Boredom! The scourge of productivity and the bane of creativity. Staying at home can feel mundane or repetitive, but finding productive things to do at home can quickly turn things around.
Whether you are stuck at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are a young mother on maternity leave, or simply wish to spend your next weekend behind the walls of your fortress, you can make the most out of your time by developing useful habits, planning for future, and investing in your personal growth.
Today, at Peachy Interiors, we have prepared a list of 37 ideas to help you be productive at home.
37 Fun and Productive Things to Do When Bored at Home
Here is a comprehensive list of productive things that will help you defeat your boredom and prove effective for you in personal and professional growth.
1. Go for a Daily Walk
If you don’t want to leave your home for long, you can go for a quick stroll around the neighbourhood or simply explore the greenery of your own backyard. Regular physical activity is crucial for physical health, and spending time outdoors can help you get moving, get a healthy amount of Vitamin D, and reduce anxiety levels.
While engaging in other productive things to do at home, squeeze in a small stroll around the block every day to give yourself a break and boost your productivity.
2. Create a Routine
If you feel like your days are aimless and repetitive, try creating a daily schedule. Setting specific periods of time aside for designated activities will help you stay productive and complete all your tasks on time.
You can use an online calendar on your phone, a project management tool, to-do lists, or a simple old-school paper agenda.
SHOP THE IDEA: Use this weekly to-do list notepad to stay on track of your daily routines.
3. Do Some Cleaning
Staying at home is the perfect opportunity to do some much-needed cleaning! Organize the clutter around your desk, get rid of old and never-worn clothing items, or deep clean your carpets. Cleaning your house is actually one of the most anxiety-reducing activities that can help you feel content and accomplished afterward.
SHOP THE IDEA: Organize children’s toys or other miscellaneous things in these cute woven storage baskets.
READ MORE: Deep Cleaning Checklist
4. Plan Your Dream Vacation
If you are confined to your home for whatever reason, it gives a great opportunity to plan out your dream future vacation. Get the ideas rolling and jot them down, so, when the time comes, you are ready to take off.
SHOP THE IDEA: Get ready for your vacation with this 100% cotton Turkish beach towel.
5. Redesign Your Home
Give your house an upgrade with the latest home décor trends. You don’t have to go crazy and re-paint the walls or cut out the roof windows, but you could do something as simple as add a few accents with colourful throw pillows or dry flower displays.
PEACHY SHOP: Review our favourite home décor accents.
READ MORE: New Home Décor Trends to Follow in 2021
6. Create a Master Résumé
A master resume is a complete record of your experience and marketable skills, and it can be an invaluable tool to have on hand. Once you are ready to apply to a specific job, you can quickly create targeted resumes based on your master one.
Updating your resume is also a great opportunity to evaluate your experiences, skills, strengths, and weaknesses that you have collected over the years. It could take some time, but it will provide you with useful insights to reflect on your career path and find potential career opportunities.
7. Satisfy Your Curiosity
If you are looking for productive things to do at home, it is the perfect time to soak up some of the all-around information that the internet has to offer. For example, you could learn what your name means or discover the history behind Christmas.
SHOP THE IDEA: Read this Collection of Random Illustrated Facts to learn some totally not boring things to know.
8. Meditate
Meditations can help destress and reset your mind. If you’ve never meditated before, use your spare time as an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and work on your mental health through meditations.
SHOP THE IDEA: Use this boho floor cushion to stay comfortable during your meditation sessions.
9. Learn a Language
With the development of the internet, world boundaries melt away.
Becoming multilingual can prove handy as you travel and interact with other people or become a huge asset in your career. Research shows that professionals fluent in more than one language can learn up to 15% greater salary as compared to their monolingual counterparts.
Learning a new language can also make it easier to enjoy more books or Netflix shows and expand the array of productive things to do when bored.
10. Find a New Podcast
You can find a podcast or an audiobook on pretty much any topic.
To double up on productivity, listen to productivity or time management podcasts, which can boost your molarity and help you get on top of your game. You can even listen to podcasts in combination with other productive things to do when bored.
SHOP THE IDEA: Listen to podcasts on-the-go with these Bluetooth over-ear headphones.
11. Network
The fact that you are staying at home doesn’t mean you aren’t able to create new connections. Network online with platforms like LinkedIn or send a simple text or email to people you haven’t talked to in a while.
While networking can be challenging, especially for introverts, it can help you build a strong rapport with your peers or industry professionals and stay on top of your game.
12. Start a Journal
Writing in a journal is a great way to express your ideas and thoughts, and it can help you reduce anxiety and relax at the end of the day. You don’t need to spend more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time, – view it as a check-in with yourself and a place for serious venting and self-reflection.
Journaling is an excellent productive thing to do when bored, and it is an accepted way of therapy for a variety of issues.
SHOP THE IDEA: Get used to the journaling routine with The Five Minute Journal. The simple guided format will help you to express gratitude and instantly feel happier.
13. Find Ways to Work from Home
Search for ways to make some extra money from the comfort of your home. Think about your skills and abilities and join a freelance website to start getting new orders.
SHOP THE IDEA: Stay trendy while working from home with this designer lap desk.
14. Send Cards and Letters
Use the good old snail mail to send greetings to your friends and family and brighten their day. These days, getting a physical letter may seem unusual, which makes it even more special.
SHOP THE IDEA: Send your greetings with this handmade boxed set of assorted cards for any occasion.
15. Learn a New Skill
Use your time off to develop new skills. Whether you take online courses to boost your resume or learn to play a new musical instrument, learning a new skill will always be an asset.
Learning something new strengthens existing neural pathways and creates new ones in your brain. You can learn public speaking, presentation skills, video editing, graphic design, and more.
16. Exercise at Home
Whether you are starting from scratch or are looking for a way to replace your gym outings, establishing an exercise routine at home will help you stay positive, healthy, and fit.
SHOP THE IDEA: Stay active with this extra-thick yoga mat available in virtually any colour you want.
17. Revisit Your New Year’s Resolutions
For many of us, New Year’s resolution lists are forgotten as soon as the month of January is over. If your resolutions are gathering dust in the corner, revisit the list and work on these goals.
You could also use your downtime to start working on achieving larger goals from your bucket list.
18. Find a Way to Help Others
Look for ways to help people around you. You can help someone set up a home office or bring groceries to your lonely neighbours. Join a volunteer group to make a difference in someone’s life or prepare a donation box filled with old clothes you no longer wear.
Serving others will make you feel accomplished and productive. Volunteering has also proven to reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and anger.
19. Start a Garden
Start thinking about your backyard garden. Find the perfect spot in your yard, research plants that do well in your area, and prepare the garden. Purchase all the necessary supplies, and get started!
PEACHY SHOP: Review our favourite backyard & garden supplies.
20. Read a Book
Staying at home is a great chance to finally read that book you’ve been planning to read for years. Reading can transport you to a different world filled with adventure and get your mind off the everyday stress.
In fact, research at Emory University has found that reading non-fiction can help to boost brain connectivity and help if function better.
If you want to get out of your home, pick up your favourite book, grab a sandwich, and head out to a park nearby to spend a great time.
21. Learn How to Cook Something New
Stretch your cooking muscles and explore new foods from around the world to try at home. You’ll spend your time productively, treat your loved ones, and, possibly, find your new go-to dish.
PEACHY SHOP: Review our favourite kitchen essentials.
22. Catch Up on Neglected Hobbies and Skills
If it’s been ages since you’ve played the piano, painted, or wrote a poem, there is no better time to pick up your old hobbies and brush up on your skills.
You can also invest the time and brush up on the basics of your professional skills like customer management, project management, or any other area of interest. Staying on top of your skills can help your long-term career growth.
SHOP THE IDEA: Get back to painting and create a unique wall décor with this paint by numbers kit.
23. Bond with Your Family
Staying at home provides the ideal opportunity to spend quality time with your family, friends, or even your roommates. Be creative and find new ways to connect. You can throw a painting night, watch an old classic together, or even complete a giant jigsaw puzzle.
SHOP THE IDEA: Create a real movie theatre feel with this portable mini projector.
24. Preserve Family Memories
Saving precious memories in a photo album can serve as a powerful reminder for years to come. Order a beautifully printed photo book or simply print out your favourite photos and arrange them in a personalized scrapbook.
SHOP THE IDEA: Capture the moments with this Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 instant camera.
25. Clean Up Your Computer
Admit it – there are tons of unnecessary clutter on your phone or computer. Organize those files or emails, delete never used apps, and make it easy to find whatever you need.
Get rid of all the extra files you are hoarding and categorize the remaining ones into folders to make finding them a lot easier.
Another productive thing worth trying when bored is giving your keyboard a quick clean-up.
26. Play Games
If you are looking for productive things to do when bored, board and card games can help you enjoy the extra time you have together with your family. It may seem like a waste of time, but it will surely relieve boredom and help you all become closer.
SHOP THE IDEA: Get a hold of the good old Monopoly to have an unforgettable board game night.
27. Take a Break from Productive Things to Do During Quarantine
It may sound counterintuitive, but, if you feel bored and unproductive, taking a break can re-energize you and boost your mental activity. Take a warm bubble bath with relaxing Epsom salts or simply take a nap whenever you feel like it. You will come back to your tasks with renewed enthusiasm and will end up being more productive.
SHOP THE IDEA: Have a spa night with this set of handmade bath bombs.
28. Plan Ahead for Other Productive Things to Do When Bored
Creating a list of tasks in advance is a sure way to achieve success. This will allow you to identify time slots for some me-time activities and get a bird’s eye view of everything that needs additional attention.
If you have some downtime on your hands, start planning for career objectives or personal events like future parties or your backyard wedding.
29. Evaluate Your Productive Hours
According to statistics, people complete most of the work (9.7%) at around 11 am. Sit back and think about the time you are most productive at, and allocate that time for work. Doing so will help you get most of your work done quicker and save more energy for other tasks.
Discovering whether you are a nocturnal or a morning person can help you plan your time better and stay productive at home.
30. Set Productive Things to Do for Next Year
Many of us tend to set our yearly goals around the New Year, but you can try this activity at any point. And, since there is no traditional “New Year Resolution” baggage attached, you will notice that your mind is more open to focus on goals and achievements that may have seemed daunting earlier.
Use SMART metrics to get a laser focus on what exactly you need to achieve and write your goals down to add some credibility of the written word.
31. Eliminate Distractions
Distractions are the worst enemy of productivity, yet they are everywhere around you. Whether it is unnecessary calls and emails or social media, distractions can quickly turn out to be productivity killers. To give all your energies to your tasks and improve your focus, you will need to eliminate distractions around you.
First of all, try to identify items in your standard work routine that are slowing down your productivity. Write them down and analyze how much time you spend on each of them. Doing so will give you an idea of what you need to do to remove distractions and free up your mental energies to focus on more productive things to do.
32. Make Your Grocery List in Advance
If you are looking for productive things to do at home, making grocery lists in advance can prove useful during your next grocery store trip. This will not only prevent you from forgetting to purchase the key ingredient in your planned dinner but will also provide you with an overview of what you are spending.
For those of us who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle with meal planning, making grocery lists will help us to stay focused and maintain our goals.
SHOP THE IDEA: Place these magnetic notepads on the fridge to always have your grocery list handy.
33. Watch Videos to Stay Motivated for Productive Things to Do
Moving away from funny cat videos on YouTube and replacing them with motivational videos can be an important investment in your personal development and another productive thing to do at home.
You can search for motivational speakers on YouTube or subscribe to the TED Talks channel to give your productivity a boost.
SHOP THE IDEA: Watch videos on the go with the new Apple iPad Air.
34. Leave Online Reviews for Your Favourite Products
Leaving positive reviews for the services, products, places, or events you love is a great way to support and encourage those who made them available.
Find some time to write honest, positive reviews for your favourite products as a token of appreciation. It could be anything from a pair of socks you ordered from an e-commerce store to a complex project management software tool you use to manage your work online.
35. De-Clutter Your Inbox
Nobody likes a mailbox filled with unnecessary spam messages, but emails unavoidably continue to pile up. Sometimes, it is as simple as spam that we are planning to get rid of or something that we have subscribed to, but no longer need… Either way, those emails pile up very quickly.
According to the McKinsey Global Institute, employees spend 13 hours a week on average reading and responding to emails. Decluttering your email inbox can prove to be one of the most productive things to do when bored and save you hours of free time.
36. Track Progress of Your Goals
If you have a moment, find a quiet place and track your progress on any goal you are trying to achieve.
This monitoring will help you analyze your objectives better and set your priorities straight. It is also an excellent way to highlight your achievements and get motivated to stick to your goals.
37. Start Your Personal Blog
Starting your blog can be enlightening and fun. It is an excellent way to make your voice heard and interact with people who may read your blog posts and leave comments.
Blogging is a great way to increase your confidence and help you figure out your passion or skill set. Try choosing a niche where you already have some expertise or knowledge. For example, if you are a stay-at-home mom, share your home life hacks; if you are a good student, share study tips, and so on.
SHOP THE IDEA: Get the lighting right for your videos with this LED ring light.
Hopefully, with this list, you will be able to find productive things to do at home. No matter what is going on outside, remember to do the things you love, support your family, and contribute to your community.
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