The UK is currently in Lockdown 3.0 for the foreseeable future and everyone is feeling a little down in the dumps. With a clear message to ‘Stay At Home’, I thought I would share some activities you can do to keep yourself entertained at home!
1. Play Games
You may be sick of the virtual quizes and puzzles, but may not have capitalised on playing many games in the previous lockdowns. I love playing cards and board games, but I much prefer games that are quick play rather than dragging on for 2 hours+. So here are some of my recommendations:
Monopoly Deal (Card Game)
2. Take some time for self-care
Self-care is super important all the time, so in a global pandemic self-care should be fortified to the maximum! Whatever your choice of self-care is, make sure you schedule some time in for it.
Some self-care ideas include:
- Having a pamper evening;
- Read a book or magazine;
- Exercising;
- Having a long bath;
- Washing your hair;
- Applying a face mask;
- At-home facial;
- Give yourself a manicure or pedicure;
- Buy yourself a fresh bouquet of flowers; or
- Light your favourite candle.
3. Bake
Everyone worked on their culinary and baking skills in 2020, with banana breads taking the world by storm! If you haven’t already eaten your body weight in baking goods then pass some time creating some delicious goodies.
My particular favourite blog for inspiration is Jane’s Patisserie. She creates the most delicious recipes, perfect if you have a sweet tooth!
4. Watch Your Favourite Youtube Channels.
Watching youtube is my favourite past time. I watch it everyday! Whether that be catching up with my favourite creators, watching tutorials, playing a video in the background or watching Disney vlogs – Youtube is usually on!
Youtube is the second biggest search engine, so there is plenty to learn from or just simply watch to entertain you! I find it can be a really refreshing escape tuning into lifestyle vlogs for a few minutes each day.
5. Date Night or Friendship Date Night
Even though we can’t visit our favourite restaurants at the minute, there is no reason why you can’t bring date night to your home. Whether that is something small and informal, such as a movie night, or whether you pull out all the stops with a candlelit dinner for two.
I’m sure it will cheer you both up and make you feel super special getting organised and all glammed up for the occasion.
6. Improve Your Posture
I know this might sound crazy, but it is something I have struggled with for the longest time and I always put off because ‘I never have time’. Having good posture is so important. It helps you feel more confident and reduces those horrible aches and pains in your back.
I’m only in my early twenties but I have played piano from a young age and been a student for the past 22 years of my life, so my posture has been severely damaged over the years. I feel the time in lockdown gives us an opportunity to improve the things we have control over – your posture definitely being one of them!
So work out sitting up more straight and doing some daily stretches to help improve those hunched, achy shoulders.
A recommendation of mine is to try out the stretches recommended in this youtube video if you have a sore neck and shoulders:
7. Make a chocolate or cheese fondue
This is such an easy, yet fantastically fun way to liven up a mundane evening. You can purchase a fondue set quite inexpensively and then fill it with your favourite dip – whether that be cheese or chocolate (certainly chocolate for me!). Then dip in your favourite fruits, marshmallows, breads, meats or whatever you fancy really. You could even go so far as dipping steak into a cheese fondue – very fancy!
Once you have a fondue set you can keep re-using to your hearts content, each time using a variety of different items to dip.
8. Host a quiz night
If you’re not sick at the thought of another virtual quiz (yawn…) then you could always host one with your friends or family. It could be a general knowledge quiz or you could go really specific, such as Harry Potter trivia or Disney trivia.
9. Set some positive goals
If you feel you have lost your mojo a little this lockdown, it may be worth evaluating your position and what you would like to achieve to realign your motivation. Just setting some small positive goals, or perhaps bigger long-term goals, will help to keep you focused and get you back on track. The satisfaction you will get ticking off goals each week or month will be sure to give you your mojo back and a little sprig of motivation.
10. Create a vision board
Following on from spending some time goal setting, a very fun and therapeutic activity is to create a vision board. It allows you to visually see what you want in life – whether that be short or long term. I find creating a vision board is really motivating and something you can keep making reference to whilst trying to achieve your goals.
This is my vision board this year:
If you would like to see more about planning my goals and aspirations for the year ahead, I filmed a Youtube video all about it.
11. Make a Charcuterie Board
Back to food, it never takes long! You can make charcuterie boards out of pretty much anything – they are basically a fancy grazing board, but they look very effective and a little more special than just eating from a share bag.
You could make a savoury charcuterie board, using cheeses and a selection of cold meats or you cold use your favourite sweet treats, such as chocolate and fruit.
12. Binge watch Netflix
Is this not the most obvious way to pass time during lockdown. If you are not already on board with Netflix then lockdown is the perfect time to catch up on some of the most popular series and films available of Netflix. There is certainly something for everyone, so you can snuggle down and watch a gripping series with your family, partner or even just on your own.
13. Download Disney+
Similar to Netflix, many of you will likely have Disney+ (Disney’s streaming service). It’s full of nostalgic films and TV programmes, as well as Disney’s newest releases and originals. For any Disney fans it is a must have, but don’t just think princesses and Mickey Mouse, there is plenty of action packed series for the Marvel and Star Wars fans too.
14. Take online courses
As I said before there is no better time to invest in yourself and your future and taking an online course might just be the perfect way to do this. There are plenty of online course you can take, some costing a fee and others for free.
Google Digital Garage has plenty of online marketing courses and Shaw Academy is great for a huge variety of online courses. It may take a few weeks of your life, but it will keep you occupied and you will have achieved something at the end of it.
15. Make a memory box
A memory box is a great way to remember precious memories from over the years. This might be something you have been meaning to do for a while but haven’t had the time to do so in a more fast paced life. Now is the perfect time!
You could collate all the pictures from your previous adventures and put them inside a memory box or a scrap book. Alternatively, you could focus on the present and make a scrap box of all your lockdown memories to look back and remember what you went through and how you dealt with it. That really would be one to show the grandchildren!
16. Wash your makeup brushes
This is one of the most mundane tasks, but one I frequently put off, proclaiming I ‘never have the time’. Well no excuses now. Get washing!
You can wash your brushes by hand with water and some baby shampoo, but if you have neglected them for a while this may be a big task. There are also brush cleaning silicone pads you can purchase to help with the clean, or even better if a brush cleaning machine. I have one and it makes cleaning brushes so much easier – you just attach, dip and spin. It cleans and dries each brush in seconds!
Whichever way you choose to clean you brushes, I am certain your skin will be thankful for it!
17. Make a wish jar
If you’re fantasising about what you are going to do one the restrictions are lifted or had an ephinany about all the things you want to do with your life, it can often become all a little overwhelming and you can forget all the wonderful things you want to do and experience.
Take some time to write them all down and put them in a jar (can be an empty jam jar or a Kilner jar). Then when the restrictions are lifted you can start to complete all your wishes one-by-one. It may be a trip to Nandos, or a holiday, or a visit to a friend or family member, or a shopping trip. Whatever it is, you can remember each thing you want to do and ensure you experience them all in full!
18. Reorganise and declutter your wardrobe
This is another ‘put it off to another day’ task. It can be quite a large job, particularly if you feel precious about your clothes and have formed an emotional attachments to garments you wore in your early teens. Much like some of the other things I have suggested, there is no better time than now to reorganise and declutter your wardrobe.
Try adopting the Maria Kondo method. The technique – if you don’t love it, get rid of it. The usual way is if you haven’t worn it in the past 6 months then get rid of it, but I don’t think I’ve worn a fraction of my wardrobe in the past 6 months so I wouldn’t have any clothes left. So let’s go with Maria’s method…
Think about each item of clothing (or shoes and bags) and think about whether you truly love it. Does it still fit your style? Does it still fit? Is it still good quality? Do you still enjoy wearing it? Do you reach for it when you go to your wardrobe? Is it appropriate for a certain occasion in the future? If the answer to any of these is no, then donate the item to charity or sell it.
You will appreciate all the items more in your wardrobe, seeing clearly what you have and you will make room for all the pieces you are missing!
19. Listen To A Podcast
There are so many entertaining and empowering podcasts out there on all the streaming services and they are a fabulous alternative to reading or continuously scrolling through social media. Sometimes just listening to 10 minutes of a motivational, empowering podcast each day can make you feel so much brighter and happier and really set you up in a positive mood for the day.
20. Have a virtual cocktail or mocktail party
Get your friends or family on board and host a virtual cocktail or mocktail party. You could get your favourite alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks in and conjure up some tasty delights.
You can even pay for a virtual cocktail masterclass with up to 5 of your friends where you will learn how to make expert cocktails in the comfort of your own home. There are a variety of packages and providers available, many of which provide the alcohol as well.
If this is something you’re interested in, take a look at The Cocktail Service.
21. Start Journalling
If journalling has been something on your agenda for a while, why not give it a go now? You can purchase a structure journal to write in or you could just journal in a notebook. There really is no right or wrong way, it is just a case of writing down your thoughts, feelings and memories.
22. Take some chill time
There is always so much pressure to go, go, go. Ensure you take plenty of time to relax. Have some you time and just relax. Take a bath, have a pamper, read a book, watch a film. Whatever it is that makes you happy, always make time for that!
23. Declutter the kitchen cupboards
Just like the wardrobe, I think you will thank me for this one. It is a super mundane job and one that requires serious motivation to get everything sorted but once everything is in order you will feel so much happier and very accomplished.
Start by removing everything from the cupboards and then you can check through each items and see if its in-date or needs discarding. Once you have sorted through everything, you can neatly reassemble and reorganise.
If you feeling super organised you could even purchase some pantry-style jars and containers, so everything looks neat and organised.
24. Learn calligraphy
This is quite a unique skill but one I think is a particularly useful skill. You can use your skills in calligraphy to write gorgeous cards, invitations or, if you’re planning a wedding anytime soon, even name place cards.
25. Set up a home cinema
If you are feeling particularly extra you could set up your own home cinema. You could really go-to-town and make a cute little tee-pee or a huge den filled with duvets, cushions and even your mattress.
Then snuggle down and watch your favourite feel-good film. It will elevate your film nights to the next level and give you some entertainment constructing your perfect home cinema.
Whatever you do to keep yourself entertained – stay positive, stay safe and take care!
Lots of love, Clo x
