Feature image by Fernanda Latronico. This is not an affiliated or sponsored post. Post contents and links are based on personal experience and recommendations.
Two months of UK’s imposed lockdown has led me to finding things to do while my husband works the usual 8-5. I stopped work last March at the cafe which left a lot of time in my hands. It’s the same situation I was in when I arrived here last year. And so, I rounded up activities that I’ve been doing during this time and decided to share with you.
Learn New Recipes
I’ve been watching a lot of vlogs right now and one of my new favorites is Dzung Lewis’ food and lifestyle channel Honeysuckle. I love watching her videos because of its homey feel. Her voice is so sweet and soothing, it has a calming effect. Apart from that, she makes everything look so simple and easy. Her videos are currently my go-to ones for trying new stuff.
Take Online Courses
Being unemployed during this time sucks but it’s also a great opportunity for self-improvement. Shaw Academy was recommended by my friend Kux when I was just setting up my blog. They offer webinars for a trial period of one month and if you decide to proceed with subscription, it costs £49.99 a month. They also give you the option to download webinar materials and notes for £39.95 per course. You can schedule or reschedule your classes at your most convenient time. The site offers a wide range of webinar topics from technology, photography, and even wellness that starts at least 8 sessions per module. You can spread out sessions twice a week. I am currently on the trial period and it actually made me look forward to something during this lockdown.
Do Online Testing
I blogged about online testing here and it has kept me busy some days. It’s technically my brain exercise since I was unable to practice my IT career here. As discussed in my other blog post, the online testing pays at least $10 for a 20 minute testing session. Also, it’s interesting to see the latest innovations on websites and mobile applications. It’s actually nice to do something productive and get paid at the same time. 🙂
Watch Movies / Series
People maximize their Netflix accounts right now and are always looking for new recommendations. The lockdown has spiked up the use of video streaming and I’ll probably contribute more to it by giving you these titles. 😀 I listed below movies and series that I’ve watched. I hope something interests you and helps you choose one to watch tonight. 🙂
- The Platform: A Spanish horror thriller movie which tells the story of prisoners in a vertical building and how their cell position determines their level of starvation.
- The Wailing: A Korean horror movie about a series of brutal murders in a small town following the arrival and settlement of a foreigner.
- Itaewon Class: It’s a Korean drama series which story revolves around holding onto ones integrity and beliefs, starting a business, and finding redemption.
- Killing Gunther: It’s a jam packed action comedy film about a group of assassins trying to kill the world’s greatest hitman.
Listen to Podcasts
Honestly, I’ve never liked listening to podcasts. It just doesn’t appeal to me the same way as watching videos and reading books. When Chiqui, another friend of mine, shared the Tales podcast, I was intrigued. Turns out that Tales is a collection of the original folklore which we currently know as fairy tales. I encountered the dark origins of fairy tales way back in a college humanities subject and it stuck ever since. This podcast includes works from the Brothers’ Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen like Beauty and the Beast and The Ugly Duckling. I don’t know about you but I find these stories fascinating even if they are grim, sad, or even brutal. I got hooked! It’s a great podcast to listen to. 🙂
Read eBooks
Most of my friends know that I’ve been a Wattpad user for the longest time. In the Philippines, it’s known for the Taglish stories turned movies which do not appeal to my friends. So every time I mention Wattpad, they’d laugh at me for using it. No hard feelings though! 😀 Wattpad is basically a platform for unsigned authors to publish their work for free. Some authors I follow are already self published outside of the app. Unfortunately, you have to expect that many of them will have grammatical errors or misspelled words. Despite that, there are really good ones and if you like to try them out, I’ve listed free and paid books below. These are long stories which are perfect to complete during lockdown. 🙂
FREE VERSION (Wattpad)
- The Guy Next Door by @Percabeth5599
- The Dark: A Dark Fall by @ScarletteDrake (Duology)
- White Chapel Chronicles: Playing Dead by @LittleCinnamon (Trilogy)
- Boundless Ties by @xXMopelXx
- Storm & Silence by @RobThier (Heptalogy)
PAID VERSION (Wattpad and Amazon)
- The Bad Boy Series: The Bad Boy’s Girl by Blake Holden
- The Four Realm Series: Blood of Azura by @ScarletteDrake
- Gods & Monsters Trilogy by Janie Marie
- Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf by Janie Marie
- Myre Series by Victoria Larque
I know that it’s not always going to be a good day and I understand that this shouldn’t pressure anyone to do something. I have days where I really don’t feel like being productive and I think that’s okay. It’s the reason why leisure activities are part of the list. 🙂 During this lockdown, we cope in different ways and this is how I do mine especially that we do not have our families nearby. If you’re looking for ideas, inspiration, or even just motivation, I hope this post gives you what you need. Stay safe and healthy! 🙂
I like reading your article Tin… I miss you na. Hope we’ll see each other! Keep blogging! Tc 😘😘😘
Yey thank you! Virtual hugs! <3