Even the introverts among us are beginning to struggle with the strict guidelines that have been put in place to protect our health and wellbeing over the past couple of months. Our day to day lives have changed drastically and many of us who were used to spending a lot of our free time with our nearest and dearest are suddenly finding ourselves unable to leave our houses (other than for essentials) and keeping at least a two metre distance between ourselves and anyone else we come into contact with when we do venture out for food or medication. It’s really not all too surprising that many of us are suffering with profound boredom. Sure, there are many worse things going on in the world right now. But boredom does more than leave us feeling listless. It’s a state of mind that can quickly become expressed through irritability, frustration, sadness and even worse emotions. We may begin to comfort ourselves with bad habits like overeating, oversleeping or even substance abuse. This, of course, all needs to be avoided as best possible. While your options of things to do may be a lot more limited than what you’re used to, there are still plenty of ways to keep yourself occupied. Fitness and tech are two great options that can really fill the hours and days. Here are a few pieces of advice, or areas to focus on, that will help to alleviate your boredom and leave you leading a more enjoyable lifestyle on a day to day basis.
Create a Home Workout Regime
Exercise tends to be an area that many of us are finding ourselves struggling to maintain within lockdown restrictions. The vast majority of us are used to hitting our exercise targets and goals outside of our own homes. We’re used to heading to the gym and carrying out a full workout with all of the specialist machinery and equipment that we have available to us there. Some of us usually attend personal training sessions, where a personal trainer tells us exactly what to do and pushes us to complete our routines properly without slacking. Others will attend fitness classes, following guidance from a teacher and enjoying the social element of the work out. Plenty of us will attend some sort of sports club – football, rugby, hockey, lacrosse, cricket, the list goes on and one – where we can get fit while working as a team and truly entertaining ourselves. Unsurprisingly, all of these premises and groups are shut down until restrictions are lifted. The thing is though – you still need to get your recommended one hundred and fifty minutes of aerobic exercise a week, or seventy five minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a week. This will help to keep you fit and in shape during a time where health and fitness really are key. Here are a few things you can do to create a home workout regime of your own during this time!
Get Your 60 Minutes of Outdoor Exercise
The government has advised that you can still take up to sixty minutes of outdoor exercise every day. This is more than enough for the average person to stay well and in shape. So, make the most of it. Not only will it help you to exercise well, but it’ll be good for you to get a breath of fresh air while you’re out exercising too! There are plenty of things you can try out, but try to keep on the move. You can walk. You can jog. You can run. If you have a bike available to you, you can cycle. Plenty of options! Just make sure that you are still following social distancing measures while you exercise, as others may be out taking their exercise in a similar area at the same time. Stay at least two metres away from anyone else you notice.
Keep Up With Conditioning Work
If you’re used to playing a certain sport or carrying out a specific form of exercise, and are suddenly unable to practice properly at home (perhaps you don’t have a garden, the space, specialist equipment, or require a teammate to practice with) you can still carry out conditioning work to stay in good shape for when you can return to practice. Contact your coach or club and ask whether there are any specific exercises you can do to maintain muscle in the right places, sustain balance and improve upon flexibility if necessary.
Invest in Some Home Workout Equipment
If you’re used to working out in the gym, you could benefit from investing in some home workout equipment that can help you to exercise inside your own home with a little more pressure than your bodyweight alone. Whatever you’ll benefit from the most will depend on the type of exercise you want to carry out. Why not consider investing in some kind of yoga mat or padded mat. This will go a long way towards making floor exercises more comfortable for you, allowing you to complete them to a higher standard. Handheld weights are ideal for those aiming to improve their upper body strength. Kettlebells can be used for kettlebell swings, which work multiple muscles within your body, including your glutes. Other options could involve exercise balls, foam rollers, resistance bands, balance boards, pilates bars and much more. These all tend to be relatively affordable investments and can really enhance your workout!
Follow Some Online Tutorials
You may feel at a loss as to what to do when you do start working out. It’s generally a good idea to focus on some online tutorials, which can guide you through a full workout of your choice! Just don’t push yourself too far. If something hurts, stop. It might take a little more practice to get there!
Use Tech to Entertain Yourself
Sure, the above advice will help you to maintain good physical health. But you need to lend a little thought to your mental health too. Times really are hard for many of us. But maintaining a more positive mindset can make a huge difference. Great ways to achieve this are to distract yourself and occupy your mind with things that bring you great joy. Here are just a few pieces of tech you could entertain yourself with from the comfort of your own home!
Games Consoles
Many of us could spend days on end playing our favorite games on our favorite consoles. Of course, this isn’t recommended. But an hour here and there could give you some great entertainment. What’s more? You can connect with friends online, giving you some time to socialize and catch up.
A Drone
Drones can be operated from your home and can give you some great aerial footage of your surroundings. It could be interesting to see how much quieter things are around and you could even capture some wildlife footage. Learn more about the DJI Mavic Air 2 if you’re looking for a high quality drone to try out!
Video Chat
Don’t forget to keep in touch with people. Just because you can’t see your friends and family face to face, doesn’t mean you can’t see them. Try video calls or group video calls to check in on everyone and provide yourself with some conversation.
Hopefully, a vaccine will be found and restrictions can be lifted sooner rather than later, allowing us to return to day to day life. But these are just a few different ways you can eliminate boredom from your day to day life during this lockdown period. Hopefully they help!
