Staying at home is not just a great way to protect ourselves and the people around us, but also it is an essential moral measure to help the authorities flatten the curve. The fact is, during the pandemic, concerts, workshops, cinemas, museums, bars and sports events are cancelled or closed, and we are all encouraged to social-distance. So what can you do with all of your free time while indoors?
The current events are a whole new situation for all of us, but it shouldn’t be as bad as it sounds. Psychologically, having rituals and rules at home are essential for our well-being. Possibly you were extremely busy to exercise and get back into shape before? Or maybe you didn’t have time to prepare and eat slow-cooked food? Healthy rituals translate into being a healthy person, and now is the perfect time to dedicate some time to designing and setting new rules and routines at home.
Let’s give that creativity that’s been asleep in you a wake-up call. It is there; it’s just been dormant while you were super-busy doing all your different duties. So let’s find what makes you happy during your time at home.
As a start, you can set a healthy time to wake up and to go to bed.
Even if you are not seeing anyone during the day, take off your pyjamas in the morning, put on some comfortable clothes, brush your teeth and get going. If you don’t have any idea of how you can be creative, please be inspired by some of the examples presented below on how our team is spending their spare time in their lovely abodes:
Aleksandra Angelovska
I never thought I would be able to work out at home. To be honest, even though the last couple of years, I’m physically active a lot, I never do workouts at home. I prefer the group cardio workouts where you are surrounded by people, you are chatting before the workout and during the brakes and you are motivated by the crowd to give more from yourself.
But as social distancing continues and gyms and exercise studios are closed as a protective measure that prevents spreading the coronavirus, a lot of people are changing their workout habits, so am I, even though I must admit I was lazy at the beginning.
I am a big fan of effective training that does a total body workout, so I started to practice those training after working hours. I really feel much better after that. Good music and gym clothes on during the workout is a must. The workouts that I follow come up with embedded music and the focus is on mixed martial arts, sit-ups, pushups, kicks, jumps, exercise for every part of your body.
Things are changing, my room became my WFH office and working out at home became my routine.
It is good to have things that occupy your spare time outside of your working hours during this quarantine time, so I also like to spend my time with my family, online chats with friends, watching movies, cooking, etc.
Angela Trenchevska
It can be challenging to stay at home with kids and try ignoring the good weather outside. But there is always a way to keep children entertained even when they spend the whole day at home.
There are lots of activities that can be done, and they can also be fun for the whole family. We usually spend our time playing board games, computer games, table soccer, make creative DIY crafts, watching movies and cartoons, putting things in pots or bottles (for example put straws in a bottle), playing with kitchen dishes, clothes pegs, hide and seek and many more, depending on the child’s age.
And if you need some time to have the coffee in peace and you do not want to get up at 5 AM than give the kids something they haven’t seen before. Like a piece of wood for sliding balls and cars and try to hit things placed on the ground. You’ll get at least 30 min peace. In case you have no idea and inspiration for games that can be played at home you can always find some on the Internet.
Maja Lazarovska
DIY crafts are the perfect way to forget that you are at home. For me, it’s like a trip through your imagination, exploring the hidden parts of your creativity.
If there is no specific occasion like a birthday or holiday, you can always find inspiration from your home. And since now we are spending lots of time in the house, just take a moment to think about what you need, what would make your room look nicer, what is causing you trouble, and you finally need to organize. For sure you will come up with some.
There are many ideas online which I usually use just as a starting point. Seeing such nice crafts from real passionates truly boosts my creativity. And then I create my own unique project in my head. Of course, given the materials I have at home, I rarely buy extra stuff.
So it’s fun, it’s cheap, and definitely a boredom killer.
Risto Ristov
As the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world, we are all spending more and more time at our homes. Restaurants, bars, pubs are all closed, and more people are cooking at home while self-quarantined.
Cooking, in combination with music, is what is called behavioural activation. It allows me personally to channel all my fears in these challenging times. Of course, part of it because it satisfies an immediate need, but also because it relaxes me and makes me feel productive as it certainly brings up creativity. It helps me focus on the task at hand during which I feel engaged because I need to taste, to make decisions, to add or subtract ingredients. At the end of the day, cooking is an art.
Aleksandra Koceva
Staying at home, it’s not such a bad thing after all. Despite all the negative sides of this situation, many of us can find interest in doing different things. Even when everything else is on hold, our creativity is always here to take place. Being at home these days is important, so now is the period to spend some time on our hobbies or even start a new one. My hobby and favourite thing to do in these days is painting. This is one of many other creative things that can keep you entertained for hours and make you lose track of time. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have a talent or you don’t know how to do it because if you like it, you will simply enjoy it. The reason I love doing paintings is because painting is a great way to release your inner thoughts and the best way to release stress. This is how I found a way to entertain myself after work during this isolation period.
Like mine, or other peoples hobbies? Have something different on your mind? Just do it. Do not forget that productivity leads to increased happiness, and that’s why I am encouraging you to find what makes you happy at home, and spend some time doing it.
In the past month, we dedicated two articles on the current COVID-19 pandemic. If you didn’t have a chance to read the previous articles, in which we pointed on two challenges –professional advice on how to sustain your mental health during COVID-19, and some ideas on how to spend your time and have fun during the quarantine, please take a look.
