As much of the world adjusts to a new normal of restricted living, the need to find things to do when bored at home only increases. The luxury of everyday happiness is a given for some while others feel cooped up inside and are sleeping just to pass the time.
Many of us have now been social distancing for over a year, and honestly . . . some of these home projects and canned soup recipes are getting old. If you are having a hard time with isolation and quarantine, are feeling overwhelmed, or a little bit crazy, we wanted to share some ideas for those people who are really bored at home alone.
Here are 56 fun things to do when bored AF at home without leaving your house once.
Fun things to do when bored at home alone
- Find wildflowers🌸 in your front yard and try pressing them! Use a book.
- Sort your bookshelf by color or size. Or face them backward for a neutral vibe.
- Order (or print) a coloring book and do every page with a different type of paint. 🎨 Watercolor, acrylics, oils, colored pencil, sharpie, chalk, digital paintings, etc.
- Practice a TikTok or Instagram #dancechallenge. To post or not, you be the judge.
- Watch DIY videos and learn a new skill. Code, weave, dribble, cook – you got this!
- Perfect a new hairstyle. Hair crowns, headbands and hot lather shaves. 🪒
- Do regular self-care. Facemasks, wash your hair, scrubs, baths, candles and more.
- Go for a walk everyday. Try not to make it scheduled so it feels fresh and not routine. It helps make the days a tad less claustrophobic.
- Teach your dog a new trick and take that pic. Give treats to such a good boy!🦮
- Cats love cuddling. JK! They for sure love you. Take the ‘cutest cat ladies and their furry companions’ photo Instagram’s EVER SEEN.
- Change all dead lightbulbs and battery powered string lights, cuz duh.
- Spruce up your place with mood lighting. Placing LED strips underneath the furniture or behind pictures will create a dramatic effect and improve ambience.
- Fix broken makeup. Mix what’s left in a cracked compact with alcohol and let dry. Put olive oil in your mascara tubes that are dry for a new life.
- Clean makeup brushes and sponges. Throw out the dry, cracked lipsticks. 💄
- Plant an herb garden. Can’t leave the house? Propagate the plants you do have into an empty egg crate. Once rooted in 3 – 4 weeks, it’s time to pot.
- Paint garden rocks to use as plant identification markers. 🌱
- Get fancy and take a new profile photo for your social media profiles. But make each photo’s outfit and backdrop customized for that platform. AirDrop? Yes.
- Paint a mural on your wall, paint a room, a picture or hey, paint yourself. 🖼️
- Create funny memes and hope they go viral.
- Learn a new language.. or maybe just a new accent.
- Don’t just scroll Netflix, watch the top ten greatest movies of all time.
- Read a book, digital or otherwise. You are smart, romantic, historical, scientific, sci-fi, fictional, adventurous, funny, informative, inspirational and above all equal.
- Listen to the first vinyl you ever bought all the way through. It just hits right.
- Make a music video. Have fun with it and create a funny spoof or parody.
- Create a song on Garage Band, Ableton Live, Pro Tools or Logic Pro.
- Time yourself doing a puzzle. Take it apart and re-do trying to beat your first time. Loser bakes the cookies.🍪
- Practice drawing the new tattoo you want on yourself, your friend or on paper. When you can finally go to the shop, it will be personal, unique and drawn by you!
- Rearrange every room in your home, decluttering while you go.
- I guess it’s time to tell you to go through those clothes that are not a fit. 🧢👗👖👔
- Look through your photo albums and send old photos to friends and the fam showing they are in your thoughts.
- Make your WILL after going through every important personal belonging you own.
- Achieve financial freedom. Smart budgeting, finish your taxes, max out your 401k. Ask. For. That. Raise! 🤑
- Set up the perfect workspace and lighting for your next Zoom meeting and download cool new backgrounds to use. Think modern homes, tropical destinations or lean into an aesthetically pleasing textured backdrop.
- Speaking of Zoom, video with your friends and play a game online together. Physically distant, but socially together.
- Meditate or stretch it out for 10 minutes every day. FYI, there are apps for that.
- Drink 30 gallons of water before noon. Not only will you be close to good on your water intake for the day, but also peeing so much you are bound to get steps in.
- Make a charcuterie plate. Supplies running low? Anything in your kitchen can be cut into tiny pieces and look like a fancy appetizer.🌭
- Play truth or dare with your S.O. You’ll thank me later.
- Dress up as your partner, and have them dress up like you.
- Write someone a handwritten letter. Just…don’t mail it quite yet.
- Journal. Diary. Write a poem or a book. Something to look back on. 📓
- Get a day planner or a notebook and start scheduling out your week in advance. Block it out by hours, very specifically. Having a schedule will keep you grounded and sane. It will give you things to accomplish and check off, things to looks forward to, and a sense of forward motion and purpose.
From 10-11am: yoga, 11-1pm: write in journal, 1-2pm lunch (chicken salad), 2-4pm: read Love in the Time of Cholera, 4-5pm: go for a walk, etc. - Make the best WFH fort ever. If you have kids have a #fortchallenge.
- Google ‘viral internet challenges’ and try them all. Yes, so glad planking is over.
- Take a virtual tour. Many of the best musuems and aquariums in the world are going digital. Pro Tip: Get dressed up like you are actually going!
- 💪Workout. There have never been more free apps or Instagram Live’s than there are right now. Don’t have weights at home? Cans or a bottle of wine do just fine.
- Try all the wines or craft beer you can get your hands on. SO many good options.
- Make up a drinking game. Start ‘Icing’ your buddies. Never admit it was you.
- Handmake pasta noodles. Seriously cook everything in your saved folder now. This is finally your chance.
- Bake and decorate a cake. You have that cake, now eat it too.
- Plan out your meals for the entire week.
- Offer to watch an essential worker’s child or bring them a meal!
- If you live in a low-density area, get a mask on, get outside in the yard or take a walk around the neighborhood. Make sure you get outside if the weather is nice.
- Go for a drive. You’re still isolated in the car. The change of scenery will be nice.
- “Travel” to a new place without leaving home: Make a playlist of music from a particular country, look up a recipe and cook a traditional meal, and then watch a documentary or travel show on that place while you eat.
- When all else fails, take a nap.
You can, of course, get more specific for what to do when you’re bored at home alone, considering your own goals and interests.
Have a super detailed schedule and make plans, don’t stay in your PJs all day (what you are wearing sends signals to your brain and changes your mood), make sure you’re doing a variety of activities including plenty of creative time, get some physical activity, get outside when you can, plan your meals, schedule time with friends & family as you would if you were going out with them, keep learning and keep your mind engaged.
Some of these might seem like weird things to do at home, but you gotta get creative when bored. We’ll be right there with you, Zooming, napping, and constantly washing our hands.
More things to do at home from the Trash Talk blog:
We have tons of great ideas for what to do when bored. Check them out here.
