Do you ever feel like you spend way too much time looking at a screen? It’s more and more common to see social media posts complaining about social media, screens, and the internet these days. But we’ve replaced so much of our lives with screens, and often we struggle to fill the time if we quit our phones and computers for a day.
I’ve written on this blog before about my attempts to get offline and my struggles to deal with the boredom that comes with a disconnect from the easy entertainment offered by our phones in particular. I’ve struggled my whole adult life with headaches, fatigue, and stress, and while I can’t speak for others, taking breaks from my devices has helped (temporarily, a little bit) with all of those problems.
You may ask, “Why disconnect?” As Tiffany Shlain describes in her book 24/7: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week, “24/7 technology is bad for us and bad for the culture. We rush to fill any unstructured moment we have with work and entertainment, feeds and updates, pulling out devices that distract us from bigger-picture thinking. We’re constantly reacting and responding without reflection. We’ve created a culture where we’ve all but relinquished our free time. We need to reclaim it.” Whether it’s for a full day or a few hours, it can be beneficial for us to step back from our screens, turn off our online lives, and focus on the real world around us instead of the virtual world in our smart devices.
It’s easy to say, “Get off your phone and get outside,” but what if you’re stuck at home? What if the weather is bad or you’re contagious with a cold? What if you don’t have any money in your budget this week? In this post, I’ve tried to list a bunch of ideas for things to do at home. As much as I encourage getting out of the house and going on small adventures, some days, it’s nice to stay home. And there are so many other things to do besides streaming or pulling up social media when you’re bored! Here are just a sampling:
Challenge yourself.
Challenge yourself by creating or learning something new. I certainly feel like some things, like reading Middlemarch or picking up my guitar again are just too hard! It’s easier to pick up my phone and watch a YouTube video for thirty minutes. Time off from our devices creates space for us to challenge ourselves and prove to ourselves how capable we are.
- Read an awesome book.
- Do a jigsaw puzzle.
- Tackle a crossword or Sudoku puzzle.
- Draw something.
- Write a poem.
- Memorize a famous poem.
- Bake something.
- Make a bucket list for the next 5 years, and plan 1 thing on it.
- Pick up an instrument you have or haven’t played before.
- Exercise and/or do some stretches.
- Write out your goals and how you’re going to reach them.
Relax.
Of course, a day off should feel like a day off! So consider doing something fun that you typically feel like you don’t have enough time to do.
- Have a home spa day.
- Listen to an old CD. (Bonus points if you sing or dance along.)
- Watch a movie you own on DVD.
- Take a nap.
- Try an adult coloring book.
- Stargaze.
Get some chores done.
There’s nothing so motivating as getting stuff done, and a technology fast can be the perfect time to knock some items off your to-do list. You’ll feel so accomplished and even relieved on Monday morning, knowing you did something productive over the weekend.
- Mend something that’s broken.
- Clean the inside of your car.
- Clean a room in your home.
- Go through your bathroom cabinets and throw out expired products.
- Go through your kitchen cupboards and fridge, and throw out expired products.
- Pull weeds or sweep fallen leaves in your yard.
- Meal plan, meal prep, or write out a grocery list.
- Try a decluttering challenge.
- Try on all the clothes you never wear. (Donate them if you won’t wear them again.)
- Wash your sheets and air out your bedroom.
- Make a list of everything you need to do, and immediately do 1 thing on it.
- Go through old photos.
- Go through that pile of mail on your desk.
- Prepare your emergency bag, for whatever your local natural disaster tends to be. (Here, we have fires and earthquakes, so a go-bag is a necessity.)
Reach out to friends.
Finally, the saddest part of technology (particularly social media) is its promise to bring us together, while most of the time it only drives us apart and steals time we could be spending with our loved ones. When you take a break, use the time to reconnect with friends or family, even if you’re at home by yourself.
- Write a letter to a friend or family member. (You don’t have to send it.)
- Call someone for a chat.
- Call someone and ask if they’re free to meet up right now.
- Play a board game or card game.
- Play with a pet.
- Host an afternoon tea, British-style, with little sandwiches and scones.
- Invite your friends over to play lawn games (i.e. croquet, bocce ball, corn hole, etc.)
That’s 38 things to do at home during a break from the internet. Have you ever tried taking a break from your devices? Would you try it?
