Indoor and outdoor boredom busters (that aren’t Netflix)
Quarrantine life + spring fever = everyone feeling STIR CRAZY!
Phones are great and all… but many of us are tired of the mindless browsing and watching too many movies.
So when boredom strikes, here’s an activity roundup to keep things fresh:
Tap into Your International Side
Photo Credit Martha Stewart
1. Take a virtual trip and explore the world. Check out some fun options on Thrillist.
2. Make a travel keepsake box. Goodbye time consuming scrapbooks, and hello awesome mini treasure chest of memories and trinkets.
3. Tour famous museums online.
4. Make a recipe from a different country and learn five new facts about the location.
5. Plan a dream vacation. Airbnb has some gorgeous homes for rent that totally inspire my travel plans. Epic family reunion at the beach anyone? They also apparently have online experiences now! (Get a discount here). Learn oragami with someone from Japan, have a latin dance lesson, or meet a real life shark scientist.
Expand Your Mind
Photo Credit Sincerely Media
6. Learn a new language with an app like Memrize or DuoLingo. Be ready for that dream vacation.
7. Read a book or listen to an audio book. Your local library will be connected to a free app like Overdrive or RB Digital. Audible (while not free) is still another great option.
8. Try your hand at a new instrument with YouTube or virtual instructors. Or learn a new song on an instrument you already play.
9. Make an upbeat quarantine playlist.
10. Download an app like Canva and practice your graphic design skills.
11. Take mini lesssons from the free app called In Love while Parenting to learn the science behind how to better connect with your loved ones.
Get Creative Indoors
Photo Credit Mindfully Gray
12. Try your hand at potato stamping for some cool custom projects.
13. Pick out a houseplant and cute pot to liven up your space. My top three low maintenance plants are: ZZ plant (looks gorgeous, and only needs water like once a month!), snake plant, and silver philodendron. Don’t fall for the succulent craze. They are too easy to kill… hehe.
14. Knock out that DIY project you’ve been meaning to do.
15. Make a dream house bucket list. Mine includes an open floorplan with lots of light, room for a garden, and installing a brick oven in the backyard for wood fired pizza nights.
16. Unleash your inner author and write a poem or short story.
17. Record your own music video. For lots of laughs lip sync to Disney music or old school songs with quirky lyrics like Lime in the Coconut.
Make a Connection
Photo Credit Bundo Kim
18. Write a letter to a family member or friend and send it through the snail mail. Consider officially becoming penpals!
19. Play an online boardgame with friends while you video chat. A personal favorite is a free online version of Codenames found here. A virtual game night is a perfect boredom buster for social distancing or to connect with friends who have moved away.
20. Plan an epic group date. Check out these 16 Unforgettable Group Date Ideas.
21. Interview and record a grandparent or parent about their life. Ask about childhood stories, favorite memories, and the biggest life lessons they’ve learned.
Channel Your Productivity
Photo Credit Heather Ford
22. Choose a spot to deep clean: your car, your inbox, or that infamous junk drawer.
23. Turn on a workout video. Afterwards, make a weekly workout plan and stick to it.
24. Update your résumé.
25. Apply for a scholarship (or five).
26. Write in your journal. If it’s been a while, make a “recent highlights” entry (for the past month or past year).
Bust Boredom Outdoors
Photo Credit Sarah McKenzie Photography
27. Set up the tent and have a backyard campout. Then try these yummy keylime pie s’mores.
28. Plant a garden. If you’re renting, try container gardening (my fav!). No garden beds needed, and you can grown them on the porch or in a backyard with zero yard digging.
29. Get some fresh air and go for a walk. Leave your phone home to unplug and blissfully enjoy some sunshine.
30. Go geocashing (a modern scavenger hunt), or set up your own geocash to contribute to your local area.
Serve from Home
Photo credit Akshar Dave
31. Call up someone who might be lonely, ask meaningful questions, and then truly listen. Check out these free printable conversation starters for some question prompts.
32. Want to help a new mom? Collect a list of easy freezer meals or crockpot recipes to help her meal plan.
33. Send an unexpected object through the mail to brighten someone’s day. BuzzFeed has a fun list of 21 Things You’d Be Surprised You Can Actually Mail.
34. Research a cause, then plan a charity dinner for friends and family. Just have a minimum suggested donation and good food, theme totally optional. Someday though… my Harry Potter charity dinner is GOING to happen. Looking for a cause? Two that I love are Operation Underground Railroad which rescues children from human trafficking and Operation Smile which performs surgeries to fix cleft lip and give kids their smiles back.
Hope you found an activity that resonated with you and banished the boredom haze. As one of my favorite quotes says…
Photo credit Etsy
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