How to survive lockdown with your sanity intact

No cash for tuition? No problem! EdX offers free courses from universities, including luminaries like Harvard, MIT, and Berkley, in hundreds of subjects, no student loans necessary. Brush up on skills for your job or take a course in something purely for fun. You don’t get official credit for them but you get to keep all the knowledge you learn.

E-books are the best of all worlds: They come in a wide variety, are instantly readable on a device, and are delivered 100 percent germ-free making them the perfect activity for those staying in to avoid illness. Many libraries offer popular e-books for free through apps like Free eBooks (free-ebooks.net) and Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org).

Here are 65 books everyone should read.

Ever wondered how anyone has time to make a dish like beef bourguignon, one of Julia Childs’ signature entrees…that just happens to have two pages of ingredients and four pages of directions? Well now you have nothing but time so let out your inner four-star chef and cook something fabulous (if you can get the ingredients – if not, experiment with the ingredients you do have). For extra fun, have a friend or family member “judge” your dish.

Puzzles are like chips – once you pop one piece you just can’t stop. On a regular weeknight that can be a problem but now you can sit and indulge in the biggest jigsaw puzzle your heart desires. (Yes, even if that’s 50 pieces. It’s cool.) Tip: Use a plastic tablecloth to cover the puzzle when you’re not working on it so you can still use your table for eating, or order one of these handy jigsaw puzzle boards online.

Try one of these 21 brain games guaranteed to boost your brain power. 

Laying outside and staring at the stars is a luxury most working adults don’t have these days. But now that you don’t have to worry about waking up extra early to make your commute to get to your 9am meeting, you can take an hour to stargaze. Not an astronomer? Use a star-gazing app like Skyview to chart your night sky then read up on the stories behind each constellation.

Nothing makes you see your house in a new light like having to spend all your time in it. Are the tangled cords on your TV driving you nuts? Are you sick of tripping over the ottoman? Have your kids entirely taken over your bedroom (and every other room)? Does your house just have a musty feeling? Use this time to rearrange some furniture, change out decorations, hang paintings, freshen things up to make them feel new again, and ditch things with bad energy.

There is no smell better than fresh bread baking but who has the time to sit around waiting for yeast to reproduce, dough to rise, kneading and then baking? You do, now! If you’re already a pro, take this opportunity to pass on this skill to your child.

We are living through distinctive times and no one can tell your experience better than you! Journalling is a great way to organise your thoughts, relieve stress and preserve memories. Bullet journaling is the new trend; you can make it as fancy as you like with doodles and coloured pencils or keep it simple in a plain notebook. We’re also big fans of gratitude journals.

Folding paper into animals, stars, boxes and other fanciful shapes is a great activity for kids and grownups. Use your creations to tell a story (or make a stop-motion video, see above) or use string to hang them in your home as a colourful decoration. Pro-tip: Use real origami paper or wrapping paper with a different colour on each side for the best results.

Magic done right is, well, magical. Magic done wrong is hilarious. You can’t lose either way! Use this time to teach yourself some simple tricks to delight your friends, young and old. And you don’t need to have a lot of fancy equipment to learn the basics. Everyone should have a ball, a scarf or a deck of cards handy!

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Source: RD.com