With most of our courses being online, social distancing and in general life being quite hard for us students, it might be hard figuring out what one can actually do in their free time next to uni. Especially as its getting so cold, rainy and dark outside.  If you’re usually a busy student (like me), the switch from your everyday life to one indoors all day can be jarring.

However, there are plenty of things to do and Ill share 9 of the options with you here!

1. Learn how to cook. Especially now that eating out is more difficult, why not use it as an opportunity to get skilled in a dish or two? Learn to cook the perfect Risotto dish or make your own sauce from scratch.
2. Learn a new language. You don’t have to become fluent in an entire new language, but even learning a few phrases here and there can be helpful, and it might help you keep up the wanderlust-spirits until we can finally travel again. Dulingo is a great app I can recommend if you’d like to dive into new languages!
3. Listen up. Podcasts are one of my favourite things to do, especially while going for a walk. It’s a great way to get in some steps while also learning and it can be about anything. You can use Apple’s own podcast app or simply go to Spotify. Its such an easy and simple way to enlighten yourself while spending your time wisely.

4. Help people. Other than staying indoor and keeping your distance you can also get a more active role in order to help out and give back to your local communities. I know for a fact that Gate Church Carbon Savings Project are looking for volunteers at the community fridge or maybe try and contact one of the soup kitchens in town.
5. Deep clean your room/flat. This might seem like the most boring thing on the list, but I found it very satisfying. You can always watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo or Get Organised – the Home Edit on Netflix for inspiration.  I gotta say having all my pants and socks completely tidied up in my drawers aren’t very necessary but it sure looks and feels good!
6. Organise your notes. I know it won’t replace going for pints at the pubs or dancing your night away at the union but  I do think your future self will thank yourself for this.
7. Keep a journal. We live in very strange and unpredicted times, maybe one day you’d like to go back and remember what it was really like. And its a great way to organise your thoughts when you have to focus them on paper.
8. Join a new sports society! This might be very restrictive at the moment as a lot of societies aren’t able to meet, but there are plenty of outdoor sports possibilities. It’s a great way to meet new people now that most other possibilities are very limited and it’ll keep you fit at the same time.
9. Be 100% unproductive. If there’s one thing the lockdown taught me, its to stop and take a break. Usually Im always so busy running around like a crazy bee, but when the whole world stopped for a minute, so did I. And I actually really enjoyed it. So even now when we’re not in a complete lockdown, I do my best to still stop sometimes and just allow myself to be completely unproductive. Sometimes that makes me more productive and active in the long run, I think that is just showing how important breaks are!