Right now we’re all doing everyone the world of good by staying indoors and not being outside when we don’t have to. While it all seemed like a bit of fun to start with (I mean, who wouldn’t want to spend most of the day in loungewear) but as we’ve got a few weeks in, the novelty has started to wear off.
A major problem many of us have started feeling is the lack of patience and attention for doing pretty much anything; especially if you’re someone with plenty of hobbies that involve being out of the house most of the day.
Now having Netflix and all the other streaming services means we can quickly get engrossed and finally binge-watch those shows that have been on the watchlist for an eternity (Ozark in my case), but what else can be done to ensure you don’t go stir crazy at home?
The easiest way is knowing how to become patient and lean on specific activities to help you stay calm. And how do you stay calm? Well, you try out some of these activities I’ve found to be useful. It all starts with knowing you can’t get frustrated like you used to.
Where to let out frustration
Have a baseball bat and a punching bag? Well, you’ll want to.. only joking.
While the positives of staying indoors outweigh going outdoors a million ways to one, it’s safe to say that everyone has (or will at some point) be frustrated by their limitations.
If you’re someone who would’ve commuted to work every day, you’ll often find yourself in situations where you’ll get frustrated over the tiniest of things people do. It essentially becomes a habit, and now that habit can’t be satisfied, more so if your entire family is staying at home too.
So what can you do to let out frustration without everyone else thinking you’ve lost the plot? Get moving. Any form of exercise, whether it’s going for a run or trying to break your personal record for push-ups, is an automatic stress buster. The more exercise you do, the more endorphins the body releases, and the more you feel frustration simmer down.
Where to fix idle hands
The lack of movement right now also means you’ll be doing much less with your hands, and you know what they say about idle hands leading to trouble!
Take this time as the perfect opportunity to try out a few hobbies and experiment with things you’ve never tried before. It can include activities like:
- Painting & drawing
Barely able to draw a stick man? Now is the time to learn how to draw, paint and sketch. All you need is a pen and paper, and you can sit for hours on end. I find if you pick one object and dedicate some time to drawing it once a day, every day, you’ll notice as you flick page by page that your drawing naturally improves over time.
- Model making
If you have a specific interest, there’s a good chance there will be a model for it. For example, have a big racing fan at home who can’t believe that F1 or Nascar have been postponed? Then see if they can be as skilled as a pit crew by skilfully building model car kits like the McLaren MP4 or scale replica Lamborghini.
Models are a way to let someone sit peacefully at a table and work on a project that requires attention and detail; something a million times better than sitting staring at a phone screen.
- Cooking
YouTube is full to the brim with cooking shows and follow along videos that show you how to do anything from making sourdough bread to how to cook a pizza in a barbecue. Start making use of the kitchen for more than the microwave or preheating the oven to throw in a frozen pizza.
Where to zone out
It is a guarantee that most of us have wasted goodness knows how many hours aimlessly scrolling through our phones looking at our social accounts. Personally, I’ve stopped looking at any news websites entirely simply because Facebook and Twitter are pretty much non-stop people sharing news articles.
If you’ve noticed your screen time going up and up and up these last few weeks, your brain is crying out for you to put the phone down and allow your mind the chance to “switch off” for a few minutes.
How can you do that? The easiest way to do it is by meditating in an empty space. This could simply be going to a room where you don’t have a screen in sight or going to sit in the garden. There are some fancy apps which can guide you through meditation if you don’t know what to do, but the most straightforward approach is to think about your breathing.
Sit somewhere with no distractions, close your eyes, and just think about each breath you take. It can take a few attempts to get it right, but once you can sit anywhere and block out any thoughts while you think about your breathing, you’ve successfully learned how to meditate.
Go get busy
That’s it for this post. Have a go at some of these tips and you’ll soon find yourself feeling much more at ease when cooped up at home.