If you had big plans for this summer and everything got cancelled or postponed because of COVID-19, you are not the only one. Whether you just finished your first year from home, or you are in your second year and the placement got delayed or you are on your internship and you have been furloughed or you are now graduating and all the things that you had in mind for this summer suddenly disappeared, this article is meant to give you a few ideas to still make the most out of it and boost your confidence.
But, how are we meant to forget about all the festivals, pre-booked holidays and city-breaks?
As we’ve seen, restrictions are easing off and we may be able to travel abroad or within the UK, but if you still worried that there is still a possibility to catch the virus, I have a few ideas that might keep you busy indoors.
Embark on a learning journey
I recently came across this article from Buffer where they talk about how the company approaches the employees’ needs of learning and developing new skills – a 12-week learning sabbatical with 50% pay! You might not get paid for learning a new skill right away, but this is not an excuse not to approach the time spent indoors as an opportunity to extend your knowledge.
Depending on what specific skill you would like to develop, I am sure there are plenty of online free resources unless you are looking to purchase books or courses with your festival money.
A great platform which offers a 30-day free trial is LinkedIn Learning where you have the possibility to follow plenty of online courses from different industries – marketing, finance, economics, business, public relations etc. The cherry on top is that with every course completed, the relevant skills will automatically appear on your LinkedIn page, therefore improving your profile for employers to easily find you.
Grow your passion online
Assuming you had enough of cleaning your space and donating the wanted clothes, it is now the time to focus on your passion(s). Whether it’s colouring, fitness, yoga, dancing, fashion, gardening or cooking, start or improve your current Instagram account with your passion and engage with like-minded people.
With more than 500 million daily active users and more than 50 billion photos shared to date, Instagram is a great platform to show your work, get inspired and take it to next level.
Getting educated on Netflix
As much as we waste a lot of time on Netflix binge watching endless series, this is also a great space for education. In the light of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, these are a few documentaries which will enrich your understanding:
- 13th Amendment
- When They See Us
- Becoming with Michelle Obama
- Time (The Kalief Browder Story)
Finally, the furlough period and isolation have pushed me to get creative indoors in order to keep busy. It might not be easy every day, but the challenge is to create a routine that works for us in order to accomplish the things we want.
I would love to know how you are keeping busy indoors and what you’ll do to make this summer great! Feel free to connect with me on socials:
Written by #HallamInsider Daniela Baicoianu
