🏠 Actually explore your neighbourhood
Many of us have lived in cities for years without actually getting to know our neighbourhoods. For a lot of people, that changed when we were suddenly restricted to limited travel and outside time. Find the silver lining and explore the areas around your home; find the café you never knew existed or discover a little park for a quiet moment on a bench.
🤓 Go back to uni (on the internet)
Plenty of outlets exist for you to skill up in exchange for little to no money. There are a hugely diverse range of subjects on offer – including fresh courses on productivity, working from home and remote management. FutureLearn collects courses from some of the most venerable learning institutions in the world.
🤙 Phone your mates
There was a flurry of social activity during last summer where people decided to stick it to the circumstances and re-establish social connections. For many, this has dropped off now. Stick a reminder in your calendar to call your friends/siblings/parents/partner and see what they’re up to. Who knows, it might keep going when you can actually see everyone again.
🧑🍳 Use the vegetables at the bottom of your fridge
A bit more realistic than ‘embark on the culinary career you always dreamed of’ but a good place to start. Learn a new soup, stir-fry or ragu - or learn how to hide things in a sauce or a cake. Your body will appreciate it as much as the, eh, culinary career. You can do that bit next year.
🌸 Achieve eternal enlightenment
Okay, maybe that’s a bit ambitious. But meditation is cool now, not just the reserve of monastery-dwelling monks and your uncle who didn’t leave the 60s. There’s a whole range of apps, YouTube videos and books directed towards helping you carve out 5 minutes each day where you can be alone with your thoughts. In a healthy way.