Stuck at Home? Eight Low-Cost Ways to Keep Boredom at Bay

Community 3 min read

02 Apr 2020

Working from home, teaching at home, and in general, staying at home… many of us now find ourselves confined to our own houses. So what can we do to keep cabin fever at bay, to try and stay sane over the coming weeks?
 

1. Hone a Skill

It’s true what they say, you really can find anything online now…. And that includes tutorials. So why not take the time when you’re stuck at home to brush up your skills. Youtube in particular is a goldmine for tutorials. You might find you can order supplies online to get you started if you don’t have what you need at home, but learning a new skill doesn’t have to cost the earth

• Learn to play a Musical instrument

• Make-up tutorials

• Learn to knit/sew

• Learn some new drawing techniques

• Learn a new language

2. Download Zoom or Houseparty 

While some of us are being asked to stay at home are with our family, for many more, that means spending much more time alone. You can help reduce those feelings of loneliness and isolation by staying in touch with your family and friends.

For anyone with a smartphone, you can use Facetime, social networking apps such as Whatsapp or apps such as Zoom to have group video chats with your family or friends. The houseparty app allows you and your friends to chat via video call and offers games for all particpants.

Never underestimate the power of post. That might be how they did it in the ‘old days’, but any one of us loves to receive something nice in the mail -why not take a few minutes to send a letter, card or picture to someone you love? An Post are providing two freepost postcards to send anywhere in Ireland for kids to keep in touch with grandparents.
 

3. Dig out the DIY Bucket list

Disclaimer: This may not be classed as cheap or entertaining for some. After all, there's a reason these lists exist in the first place! But all of those jobs that you've been meaning to get round to, but just haven't had the times.. if there's one thing we have now, it's some extra time around the house. So why not make the most of it and tick a few of those jobs off the list. And if you're short on supplies, you might find that your local hardware store can deliver, or you can get what you need online. Of course, the bigger the job, the bigger the budget, but one thing's for certain, you’re out of excuses!

4. Stream a Concert, Opera or Show 

That moment when you realise that celebrities are just like the rest of us – confined to their houses, and looking for something to do. More and more of them are offering free performances via their social media channels. It might not be the same as getting to see them in real life, but it has it’s perks….. you don’t have to get ready, you don’t have to try and get a taxi home at the same time as thousands of others, and it’s free!

Many artists like Chris Martin, John Legend, Pink and Gavin James are posting short or live streaming performances from home on their social channels with Singer-songwriter Neil Young also revealing on his website that fans will be able to stream his Fireside Sessions online. So if you have a favourite artist check out and follow their social channels and you could be in luck. 

The Metropolitan Opera in New York announced that it would stream encore presentations from the award-winning “Live in HD” series of cinema transmissions on the company website for the duration of its closure due to COVID-19. Each will remain available via the homepage of metopera.org for 23 hours. 
 

The Barbican in London is promoting its archive of digital content, which is available for everyone to access for free. This includes the Barbican Sessions, which capture musicians playing at the venue; the Nothing Concrete podcast, which explores music, cinema, visual art, theatre and architecture; and articles and videos inspired by the centre’s international arts program. 
 

The Abbey Theatre, Dublin has invited 50 writers from around the country each to write a monologue, to be performed by 50 actors. The writers include Blindboy, Deirdre Kinahan, Rosaleen McDonagh, Frank McGuinness, Enda Walsh & Carmel Winters. Due to start in April more information will be available here. 

5. Take a Digital Tour  

Check out the British History Museum, The Guggenheim New York and even the Musée d’Orsay, Paris all from the comfort of home. You can explore the best museums from London to Seoul without you having to be there all thanks to technology. Check out Travel and Leisure’s list of 12 museums that offer virtual tours. 

Whilst the real experience might be out bounds for a while, museums and galleries all around the world have opened their doors online. The Guardian compiled it’s Top 10 list of options earlier this week (here)
Dublin Zoo is also providing live streams from their animal enclosures while the zoo’s gates are closed to the public – go to their website. 

6. Binge-watch Those Shows

Whether it’s the old faithfuls like Netflix or Amazon Prime, or the new guy in town, Disney +, there’s literally thousands of films, series, documentaries to watch, all for the equivalent of a few quid a month. Give yourself another bucket list to work through, whether it’s:

•  IMDB top 100 movies of all time (here)

• Oscar-worthy movies (‘Best Picture’ winners list here)

• Reliving your childhood movies with your own children, or just because you can. ‘They don’t make them like that anymore’, so show them what they are missing – come one, this really deserves a list of its own!

It doesn’t have to be all make-believe either. Tick a home-schooling box and take advantage of the BBC Earth or Blue Planet series on Netflix.
 

7. Listen to a new book  

Amazon cancelled the subscription of books and audio stories for children and students of all ages for as long as the schools are closed. Kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages. Stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet using the following link on Audible. 

Check out LibriVox's free public domain audiobooks. Like Audible, you can search by author, title, genre or language to find the next book you'll to listen to. 

Everyday at 11am David Walliams you can listen one of David Walliams’ World’s Worst Children stories, so sit down, take a break, and enjoy 20ish minutes of pure fun!  

Books to read for free 

If reading a book is more your thing and you've looked for free books before, you might've noticed that most, though not all, are classics. Older works of literature are classified as public domain, which means the work isn't subject to copyright laws.  

Project Gutenberg has more than 58,000 free eBooks. Choose a novel to read online or download on your phone or PC. Authorama features hundreds of public domain works like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and more. While the website doesn't let you download to a device, you can read in your mobile or desktop browser. 
 

8. Explore Google Maps 

Just because we can’t travel at the moment doesn't mean you can't go exploring far flung destinations. It’s easy with Google Maps - while you can check out maps from everywhere on Earth, the Street View and Photo Sphere tools let you digitally roam virtually anywhere. To explore on your PC, first make sure you're in satellite mode. Click and drag the little yellow person in the bottom right of the screen to any blue highlighted spot or line on the map. Check out Cnets article for interesting places to visit or just explore. 

More fun things to do 

• Search for adult colouring books and puzzles you can print online 

• Dig out your pack of cards and teach yourself a new game 

• Take up an exercising regimen 

• Start prepping your garden for summer 

However you choose to entertain yourselves over the coming weeks, please follow current government advice. We all know people working on the front line to help those who are seriously ill, putting themselves at risk every day to help others. Let’s play our part too.