You know, I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re being ultra-productive during lockdown because they want to come out the other side with a few achievements under their belt. These folks don’t want to waste a second!
I’ve also seen people who aren’t feeling productive at all. They’re tired, anxious, and worried about their future.
It’s totally fine to feel that way. But if you are wondering how to spend your time during lockdown as many of us enter our third month, here are some skills you could pick up.
🥃 Learn how to make kombucha tea
Admit it: How much tea and coffee have you drunk during lockdown?
Kombucha is a fermented tea that people have been consuming for thousands of years. It’s super healthy and can even provide the same benefits as green tea (whilst being tastier in my opinion!).
It’s also not that difficult to make, as long as you’ve got the key ingredients — tea bags, water, sugar, and a pretty hefty old jar.
Here’s a YouTube tutorial to kickstart your kombucha tea-making.
🚴 Learn how to ride a bike
Just in case you don’t know how to ride a bike, here’s an excellent video that will clue you up so that you won’t fall off.
Biking around town is great! It’s fantastic for the environment and it’s also something safe to do during lockdown.
And here’s a video tutorial that will help you change your tire in case you get a puncture.
👀 Learn to speed read
Now, here’s an interesting skill.
The other week, I posted an article to the Nature Hub blog about the best and most recent sustainability books you can read. One of them — Naomi Klein’s latest — is in excess of 600 pages.
I know, right?!
If you’d love to read more but you’re a bit slow, you could learn how to speed read. Here’s a video tutorial that will get you up to speed (sorry, I had to).
I’ve actually watched this tutorial before and am now averaging ten pages per 15 minutes. It works!
🔥 Learn how to build a fire
When lockdown is over, I’m sure many of us will be desperate to travel somewhere.
However, I can’t imagine there’ll be a mad scramble to travel via air just yet. And, you know, maybe we should hold back on that for a bit anyway, as research has shown that this lockdown has been so good for the planet.
So why not go camping instead?
If you really fancy this idea but you’ve never built a campfire before, here’s a YouTube tutorial to watch.
Sadly, there isn’t a YouTube tutorial for befriending bears. Maybe give them honey? Whatever you do, definitely don’t shout “Look! It’s Baloo!” They get that all the time and hate it.
🧶 Learn how to knit
I’ve been told many times that knitting is one of the most rewarding skills a person can learn. It’s great for the mind — it can really calm you down during these stressful times, — and it gets your creative juices firing.
Plus, it means you can make and share more stuff, rather than buying new stuff all the time. Fabulous.
I knitted for the first time last week and am currently wearing the sweater I made. Yes, it only has one sleeve. I messed up.
Anyway, here’s a video to help you get started.
🧘 Learn how to meditate
Another great skill to learn during lockdown is the art of meditation.
I say the “art” of meditation, and I guess it kind of is an art. But it’s not that complicated. However, meditation delivers a lot of benefits. It relieves stress, sets the right tone for the day, and it stops us from dwelling on negative things.
Some of my NatureHub coworkers even said that it’s the best thing that ever happened to them (hi, Kat!)
Here’s a YouTube tutorial.
💻 Learn how to code
Yes, I know. Everyone is telling you to code right now.
I’m not going to tell you to code, but I’ll just leave a reminder here that coding is fast becoming a valuable skill that will come in very handy after this pandemic has passed. With 30+ million American’s losing their jobs in the last 2 months, building up your skill base has never been more critical.
As we move forward, more apps will be created. If you’d like to work on a sustainability app or something of the sort, coding is a really cool and useful skill that’s in high demand.
Here’s a helpful video to get started.
👯 Learn how to moonwalk
I thought I’d end with a fun one. And if you decide to take this challenge on and learn how to moonwalk, I’ll do it too!
Michael Jackson’s moonwalk remains one of the most spectacular and original dance moves of all time. It’s not easy to master, though, and I must admit that when I first tried it, I tried it on a table — and fell off.
Over to you
The great thing about learning these skills is that you don’t have to head outside to learn them. You can learn them all from the comfort of your own home.
Well, except the campfire one, of course. And bike riding. But you know what I mean.
So go forth and be a biking, knitting, tea-making, speed-reading person who’s ready to build a campfire when the lockdown is over.
And who’s also ready to moonwalk to work. All eyes on you after this is over.
