Things to Do When You Are Bored At Home

You are home, and you’re in the house bored; some days feel like they pass in the blink of an eye, while other days feel like the hours in the day will never end. If you’re anything like me, you need to keep your mind and body busy when the boredom strikes.

Since the stay at home orders and the work from home have extended, at least in the state of Florida, you need to come up with productive ways to keep yourself busy so that you never get to that level of boredom where you feel like you’re going crazy.

During the week, it’s relatively easy for me to keep busy even if I don’t actually leave the house whatsoever. Then the weekend creeps up and I feel like I have nothing to do. I get that feeling that I’m going to eat everything in the pantry because I’m so anxious that I have nothing to do, thus being bored.

Does this sound familiar? If so, then I’ve got the list for you. You know those tasks that you put off because you’re busy and you think you’ll get to it later? Let’s start with those first.

1. Put away the clothes you left out for later.
   • Look, I’m the firs tone to admit, unless I am honestly in the mood or paying attention 90% of my clothes is thrown on the Chevron chair to put away later. Another 10% is either, thrown in my hamper, or shoved in a drawer (not necessarily where it should be). Since you’re bored and you feel like you don’t have anything to do, now is the time to put them all away properly.
2. Do the laundry. Wash your towels and sheets.
   • I will usually let my hamper get packed before I bother doing laundry. Actually, since I moved back, I barely ever do my own laundry. My aunt is obsessed with doing laundry, and will do it several times a week, so I have gotten accustomed to waiting for her to do it. However, when I’m bored – I’ll grab what I have thrown in the hamper, or my sheets and I’ll toss them in for a wash. I never, ever, replace my sheets. That would mean I’d actually have to figure out how to fold them, and that’s never going to happen so I just put them right back on my bed after I’ve washed them. I use little hand towels for when I wash my face, so I’ll toss those in with my bath towels, hair wrap, or body wrap too.
3. Sort through your closet and drawers taking out clothes that are either too small, too big, too worn, or not worn at all.
   • When I do this (and I used to do it biannually) I do it ala Carrie Bradshaw, in the Sex and the City Movie. I have piles: Keep, Toss, Donate. I actually have this on my list to do this weekend, preferably even on Friday after work. Usually once I start, I won’t finish for two days because I’ll do a deep dive into all my closets and drawers.
4. Go through unused accessories and handbags.
   • This piggybacks on the previous one, but for me it’s treated completely different. Since most of my handbags are designer, I won’t do a toss pile. I’ll do a sell, donate, or gift pile instead. For the bags that I could toss, because they’re broken, I’ll just mix in the bag of clothes that’s to toss. Aside from handbags, I have an over abundance of headbands, scrunchies, clips, brushes, combs, etc. Those take me a day by themselves to sort. I’ve already reorganized my hair accessories at least four times since quarantine started.
5. Toss expired makeup and unused hair/skincare.
   • I hoard makeup, haircare, and skincare. I’m not even going to lie or sugar coat it. I could have the same 500 lipsticks for ten years, but still buy another 20 more every month. The thing with this is that the quality of the product dwindles over time and it can get gross, even dangerous depending on the item. Same applies for haircare, and lately skincare. Since I’ve reorganized my hair accessories so many times, I’ve also shifted around my skincare and makeup the same amount of times. However, I don’t throw things away as often as I should. I’ll definitely dedicate a day or two just on this.
6. Toss, donate, sell your unworn or worn-out shoes.
   • I actually really need to do this. I’ve ordered five pairs of shoes within the last two weeks and I don’t have room for them. I need to do a massive dump of the shoes that are taking up space and not being worn (at all). Heels don’t count in this instance since I haven’t been going to work or out, so they’ve gone unused for sic months. If by next summer, I don’t wear them then I’ll have to part ways. For now the focus will be on sandals and sneakers; and I honestly cannot bargain with myself (by this I mean, donate two buy one). The point is to clear up space!
7. Digital Detox (and I don’t mean social media, although that wouldn’t hurt).
   • This one I actually love to do, but I tend to start and not finish because I get so incredibly overwhelmed by the crap I find and/or have to go through. When I bought my new MacBook I started to purge a little bit, but like I said I got overwhelmed and stopped. I’d also love to go through every single email address and purge the crap on there. I have unsubscribed from a bunch of unnecessary emails since COVID happened, but it almost feels like it’s never ending. I have so many more to go.
8. Sort through old photo albums.
   • This is something I really want to do so I can organize the photos and scan them into a cloud. As time progresses, picture quality can decrease because of the elements and honestly, if my aunt accidentally floods my room again I’ll never see my pictures again so this is something I really, truly, need to sit down and focus on. Huge priority.
9. Toss out unnecessary mail or papers.
   • This is the essentially same as the digital detox, but for your physical paper piles and receipts. I usually keep receipts or warranties that I have on paper in a folder or an envelope but I should start to scan them for future use. I learned this the hard way in Orlando when the receipt hadn’t been scanned and I spilled water on it. Thankfully, I was able to save the important portion of it! I also have copies of my taxes on paper that I should totally scan and shred. Sorting through your paper piles and folders should be done annually, if not more often.
10. Try a new recipe.
    • I did this during quarantine; I learned how to make the famous banana pudding from Magnolia’s Bakery in NYC. It took me three attempts to get it perfect, but then I tried to get creative and it didn’t come out the same way. It was still delicious, but it wasn’t the final product I intended. I’m definitely going to keep making it and I want to try to make my grandfather’s infamous custard pudding. This one is going to take me a bit longer to perfect, because no one can do it like him, but I want to really try to.
11. Read a book/do a reading challenge.
    • This ties in with my goals for the year, which I am extremely behind (according to GoodReads I’m 17 books behind). I’ve been struggling tremendously to sit, focus, and finish the books I start (unless I’m at the beach, except this year it took me a bit longer). I blame quarantine, but I’m still going to try to get through my goal and finish the 2020 challenge I created for myself. I also think I’m going to try audio books, I feel like I could potentially double my reading stats if I do it this way.
12. Create a bucket list.
    • I have only continued to add to my bucket list since quarantine started. I think I am on number 250 if I remember correctly. I did get to scratch off some silly ones during this time, but I’d love to get more of the list done (within the limits that COVID has placed).
13. Take classes online!
    • I love to learn. I’ve already posted about being a perpetual student. Honestly, if I could afford it I would totally go back and get a second Masters or even a doctorate. A lot of companies and schools are offering free online classes during this pandemic, and I own a subscription to MasterClass (strongly recommend, I can’t even stress it enough). I’ve done two MasterClasses already, I attended BlogHerU last week (while I was on the beach, and I’ve watched the recap twice), I signed up for the EveryGirl conference in two weeks, etc. I have access to LinkedIn Learning thanks to my job and I haven’t been able to use it to it’s full capabilities (it’s on the list).
14. Update your Resume and LinkedIn.
    • I did this myself about two weeks ago; I was having a bad day at work so I decided I should update my LinkedIn and resume. I hadn’t realized that it hadn’t been updated in over two years. Since I applied for the job I have today, which is a huge no-no. God forbid something happen with this pandemic! It’s extremely important to keep your resume updated. I definitely took advantage of my frustration and the fact that I’ve had to give my boss a list of my responsibilities, and I just went for it. I spent the entire day scrubbing, cleaning, and updating both. I actually made two different versions of my resume and I published the LinkedIn profile.
15. Learn a new skill.
    • For me, this ties to the perpetual student and taking online classes, but I will tell you that I would love to take a course on Photoshop and learn proper photography skills. Through the MasterClass, I have access to a course by Annie Leibovitz and other incredible artists so I will definitely be taking advantage of that.
16. Listen to a Podcast!
    • I have a list of Podcasts that I want to listen to, that I’ve had recommended to me, and so forth. When I was at Disney, I would listen to them while I worked daily. The Serial podcast was my absolute FAVORITE. I can’t even begin to explain to you my obsession, but since then I haven’t listened to any. I’ve been meaning to, and I have so many recommended but I just haven’t gotten to it. I’ll probably do a post on some Podcasts I’ve listened to, been recommended, and would recommend. That would be a fun post to do!
17. Treat yourself to an at-home mani.
    • This is absolutely one of my quarantine hobbies. I ordered the Olive & June Everything box in June, and I have used it like 4 times. Once the nail salons reopened I went back to my nail place, but in between when my nails chip I do my own polish change. Olive & June has a mani bootcamp and masterclass every so often to guide you and teach you how to do your own, at-home manicure!
18. Learn to blow-dry/style your hair
    • Definitely another quarantine hobby has been my haircare routine and figuring out (or learning) how to use the Dyson Airwrap or using the Drybar Double Shot Blowdryer (this one is easy, I used it this morning). I was the girl who paid to go every weekend and get her hair blown out, then quarantine hit (right around the time I started to pinch pennies) and instead of going back when they reopened, I’ve kept doing my own hair. The only hair “thing” I’ve had done are my highlights! I haven’t even gotten my Brazilian blow out done, and I’m about to hit one year! I’m actually intrigued and thinking about doing an at-home/self Brazilian blowout treatment. I found some products on Amazon that came recommended and have good reviews. Temptation is strong.
19. DIY projects.
    • I’ve started doing two DIY related quarantine activities: tie dye (this was totally my sisters doing, not mine) and beaded bracelets. My older sister and I made a bunch of beaded bracelets; she wanted me to sell them but so many people are doing that right now that I don’t find it to be worth it. I rather make for myself and my family/friends. I find it therapeutic honestly. Now the tie dye thing I’ve only done once, but I want to do it again. My little sister is way too neurotic to do it with, I was more of a free bird. I’ll probably do it one more time myself since she is too busy to come do it with me.
20. Take at at home workout class.
    • I am the first one to have jumped ship when quarantine happened. I dropped my trainer, I dropped working out, and little by little I dropped trying to lose weight. I had lost 27 pounds at the beginning of this nightmare, and I’ve slowly started to gain half of it back. Well not anymore. I’m going to turn the boredom into a strength, not a weakness. There are YouTube and IGTV workout classes for free, it’s time to use them!

Feeling bored is easy and can easily have a trickle down effect where something else is impacted, or you end up procrastinating on something you have been putting off for days/weeks/months (even years). Right now, thanks to COVID, is the time to get these things done and be productive while doing so. I haven’t binged watched any new Netflix/Hulu/Disney+/AppleTV+ shows this entire quarantine; notice how I didn’t even add it to the list.

Laying down, avoiding responsibilities or tasks, binge watching TV can be detrimental to your mind, body, and soul. It can even dampen your productivity during the work week, even if you did the lazy/unproductive thing on the weekend.

Now is the time to add that pep in your step and get things done. I’ve felt burnout out, unmotivated, and lost during these months at home and doing the things on this list is what has me looking forward to the next few weekends. At least until I have nothing left to do!

I am going to be using this time, going forward, to improve my life, get things done, pamper myself, and take charge of my health and life rather than just tossing it to the side for another day or another week.