Life Skills You Can Learn Online During Self-Quarantine

With COVID-19 going all around, lots of us are forced to lock ourselves up at homes working remotely. Since most social interactions have been limited, everything revolves around the Internet and online services.

Probably you used to spend at least an hour or so driving to work every day. Now those times are gone and you’ve been stuck at home munching on your favorite cookies and working remotely. Spend your spare time learning something new online! This time can be perfect for learning the basics of a foreign language, like Spanish or French. 

If you already speak those, there are plenty of other foreign languages like German or Italian. Like challenges? Then Mandarin or Arabic would be just the right choice. When the coronavirus is over, this would be a good reason to visit one of those countries for practicing language skills which you’ve learned during the quarantine.

Not interested in learning languages? Try yoga or dancing!  There are plenty of things you can learn online like sewing, knitting, crocheting, or similar crafts. These skills are always useful and will eventually lead you to be able to create a wide variety of things.  What are other things out there worth learning online? 

Take a quick look at the list of activities that eventually can become your hobby and which you’ll love passionately. Some of them might really benefit your life or will become a side hustle.

#1. Learn the International Morse Code Online.

Knowing Morse code can be extremely useful in an emergency situation. This can save your life, especially in a hostage situation. We don’t wish anybody to end up in a horrible situation like kidnapping. But in case something like that happens, you can transmit a Morse code with the blink of your eyes while your kidnapper demands ransom at a video conference with your family/police. After you’ve learned it, keep practicing. Without regular practice, you can easily forget it with time.

#2. Learn Fast Typing Online.

If you don’t know how to touch-type, then be sure – it’s worth learning. Think about how much typing you do in a day, and then think about how much faster you’d get things done if you could speed that up. Overall, it’s a skill that will make you much, much more productive.

#3. Take Online Yoga Courses and Start Practicing Yoga.

The proven fact is that yoga is good for the mind and body. It helps to destress and lower muscle tension. Over time it helps in overall wellbeing. But, in the long-term, practicing yoga consistently, instills the most basic and important life skills. 

For fun and effective learning, go to the Grinfer learning platform for some awesome yoga online courses. All yoga masterclasses were created by skilled yoga instructors with good knowledge of a healthy lifestyle, and practical experience in techniques for lowering daily stress and anxiety.

#4. Learn Online How To Bake Bread.

If you have flour (which is a must get for self-quarantine), then baking bread is a great way to relieve stress. Go online and learn some more about cooking and baking. You’ll have lots of fun and, at the same time, there will be fresh bread on your table. Maybe it will become your new favorite hobby too.

Don’t forget about watching those carbs though. Maybe the best way to go in this case would be to practice yoga daily, bake bread, and then do your fitness routine. Anyways, once you decide to bake bread, stick to minimalistic recipes for the start. Play with all the ingredients that you already have on hand. After a while, you can try more complicated recipes, if you wish to.

#5. Learn How To Do Indoor Photography.

Everyone has a camera these days and every mobile device in your house is equipped with one. So, pick your mobile phone and try creative indoor shooting or learn how to be a good photographer. This is a good time to take some pics of yourself, household items, your freshly baked bread. The list goes on. So, when the world resumes, you’ll be ready to capture the beauty of it. It will enhance your right brain capabilities and imagination.

#6. Learn Online How To Write Blog or Poem.

The quarantine period has developed mixed feelings in many people. While some people feel happy to be with the family and spend more time with kids, others worry about professional future and career opportunities ahead. So, write something on paper expressing your thoughts and feelings.

Putting negative emotions, worries, struggles during the quarantine on paper will help you express yourself. It will bring out the best of the writer in you. Also, it will help you to recognize what emotional state you are in. Through honest and sincere writing about your thoughts and feelings, you’ll be able to identify possible negative emotional outcomes that need some work on and elimination.

#7. Learn How to Hula Hoop.

 If you are a health-conscious person, then hula hoop would be super cool for you. This skill helps to maintain waist size and it will help you to stay fit. Go online and watch how others do hula hooping exercises. With some cool music, this should be a blast!

#8. Learn Online to Play the Ukulele.

It’s a simple instrument and sounds great even when you’re starting out! You can get one on Amazon for super cheap. Try the online course on Grinfer “Christmas Ukulele Class for Beginners” created by Zachary Seckman who is a creative music educator. 

Christmas is right around the corner and this class will teach you how to play 10 Christmas songs on Ukulele. Also, you’ll get a downloadable and printable songbook that contains notes to the songs you’ll be learning during the course.

#9. Learn Online How To Create Fun Objects With Recycled Materials.

As we all clean our homes once and awhile, all of us can end up with a bunch of stuff that needs to be recycled. But with a creative approach, you can utilize the waste material in your home into reusable things giving it a second life.

For example, turn an old Pepsi can into a fun pen-stand. Or have a plastic water bottle turned into a cute little piggy which can also serve as a plant pot. Find some useful tutorials or fun videos online. You will be amazed at how many creative ideas are out there on turning useless plastic into fun, colorful, and handy stuff.

#10. Learn Online How To Plant a Container Garden.

Just because you have to stay indoors doesn’t mean you can’t get started on your gardening. Bring the outdoors in by sprouting seeds or planting a container garden. Bonus: use your fresh herbs in your amazing healthy dishes you’re learning to cook.

#11. Learn Online How To Clean and Get Organized Effectively.

This statement will not indulge in the misnomer that “cleaning can be fun”. However, it is something that’s absolutely necessary to do on a regular basis. Learn some effective life hacks online on how to do your laundry, purge your home clean, and tidy up like there’s no tomorrow.

#12. Learn Online How To Redecorate.

Let your creative side show and take an opportunity to make some fresh and new executive decisions for your living space. Move things around, play with your decor, give things a springy new feeling! There are tons of resources, step-by-step tutorials, life hacks online that will teach how to redecorate your living space. Pik those that seem the most exciting and go for it!

#13. Learn Online How To Get the Hang of Investing/Stock Markets.

This one is for those who think there is no necessity to make savings for the future. Personal finances are one of the major dimensions and it has to be dealt with caution. If you think you can make profits within weeks of investing, then you are wrong, my friend. Learn how to invest in the stock markets and invest in good stocks for the long-term. Short-term profits can be done once you are familiar with the market.

#14. Learn Carpentry Online.

If you are up for experimenting and creating stuff out of wood, learn carpentry through online step-by-step vids or take masterclasses online.  Make cool things to improve your home, build shelves, bookcases for closets, or furniture. Once you become really good at it, you can also use this skill to earn spare cash.

#15. Learn Magic Tricks Online.

Magic is fun and you can learn it at any age. Of course, when you are younger, it sticks longer in your brain, and your skills last longer. When you are older your life experience is a great asset for developing performance skills. Magic is a great ice breaker, a conversation starter, etc. It impresses people and can make a strong first impression on the people you meet.

By learning magic tricks you can develop interaction skills that will be very useful later in college and the work world. Learning magic also teaches you engineering skills such as the importance of being precise and accurate yet being able to let certain mistakes go. You develop a good sense of judgment of what actually is important in certain situations. Magic tricks can potentially be a money-making tool if you start charging for performances.

#16. Learn Meditation and Breathing Techniques Online.

Learning how to be aware of your body and being able to recenter your focus when things become hectic is a tremendous advantage. There is no religious aspect to this. It’s just learning to monitor your breath, closing your eyes, and trying only to focus on that. Then when your mind tries to wander off, notice that. Then try to refocus on your breath. It’s like a mental push-up to help train focus. Learn simple mindfulness training online with courses and masterclasses.

#17. Learn Online How To Train Your Dog.

With all this coronavirus quarantine and self-isolation we have more time now to spend with our families. But pets are also a part of the family. Right? Now is a chance to build even better bonds with our beloved pets and teach them some new fun tricks. Learn simple dog training methods with Samantha Schinder, who is a dog training expert.

Samantha’s training methods are based on empathy and love for dogs. It worked extremely well on hundreds of dogs she trained. Samantha offers online courses and masterclasses on the Grinfer platform that teach how to house train a dog, how to train it to walk on a leash and off-leash, how to train a dog not to bark, and much more.

#18. Learn Hair Cutting Techniques Online and Cut Your Own Hair.

The best way to learn how to cut and style the hair as you cut it is by watching YouTube and practicing. First, don’t cut your hair as short as you would like it, leave a bit of hair for error. If the first attempt at cutting your hair fails, you can always use a trimmer and go for a short trim all around. Once you get a hang of it, you’ll be able to at least extend the time between trips to the salon, which will save quite a lot of money and keep you looking fresh!

Bottom line

Never stop learning. Less than a year ago, we had no idea COVID-19 would evolve the way it did. But, this experience is making us wiser and urging us to plan ahead. If you enjoy reading, pick up a book and learn something today, or discover insights from the ocean or even the sky. By discovering insights on how we learn, we can build a better future for ourselves.

More free time means an opportunity to catch up on things you’ve been wanting to get done. Create something that will bring you lots of joy. Learn and make something that would even be resourceful for the whole community.

In difficult times like now, the collaborative efforts of the members of the community can provide great help to other people who deal with bigger challenges. When we look back at this moment, years later, we’ll feel proud about how society came to a standstill from COVID-19.