What should we be doing with all this extra free time amid the COVID-19 pandemic?
For some of us, our worlds have been turned upside-down this past month. We can’t go out, #Isolation is trending, work and education have shifted online where possible, and a lot of people have found themselves without work, and, consequently, an abundance of time.
I’ve personally lost two jobs, shaved ten hours of commuting to and from University a week, and began starring down the barrel of existential dread.
Some online studies and commitments keep me sane, to an extent. But the hours spent working and studying have made way for ukulele, painting, reading, and way too much NetFlix, among other things.
So, what should we be doing with the sudden abundance of time on our hands? Of course, the list is exhaustive. But I’ve suggested learning for fun, reading more, building habits, and … nothing.
Learn for fun
When was the last time you learned something for the sake of learning?
In school, information was spoon-fed to use all-day. Nowadays, we tend to only learn if it absolutely necessity — typically to upskill for work or study. There’s nothing wrong with this type of learning, but learning for the sake of it can be fun.
Get curious about the world around you. Learn to ask questions, and delve deeper into what fascinates you.
Someone could devote their whole life to learning one subject. They would still know nothing in the grand scheme of things. For each answer to this strange world of ours, there seems to be five more questions. How amazing!
Indeed, learning more will make you more knowledgable. It also helps to exercise your brain, keeping it healthy (the brain is a muscle after all).
There is even some evidence to suggest learning may help prevent Alzheimer’s, though more empirical evidence is required to confirm this.
Nevertheless, learning for fun can be fun! It’ll give you more to discuss during mentally stimulating conversations with friends, and plenty to write about if you’re seeking inspiration.
The best thing about learning nowadays is how accessible and easy it can be.
Lately, I’ve been fascinated by Ancient Athens and the great western philosophers. The School of Life’s brilliant Philosophy series piqued my interest, while Crash Course’s seemingly never-ending playlists on philosophy and more have satisfied my hunger for knowledge.
My favorite part? It’s all free! We have millions of visually stimulating, insightful, videos at the click of a button. We’re entering an exciting age of information and new media, and have more access to information than ever.
Read more
Read wide and well. Reading does so much for your brain. It helps to improve your vocabulary, general knowledge, memory, and more. Above all, reading makes you more empathetic.
Reading the ups and downs of the human condition from diverse perspectives can help make one a more understanding person. One study suggests that readers of fiction have higher social cognition skills — the ability to analyse and synthesise social information.
As we glimpse through words, into the life of characters, we often think about ourselves in similar situations. We worry about characters as they struggle, or envy their successes.
This is a great exercise in empathy and considering other people.
I still think about Alaska from John Green’s Looking For Alaska often; as if she were a real person. I consider the struggles she went through, and hope she never felt too alone.
More recently, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest has me reeling over injustices of the mental health system. In McMurphy’s world and our own.
In Every 1 Minute a Day you Read = 1 Book a Year, Rosie Leizrowice reminds readers that the only way to read more books is to read more.
The estimated average reading speed is between 200 and 250 words a minute. Reading a minute a day - 200 words - for 365 days equals 73,000 words. This might be a generous estimate, but the average novel is around 50,000–70,000 words.
We all hear of people who read 100 books a year. Or CEOs who juggle sixty hours of work, and still manage to read a book every week. Wow!
Bless those few outliers and their reading efforts, but the reality of average books read a year is less impressive.
You can set wild goals if they help motivate you. But perhaps the best approach to reading more is simply reading more. Don’t worry about the numbers or competitiveness of it all; just read what you enjoy on your own terms.
Start building strong habits
There’s a common agreement that one can build new habits in just 21 days.
The sobering reality is that building habits that stick takes far longer, with estimates ranging from 2 months to 254 days. These numbers might change for each person, but two things remain consistent: time and dedication.
Forging a new habit takes time, with a pinch of dedication.
Everyone seems to have a great abundance of time nowadays. When better to start building new habits than when your world has been turned inside-out?
If you need some motivation, apps like Habitica ‘gamify’ your life by tracking habits. Perhaps get some friends involved — mindfulness sessions via Zoom are all the rage.
It’s important to start small. Set a modest goal, and scale it up gradually. Instead of aiming to read an hour a day, for instance, you can simply aim to read each day. This will avoid disappointment.
Instead of a grand goal, try small changes. Indeed, it’ll depend on your personal circumstances, but here are a few ideas:
- Aim to drink 2L of water a day
- Practice mindfulness each day — apps like Serenity are great
- Aim to exercise each day
- Stick to a night and morning routine
- Make your bed each morning
The best thing about these simple habits is that you can (hopefully) only go upwards. Thanks to Jordan Peterson’s 13 Rules for Life, I’ve shifted from simply making my bed each morning to always keeping my room tidy.
Towers can crumble without falling
Had a cheat day? Overindulged? Missed your goal? So be it; it happens to everyone. Remember these things take dedication and time.
If you want an effective rule to help make habits stick, try the Two Day Rule — don’t skip what you’re trying to accomplish for more than two days in a row.
Do nothing
The grind. The hustle culture. It’s easy to get swept up in it all and feel a constant need to be doing something.
Our world is increasingly connected and complex. We’re connected all the time, bombarding our brains with external stimuli.
Perhaps the antidote to all this chaos is … nothing. Allow yourself to do nothing for a day — enjoy that NetFlix binge or bathe in the autumn haze.
When we unplug, our brains can recharge; we begin spawning new ideas and sub-consciously processing old information.
Whether it’s for ten minutes a day through meditation, or a whole day every few weeks, there is no shame in doing nothing with your free time.
This is something we’re getting better at as a society: there has been a counter-response to hustle culture; more nuanced and understanding discourses around burnout, and an increasing understanding of our work limits.
A word of caution, though. There is a fine balance between doing nothing for the sake of doing nothing and falling into a rut.
Treading this line is a delicate balance one must figure out for themselves. Building self-discipline and using methods like the Pomodoro Technique have helped me thus far.
Exactly what you do with your time is up to you. There’s no right or wrong answer.
However, these methods have helped me keep sane, and I hope they can benefit you, too. Learning and reading about new things has inspired me to start new habits like painting every day, while plenty of rest between has helped me rejuvenate.
Do you have more free time? If so, what have you been doing with it all?
Thank you for reading my article! Any feedback is always appreciated.
