7 Creative Things to Do When You’re Bored at Home
While it may seem like there is nothing to do and you have WAY too much time on your hands, there are plenty of things to do when you’re bored. We’re all so used to working hard all day and then coming home to relax and watch TV or YouTube. With all of this time, we assume we’d be totally fine just binging a new show or watching countless hours of YouTube. But you’ve probably started to find that watching hours of TV gets old pretty fast.
We have complex minds and amazing brains that enjoy being challenged and learning new things! So watching hours of Tiger King, as thrilling as it is, won’t satisfy your mind’s desire to do more. I’ve put together a list of things that I’m currently enjoying and that you can too. Now is the perfect time to start a new hobby, challenge your mind or body, or simply restart doing something that you used to enjoy. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a start! I’ve also included my suggestions and resources about how to get started with each activity. You can incorporate these into your days or even create a schedule to give yourself more of a routine.
Read a Book
Let’s start simple. When was the last time you actually read a book?! I know for me it had been awhile. I read ALL the time when I was younger. Now I find myself reading sections of Self Help books to motivate myself, but then set them down after a few chapters.
My mom had given me an Amazon Fire tablet for Christmas and I used it a lot at first. I realized I hadn’t picked it up in a while and thought I only preferred reading actual paper books. Even so, I decided to give it a go and download some free books or whatever I could find. I discovered that I could get a free month trial of Kindle Unlimited, which allows you to download books for free! Once I saw that, I couldn’t have signed up faster and was immediately going through the library to download everything that looked appealing. I specifically looked for fiction books, since I wanted to rediscover the joy of diving into a new story instead of reading motivational or self development books. Then I also downloaded a few Italian books, as I decided to dive back into my studies during this quarantine time.
Now, every night before bed I read a few chapters of this book titled “The Upside of Falling Down.” It was free on Kindle Unlimited and I actually found it to be quite a delightful and easy read. It’s about this girl who is the sole survivor of a horrific plane crash in Ireland, but can’t remember anything about who she is and what her life was like. She decides to escape the hospital and live in a nearby Irish town where she befriends the wonderful townspeople. As she struggles to rediscover her past life, which comes back in bits and pieces, she wonders if she should just start as an entirely new person. It’s a nice, light read before bed and I’ve honestly enjoyed reading from the tablet.
I highly recommend trying out Kindle Unlimited and downloading some free books! Dust off that old Kindle and get to it! Click here for a free month of Kindle Unlimited and start enjoying their thousands of available books in their content library.
Paint, Draw, Sketch
Did you ever find yourself sketching, drawing, or painting when you were younger? Did you enjoy it? My sister was an amazing artist in high school and absolutely loved creating new pieces. She would stay in the art room at lunch working on her latest project. About a week into the quarantine, she picked up her art again. She started off with colored pencils, then experimented with watercolor. She came into my room, thrilled to show me the pieces she created.
I could tell she was so excited and passionate about making art again. It opened up this new world of creativity and now everyday she has something to look forward to.
If you have this creative itch inside of you, listen to it! Even if you’ve never considered yourself an artist, now is the time to try! Whether it’s painting, sketching, or doing something crafty, try it! Creating something uniquely yours if one of the best things to do when you’re bored. If you have old art supplies, use them again and see what you can create. We often get so caught up in our busy lives that we forget to appreciate the creative outlets that once brought us so much joy. Even if you work from home, incorporate an artistic work break by using one of these coloring books or doing a quick cartoon sketch.
Start a Blog or YouTube Channel
I have been blogging and building my YouTube channel for over 2 years now and I absolutely LOVE it. If you know me, you know I cannot stress ENOUGH how supportive I am of people starting new blogs or YouTube channels. Every time someone asks if they should start a channel or blog I respond with an enthusiastic YES.
If you’ve always thought about starting a blog, now is the time. I have plenty of resources on my blog here, but Pinterest is also an unlimited resource of thousands of great articles. I highly recommend to spend a few days doing research and planning a strategy before diving in. In fact, take a look at my blog post to learn about the most important step when creating a new blog.
If you want to start a YouTube channel, check out my free workbook to develop your channel strategy and build a plan to successfully grow your channel. With both of these new ventures, it’s important to start with a plan before diving in headfirst. You’ll want to strategize what your channel will be about, plan out some potential video ideas, and research about what equipment and editing software you may need to get started.
A lot of work goes into these platforms, but you have plenty of time! Instead of waiting around, take action now so you have plenty of time for research, strategizing and creating content. You can learn so much with all the free content out there, so take advantage of that. You can also learn how much work and time goes into creating a blog or YouTube channel so when you return to a regular work routine, you’ll learn how to incorporate these activities into your normal schedule.
Bake/Cook
I don’t know about you, but baking can be very therapeutic for me and one of my favorite things to do when you’re bored. Sometimes I’ll go to the kitchen and turn on some music or watch a show while I’m preparing a meal or whipping up my newest baked good. It’s also nice to bake something fun like muffins or banana bread to bring a little joy to the rest of your housemates or family members.
I’ve always wanted to get better at cooking and again, there are so many resources on Pinterest. You don’t have to make anything fancy and you can even find simple recipes that only use 5 ingredients or less! You’ll probably be surprised at how many of the ingredients you already have in your pantry.
Last weekend I made some banana bread and this weekend I made lemon scones. It’s a fun little treat and it was even more enjoyable to spend some time baking with my sister. It can be a fun family activity to help pass the time.
You can even order a new cookbook off Amazon or follow recipes online to boost up your chef skills. You can even watch YouTube videos from professional chefs to develop your technical skills. For example, I want to learn how to poach an egg, and can learn how to do that from watching YouTube tutorials. Get ready for my avocado toast to level up after that. 😉
So again, this is just another suggestion to build new skills while also enjoying it and of course, ending up with delicious food to try.
Learn a New Language
Don’t freak out, I know this is a HUGE undertaking. Learning a new language, especially if you’re an adult is SUPER challenging. It can seem very daunting to try and learn the complexities of a language. You don’t necessarily have to set a goal of becoming fluent, but just the act of learning new vocabulary and listening to a new language can be very stimulating for your brain. It’s exciting and will definitely cure your boredom.
I started learning Italian last year, and recorded my first month’s journey on my YouTube channel. It’s my most popular video to date, with almost 600,000 views. I was astonished at how much I learned in just one month of intense practice. I laid out all my methods in a list of 10 ways you can start incorporating a new language into your daily routine. I’ve loved learning the beautiful Italian language. Because of this quarantine I’ve download a few Italian books on my Kindle and started watching Italian YouTubers again. When I wake up in the morning, I read my Italian fiction books while enjoying my coffee.
For those of you who are looking to challenge yourselves and your brain, choose a language and look up free resources online to get started! Again, it doesn’t have to be anything serious, you can just enjoy the exploration of a new language!
Learn Something New on Skillshare
As a teacher on Skillshare, I know just how much fantastic information is on there. If you want to learn anything, and I mean ANYTHING, Skillshare is the place. They have categories in Art, Design, Photography, Painting, Baking, Filmmaking, Animation, Language Learning, Building a Brand, and much more. You can browse through and click on whatever catches your eye. Try the class right away or add it to the list of things to do when you’re bored. Chances are, there’s something on there that you’ve always wanted to do, you just never had the time to try it out!
If you see something you like, I’m giving you 2 FREE months of Skillshare to try out your classes. That should give you plenty of time to take as many classes as you want during this quarantine. I mean come on, it’s literally free classes. You might as well just sign up to have access!
Or you can check out my class on Self Portrait Photography, just sayin’.
Get Fit and Healthy
This is the time to get into the best shape ever! That doesn’t mean you have to start working out for HOURS. I’ve just found that I’ve already started to tone up my body simply by taking more regular walks and doing HIIT workouts from YouTube.
Think about it. Most of us sit at desks all day and maybe get a workout in before or after work. But now if you’re working from home, you’re probably able to get up and go for a quick walk around the neighborhood once or twice a day. I typically like to start my day with a walk and maybe do another around lunch time before I dive into a YouTube workout.
Speaking of YouTube workouts, I just wrote a post on my top 5 favorite fitness YouTubers. I have been using these workouts to get a quick but effective 20-30 minute workout done almost every day. While I love going to fitness classes through ClassPass, I’ve actually found that I enjoy bursts of intense 30 minute classes a LOT more than I thought I would. Most of the YouTube workouts don’t even require equipment, so anyone can do them. They get your blood pumping and I always get this burst of energy and motivation when I finish a workout. You could even start your day with a light workout like Yoga or Pilates, and then do a more intense one later in the day. Do you know how fit you’ll be after this quarantine?! Just think about it. 🙂
Another way I like to stay healthy is by making sure I’m getting all the vitamins I need. I’ve always wanted to try Care/Of, and I finally took the test! They’re a subscription based company that has you take an assessment and sends you personalized daily vitamins. Plus their packaging is super cute, and each daily pack has a cute little joke, riddle, or challenge to do each day. It’s pretty fun to take the test, because they ask you a bunch of questions about what you’re trying to focus on, how you feel, and what you want supplements for. You can take the test for free here! It gives you super personalized results and you can decide what supplements you want and what you think are unnecessary. Like for me, they suggested 7 different supplements but I narrowed it down to 5 since as a resident of sunny SoCal, I highly doubt that I need more Vitamin D.
If you want to take the test for free, you can click here. Plus, you’ll get $40 off your first month. I did this and got all my supplements for my first month plus shipping for like $15. Come on, totally worth it!
Final Thoughts…
I hope you’re staying safe and practicing correct social distancing procedures. Despite not being able to see friends, I’m actually really enjoying this time. I’ve found that creating a daily routine and challenging myself each day really makes me motivated to make the most of every single day. I’m excited to see what each day brings and I constantly remind myself to take things just one day at a time. I hope you found this post helpful and now you have plenty ideas of things to do when you’re bored at home! Let me know if you have other ideas by commenting below.
