As we’re forced to adjust to the norm of self-isolation at home, it has admittedly become incredibly difficult to stay busy and productive. But self-isolation doesn’t have to be particularly boring, you’re saving lives by doing this so enjoy the downtime. Now that you’ve got more me-time than you know what to do with, you can focus on your health, well being, and maximizing your creativity.
Once you’ve read this article and taken on the advice, go back and check out our other articles in the Brain Bread series, such as life lessons from Will Smith.
It takes just a tiny bit of self-reflection and discipline to stay productive. The following activities can be done at home and will ensure you’re busy upgrading yourself. When all this is over and behind us, you’ll come out stronger, more knowledgeable, organized and prepared.
1. Learn a New Skill
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call to millions of people. You need to have bankable skills to count on when the going really gets tough. Now is the best possible time to work on your skills and learn something new. There are many highly educational courses on Lynda (now Linkedin Learning) that you can spend your time on.
For instance, skills that will always be in demand include software development, data science, and graphic design. Brands will always need someone to design their logos, businesses will always need someone to make sense of consumer data, and websites will always need a software developer. Don’t worry if you’re not ready to pay Lynda for their courses, you can still use free lectures on YouTube as a close substitute.
2. Subsistence Farming
COVID-19 has forced us to come to terms with a painful realization: what would we do if we run short on food supply and supermarkets are out because of panic buying? The answer to this question may lie in subsistence farming at home.
It’s not as hard as it sounds. There are many seed mixes you can buy on Amazon (they contain a healthy mix of all the healthiest veggies). Don’t have a backyard to grow crops in? Don’t worry, you can grow all manner of edible crops even if you don’t have access to a backyard. Here’s a nice little guide on CNET to help you get started.
3. Get All-Around Curriculum
Okay, this one is for the adults as much as it is for the kids. Schools and colleges were forced to close down and conduct online lessons because of COVID-19. Although measures are slowing being released around the world, why wait for normality from government direction? You can still continue your education with free classes at Khan Academy.
This online learning platform is free of charge and has some of the most well-trained instructors giving insights into subjects such as science, maths, computer science, and economics. It even has specialized content from MIT and NASA. Make sure you and your kids spend at least an hour streaming Khan Academy’s free lectures.
4. Go on a Virtual Tour
While museums and galleries have been closed to the general public, you can still get your fix of history and art with online virtual tours. Many museums now offer virtual tours including, the Natural Museum of Natural History in Washington, Russia’s Hermitage, Paris’s Louvre, and Paris’ Grand Palais. Google even dedicated a space for this under it’s Arts & Culture project, to collaborate with museums across the world.
5. Start Writing a Book
If you’ve wanted to write a book for a long time but didn’t find the time, now would be the perfect time to put those thoughts on paper (or Microsoft Word). You can use free resource such as Grammarly to work on your grammar and spelling. The important thing is to get over the writer’s block.
So there you have it, the 5 best things you can do during self-isolation. You don’t have to follow this list per-se, the idea is to stay productive without breaking the bank!