, choose a series to your taste. Especially for you, we’ve prepared a detailed guide to the 65 best Netflix series, which are sorted by genre.
You can watch them right on your laptop, or you can share a screen with your friends or colleagues in Zoom. But the most important thing is: don’t forget to get some sleep!
Do something that you never had enough time for
It wasn’t for nothing that you once bought canvases and paints, or a beautiful notebook and pen, right? It always took a lot of time and effort to get home from the office, so you simply did not have enough time for such things. Now that you are at home and there’s plenty of time on doing fun stuff like drawing, embroidery, calligraphy, origami, studying the art of script writing, and other cool activities and long-forgotten hobbies, do this. You have just enough time, so spend it with pleasure.
Write a novel
That sounds huge! Anyway, you can start with a short story. Writing is an effective way to deal with stress. Write your thoughts and ideas in Google Docs or, classically, in a notebook with a beautiful pen. Feel free to fantasize, try to reduce your perfectionism, and do not blame yourself for every wrong letter. The main thing is to write what comes to your mind and do it with all your heart. Who knows, maybe one day you will write a novel that will make you a star of modern world literature. If you are confused and don’t know where to start, or vice versa, if writing is for you and you want to pump up your skills, this list of lectures and classes is for you:
English Composition
Arizona State University via edX
Improve your writing skills in this comprehensive introduction to the English composition credit-eligible course.
Perfect Tenses and Modals
The University of California, Irvine via Coursera
In this course, you will learn about important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. You will also learn about common modal verbs used in English.
Grammar and Punctuation
The University of California, Irvine via Coursera
After completing this course, you will be able to: – identify the correct verb tenses to use – use commas effectively – utilize several different sentence types – write more effectively in English
Journalism for Social Change
The University of California, Berkeley via edX
Learn how to use solution-based journalism to impel positive social change.
Media Writing and Editing
Ohio State University via Canvas Network
In this virtual newsroom, you will learn reporting, writing, researching and multimedia techniques for all news media platforms, and then dig deeper into how social media, community-centered journalism, and multimedia elements can enhance coverage.
English for Journalism
University of Pennsylvania via Coursera
This course is designed for non-native English speakers who are interested in developing the skills needed for a career in modern journalism.
Digital Culture and Writing
University of Burgundy via EMMA
It provides an overview of the potentialities of digital writing and culture, for publish, share and communicate. The approach is first of all practical, but also with reflective and critical aiming.
Writing for Social Justice
The University of California, Berkeley via edX
Learn to harness the power of writing to bring about personal, social, and political changes that matter.
Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop
California Institute of the Arts via Coursera
We’ll cover key poetic terms and devices by studying poems by a handful of modern and contemporary poets and then get a chance to try our own hand at writing new poem drafts from a select number of prompts.
Creative Writing: The Craft of Character
Wesleyan University via Coursera
We will study the choices a writer makes to bring all characters to life on the page, and we will perform written exercises in order to develop a variety of writing and pre-writing techniques, in order to create a variety of characters.
Start Writing Fiction
The Open University via FutureLearn
Get started with your own fiction writing, focusing on the central skill of creating characters, with this hands-on course.
Writing for Young Readers: Opening the Treasure Chest
Commonwealth Education Trust via Coursera
This course is for curious students and aspiring authors with a passion for writing for young readers. Participate in a dynamic online community of writers as you experiment with your own writing and develop your voice.
Focus on online education
Yes, this piece of advice is banal and obvious, but how can you miss this opportunity? If you realize that it will be difficult for you to study certain subjects deeply because of stress, find simple language courses and try to memorize at least a few words a day. This knowledge will definitely come in handy once. And if you intend to thoroughly increase general knowledge, this compilation of online courses is for you:
Coursera: over 3,800 freely accessible lectures.
Khan Academy: lectures in mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, finance, economics, biology, art, computer science, and a lot more.
edX: online courses from 200 universities of the world (Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and many others). The platform features various courses, from biochemistry to computer programming and design.
Masterclass: the online lessons platform brings together world-class experts, from Nobel laureate Paul Krugman and writer Neil Gaiman to actress Natalie Portman and singer Christina Aguilera. Here, you can find lessons for almost all tastes: singing lessons, acting, writing, design, directing, etc.
TEDxTalks: the YouTube channel offers thousands of videos of people’s speeches that affect society and change the world.
Find some time for your guilty pleasures
If you are one of those people who are embarrassed to play Usher’s songs at full blast in a group of people, to watch old episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, or you will never ever dance in public, this para is for you. Overcome your shyness, walk around the house without clothing, dance to Spice Girls, and watch all episodes of Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. In other words, do whatever you want. And when we all return to normal life, there will be no trace of your shyness anymore.
Watch movies of one director the whole week
You will definitely not watch all the films of Woody Allen or Paolo Sorrentino in one evening, and you don’t have to. It is much cooler to dedicate every evening of the week to one movie of the director whose works you had long wanted to learn about. Try to hone your writing skills by writing reviews or just write down your movie experiences in a notebook. Even if it will look like, “Holy shit, today I watched The Great Beauty!” – the main thing is to be sincere.
Play video games from your childhood
Download the Sims 2 or Need for Speed: Most Wanted and spend a few evenings on it without regret. What could be better than creating sims and building houses for them, or driving a car to your favorite childhood songs? The main thing is not to forget about sleeping well. Nostalgia is cool, but a good rest is much cooler.
Learn something not that useful, but exceptionally interesting for you
Probably, each of us has a genuine interest in an area that is not really needed in life. The secret life of peacocks, Illuminati, Salish Sea human foot discoveries, or maybe the true cause of death of members of the 27 club. Stop being ashamed of your interests and satisfy them at last. And even if you can’t ever apply this knowledge in practice, study it simply because you want to.
Travel online
Coronavirus has changed the plans of travelers around the world. What to do if the thirst for adventures doesn’t let you sleep at night, but common sense doesn’t let you violate quarantine rules? You can explore the world while sitting at home!
The internet allows us to travel virtually without endangering our lives. Online travel provides an opportunity to “touch” the culture of different places around the world.
Google Street View Collection and Google Earth
For online travel, use the Google Chrome browser. Explore world sights with 360-degree panoramas – a great thing to help you see the world from every angle.
Panoramic photos of cities
360gigapixels.com is an online album of panoramic photos from around the globe. For instance, here’s a photograph of Tokyo taken from Tokyo Tower. You can Zoom all over the city, see into the windows and see down individual streets. These panoramas are full of the city’s rhythm, and there is so much life in them. 360cities.net is a similar website with amazing panoramic scenes.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
981 World Heritage sites are featured here. Many of these cultural sites, such as the Taj Mahal in India, have virtual online tours that will allow you to examine all the details and understand why this is a masterpiece of world architecture.
Another thing to entertain yourself with is podcasts.
- You can listen to them while doing yoga, sitting on the toilet, eating, or doing your hobby, so it’s very convenient.
- An excellent exercise for your brain would be to try and imagine what they are about, try to visualize it.
We’ve chosen two podcasts that you might find interesting.
Flight of Fancy
This podcast is like talking to a travel expert in a bar, a mixture of tips and jokes is easy and casual. They consider such topics as “Things That Surprise First-Time Visitors to Antarctica,” “How to Travel Without Ruining the Planet,” “Australia’s Amazing, Undisturbed, Outback,” and “The Best Destinations for Solo Travelers.”
Zero to Travel
A podcast for true adventurers. You can plan your next trip based on the advice of experienced travelers. This podcast is for inspiration, and it contains both practical advice and thoughts on "How to Surround Yourself With What You Love" and "How to Overcome Travel Anxiety and Fear of Flying."
Get to know the culture
It’s time to wander around the online museums! Free online tours are available on the websites of the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, the Uffizi Gallery, the Vatican Museums, the Louvre, the Prado Museum, the British Museum, and the MET.
Also, thanks to the digital platforms, you can explore the outstanding legacy of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Art History in Vienna, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Dalí Theatre and Museum, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, the National Museum in Krakow, and many other world institutions. We wrote about these and other museums here.
The Internet Protocol editorial team wishes you, our beloved readers, not to mope during quarantine, to stay positive, and to spend this time productively. We hope that we managed to give you fresh ideas for leisure in the coming days. Stay safe, stay home, wash your hands, and use sanitizers.
