It’s said to take 10,000 hours to perfect a skill, after all practise makes perfect. Why not use some of your time in lockdown to try and master some new hobbies from your home?
Gardening:
Use your time at home to upgrade from ‘looking after’ a cactus to a plant that actually needs some TLC (and before anyone asks; yes, I have accidentally killed a cactus).
There are so many plants that can thrive indoors, such aloe vera plant, fern, orchid, rubber plants and snake plant. If you’re a dab hand in the kitchen, there’s even some edible indoor plants, such as ginger, parsley, and figs.
Not only does it help keep you occupied, but plants brighten up a room making empty spaces feel alive and natural, so give it a try and make sure to research on how to take care of each plant.
Try www.plantguide.org to find out how you can make the most out of your new plant friends.
Learn an instrument:
What’s your style? Jazz? Rock? Classical? Then if you enjoy listening to music, why not learn how to make some of your own.
Thanks to the internet, you could find an abundance of tutorials and start learning from your living.
Use your 10,000 hours to become the best guitar player this world has ever seen; you never know, you could be playing a concert one day.
Cooking:
Banana bread videos reigned supreme on social media during the first lockdown. Now we’re in the third national lockdown, why not take this opportunity to learn how to make gourmet level food. Don’t worry, calories don’t exist in lockdown.
Cooking can range from upping your salad game to baking or learning how to cook the perfect steak.
There are recipes for anything you can dream of out there. It could be a chance to finally make that vegan fry-up or your new sushi rolling kit that you bought yourself for Christmas and still haven’t got round to using.
Its limitless, so give it a go, and you could be the next Gordan Ramsey. I for one make a killer banana bread now.
Exercise:
This ones cheating a little in terms of indoor hobbies, as you can go outside for exercise.
If, like me, January was a write off for you on the exercise front, take now as the perfect opportunity to get out and get fit.
Since we’re all cooped up inside except our government commissioned exercise hour, use it to the fullest and safely go to your nearest park to walk, jog, run, skip or do whatever you heart desires to get moving..
I’ve started to appreciate inhaling any air that isn’t in my room, so get out and get that heart rate up.
Knitting:
It seems a skill that people seem to magically inherit once they hit 65, but maybe it’s time to start learning how to knit a little earlier in life.
Take this time to pick up your favourite colour wool and needles and go wild. Make a hat, scarf and gloves for those lockdown winter walks or knit some gifts for friends and family.
The time has come to transform those biscuit tins into your very own knitting kit, full of all the supplies you need to knit to your hearts content.
Plus, when shops finally open you won’t have to buy any new clothes thanks to all the one of a kind pieces you can make with your new hobby.
By George Bird
