With the advent of fully-remote jobs and the hours every day spent commuting, a lot of people are finding themselves with much more free time than ever before. For some, that means completely stopping and relaxing, or even getting more sleep in. Some turn to exercise, sports, or video games, but many more still just don’t know what to do with the time.
So, you’re finding yourself having watched all the TV and movies, played all the games, and wanting something different, here are four ideas for other activities to try out.
1: Modern Board Games
Before your mind jumps to things like Monopoly or Scrabble, this isn’t the meaning of a modern board game. It doesn’t mean things like Chess or Checkers either but instead refers to much more engaging and colorful games that offer a uniquely interesting experience. For instance, one of the most recommended for beginners to modern board games is Settlers of Catan, a simple but deep game of building and gathering that is a stepping stone before moving on to other titles.
Included in this category is also a selection of card games, especially those in the category of ‘social deduction’ games. Classics such as Coup or Love Letter are all about becoming Sherlock Holmes towards your friends and family, trying to discover the lies and half-truths while also trying to keep your plans secret.
The best part of all of the above is that you can involve the whole household in the fun, as even the most basic of good board games include a social element to them. Don’t have people in the house who want to play? No problem. While it isn’t exactly the same experience, most games now have their own digital versions you can play online, and there’s even Tabletop Simulator, an app that lets you play hundreds of games on a virtual table.
2: Online Casinos
If you think gambling is much more of an “in-person” activity, then you may not have had any real experience with online gambling. In Europe, online casinos have been well-established for many years now, while online gambling in Canada and United States is starting to take off as well.
If you’re not usually a fan of gambling, it’s still definitely worth a look these days, as what makes up the library of the average online casino is very different from what it was even in the recent past. Slot games are now high-quality productions with top-end visuals and sounds, and live games can have all the appeal of full gameshows and even VR capabilities.
If your idea of gambling is still going to Vegas and hitting the tables, or fruit machines with huge levers, you might be surprised at what the latest generation of games has to offer. Best of all, it’s just as good on the go as at home, thanks to nearly every game involved being designed around mobile play.
3: Online Courses
This section definitely blurs the line a little more between entertainment and work, but thanks to there being so many resources online, more time at home is the perfect opportunity to learn a craft or skill that just wasn’t worth the time before. It could be something useful, it could be something for your career or it might just be something you always wanted to do.
The great thing is, for whatever you want to learn there are free guides for it somewhere online. If you want to learn the guitar, YouTube has hundreds of free video guides for you to use. If you wanted to try your hand at programming, you can use the Codecademy site which has free online lessons for every major programming language plus practical exercises and video tutorials as well.
Best of all, almost every example of an online guide can be put down and picked up whenever you like, meaning that the entire thing can fit around whatever schedule you might have.
4: Remote Movie Nights
A recent trend that’s only really started gaining traction over the last few years, remote movie nights are a great alternative to dealing with the impracticality of traditional movie nights. Instead of gathering everyone together in one place, instead, you would find one person who can stream a movie via a social or meeting platform, and everyone else simply joins the call and watches along.
Apps like Discord, a commonly used social app for gaming, streaming, and other niche communities, are popular choices for this and include special features for hosting and presenting to larger groups. The numbers are also a big advantage, as normally getting 50 people into a single room is not exactly practical. It also means everyone can watch in their own comfort, on the device of their choice, without having to elbow for space or squint at a screen across the room.
It isn’t just movies either. TV series have full remote watch parties for new releases, and groups even get together for YouTube nights on occasion.
As a last note, don’t forget to do your research on all of the above before you start. Get reviews on board games, find reputable casinos to play on, check that your online courses come from a reliable place, and make sure copyright won’t ruin your movie night! Above all, don’t forget that it’s completely fine to try something a few times and never try it again – you aren’t guaranteed to find the right thing the first time.