There are only so many rooms you can “travel” to in your home (unless you live in a palatial Crazy Rich Asians property), and not to mention, your new “coworkers” are driving you nuts.
Before cabin fever sets in (or if it already has), here are some activities that might help to alleviate your distress.
Remember to exercise
It’s one thing keeping yourself busy with chores, catching up on your Korean drama serials, and the occasional pacing around the house.
But — if you’ve not already done so — do incorporate exercise into your routine as well, especially if you’ve been spending every day just sitting in one spot and not moving until it’s time to eat, use the toilet or sleep.
Also, did you know that exercise can help boost your work productivity and immunity?
Many sites like Fitness Blender, Men’s Health and Shape already offer a bunch of free exercise videos/guides. You might also chance upon videos on YouTube to groove to; I personally like to follow zumba video dance-alongs.
A fan of exercise fads? Good news! Orangetheory is releasing a new half-hour workout every day, Barry’s Bootcamp and F45 Fitness are hosting live videos on their Instagram stories. You can also watch (and hopefully do) 1-hour yoga and meditation classes on CorePower Yoga.
Go on, binge-stream your entertainment
If you’ve finished your work for the day, that’s a free pass to binge-watch on as many shows as possible!
Amazon Prime has made its streaming service free. You just need to sign up to get started. Then there’s its audiobook platform Audible, which has made hundreds of titles available for free.
If your ability to read and understand Chinese/Mandarin is ‘nubbad’, you can also try Maplestage for your Asian entertainment fix.
StarHub customers, the provider will help you get through this! It has activated a free preview of 10 news, kids and entertainment channels, till 24 April, 12pm.
You can also watch nature in motion, courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium, the US National Parks Service and this livestream of the gorgeous northern lights. There are also museums to pay an e-visit to.
Do something you “didn’t have the time to do”
Remember that crafty project we’ve been wanting to get off the ground, but since you’ve enthusiastically gathered the materials 6 months ago, nothing has been done? How about that unfinished book, where you never got past Chapter 3?
That cupboard where you haphazardly shove things into whenever your in-laws pop by, unannounced, needs clearing. And all those clothes in the wardrobe you haven’t been able to sort for donation, like, 2 years ago, when you couldn’t wear them anymore.
Organise your spice rack — oh look, the garlic powder has caked up again, clean the ceiling fan, remove that pile of letters from your dining table, fix your Gundam models, cook, bake, actually learn how to play guitar… the list goes on. And did you remember to utilise your Duolingo app since you downloaded it to learn Japanese 8 months ago?
You know what to do. Stop making excuses, because if you’re bored, you now have time to tackle the things you “didn’t have the time to do” earlier.
Play some video or mobile games
Ubisoft steps up to the plate by offering some games as free-to-play over the weekend or free to download (most till 27 March). Get your gaming room ready!
There are a bunch of other free games from various publishers to occupy your time..
Staying at home doesn’t mean you need to forgo your PoGo commitments, either. Niantic announced that it has made tweaks so that attracting Pokémon is cheaper and easier, and getting the cute pocket monsters to hatch will be speedier.
Read
If you don’t have a physical book at home and there’s no way for you to get to a library, try on some of these Internet reading resources for size.
- The Internet Archive — a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more
- JSTOR — lots of scholarly content there
- Project MUSE — another scholarly archive
- Scribd — literary heaven
A National Library Board survey found that Singaporeans are reading more, in terms of e-loans and reading frequency. And yes, reading can provide mental stimulation, reduce stress, boost your linguistic function, improve focus and analytical skills, and even improve your writing.
Keep the kids occupied
If you have children, why not take this time to enhance their learning and development through tons of free resources available online?
Letting the little ones veg in front of yet another run of Frozen can be bad for their eyesight in the long run, so give them some activities to do.
If you have a printer at home, try printing out some colouring-in pages.
Enjoy family bonding time
Make the most of the opportunities to spend precious time with your loved ones. Hang out at the dining table, fix a jigsaw together, talk, laugh, have a silly indoor party and invite the stuffed toys, play music and sing… anything!
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This article was written by Mary Wu, who hopes to share what she’s learnt from her home-buying and renovation journey with PropertyGuru readers. When she’s not writing, she’s usually baking up a storm or checking out a new cafe in town
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