Around the world sporting events are cancelled, travel is limited and health experts are advising – and in many places, governments are demanding – that people stay home as much as possible.
It’s a unique time in the world’s history. Every nation in the world is in the exact same predicament. In big cities and rural areas, First World and Third World countries, singles, families and the elderly are all trying feverishly to find interesting and productive things to do to keep busy.
Watching TV and playing online slots real money casino games is fun for awhile but at some point, you need to find something to do that’s a bit more satisfying. SlotoCash online casino wants to encourage you to explore some new and fulfilling pastimes while you stay home, stay safe and stay healthy.
Some suggestions:
1. Do Puzzles
Doing puzzles is a great mind-building activity that helps to improve your memory, cognitive skills, problem solving and general knowledge. Puzzles have been shown to decrease feelings of anxiety and increase mental well-being. Researchers believe that solving puzzles can act as a mood-booster by increasing the brain’s production of dopamine to help people feel happier and strengthen memory, increase motivation and facilitate concentration.
These attributes are attributed to all different types of puzzles including crosswords, sudukus, jigsaw puzzles and others.
2. Learn an Instrument
Whether you used to play an instrument and it’s fallen by the wayside or you’ve always wanted to play, now may be the time to pick up the instrument and make some music. There are numerous tutorials online that you can use to get started with your chosen instrument and once you have the basics, you can simply practice, practice, practice to increase your skill level.
Playing an instrument is an excellent way to make yourself feel happy. It’s a way to strengthen bonds with others, even by playing together online or in a socially-distanced outdoor area. People who play instruments have better reading and memory skills and are better able to simultaneously process multiple stimuli. Playing music (and listening to music) has also been shown to increase the flow of blood to the brain and reduce stress and depression.
3. Museum Tour
What are your interests? History? Natural science? Archaeology? Art? Thanks to today’s technology, you can spend a day at the museum without ever leaving your home.
Some of the world’s most famous museums including the British Museum in London, the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, the Pergamon Museum of History in Berlin, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museums in Amsterdam and the J. Paul Getty museum in Los Angeles offer online tours of their famous exhibits. If you want something a bit more active, click into the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the Georgia Aquarium to watch sealife or any of the world’s great zoos which have 24/7 webcams focused on their fascinating animals.
4. Diary
Keeping a diary seems to be a long-lost art but it can still give you a chance to express your innermost thoughts while providing your descendants with a time capsule that will tell them a little about you. We are living in a historical moment and it’s a worthwhile project to try to capture the thoughts, worries, bright spots and other events of this era.
You might want to blog about a specific aspect of your life (life with children during corona shut-down), something political or even a hobby that’s keeping you sane during the lockdown. Some topics that you might want to explore include fashion, food, work, sports, travel, schooling (if you’re homeschooling your kids, that should provide you with a LOT of material!), friends and family. You also need to decide whether your diary is going to be read by others or whether it’s just for you because that will inform what and how you write significantly.
There are online sites, such as Penzu, where you can set up a free account and write to your heart’s content.
5. Crafts
As with an instrument, there are plenty of online tutorials that will teach you how to do just about anything. You don’t have to be creative or talented to pick up a craft – all you need is some time and the desire to create something new. If you want to go freehand you can get some wood or yarn and start to create your own projects with only some basic tools – knitting and crocheting require only knitting needles or a crochet hook.
If it helps you to follow a ready-made pattern, you might want to buy a kit at a store – some of the most popular kits are those that give you a pattern for rug hooking, embroidery, paper flower arrangements, beading, dying, ceramics, etc. Many of these projects are things that you can do while you’re watching TV or listening to music which makes for a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere of productivity.
6. Baking and Cooking
Coincidently, health advisors suggest that you reduce your eating out habits as much as possible during the pandemic to reduce the likelihood that you’ll be exposed to the virus.
Take the challenge and try to do more cooking and baking at home. Not only is this a great activity in which to involve the whole family, but you’ll be saving money, eating healthier (and likely, less fattening) food and learning new ways to prepare new dishes.
You can focus on one type of food preparation – salads, soups or breads, for instance – or create entire menus full of tasty appetizers, entrees and side dishes.
7. Foreign Language
How many people are saying to themselves right now, “when this is over, I’m going to take a trip to……”? Most probably, quite a few. You can sit and dream about your trip or you can prepare by learning a foreign language. When you know the language of the country to which you are traveling, you’ll be able to appreciate the culture much more, be able to interact with local residents, be able to more easily find your way to the off-the-beaten-path spots and much more.
Duolingo, Babbel, FluentU and others offer easily-accessible language-learning tools for every level of study.
