During this time at home, it can be really important to find meaningful, productive, and fun ways to spend your time and break up your day.
Contributed by Josh Durando, Myra H. Kraft Director of Volunteer and Alumni Relations, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston
Whether you have been sent home from school, or your job has closed for the foreseeable future, I know many of our BGCB alumni are spending time at home right now. During this time at home, it can be really important to find meaningful, productive, and fun ways to spend your time and break up your day. BGCB wants to help contribute to your new routine! Here are a few great ways you can use your time at home to continue your learning or take a wellness break!
Use your time for some foundational skill building!
Proficiency with the Microsoft Office programs is an awesome skill to have in your toolbox. Tools like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel can be even more powerful as you build your fluency in them. Luckily, there are online training where you can build your skills!
Whether it’s preparing for a big presentation or leading a meeting, mastering public speaking is one of the most important professional skills you can build. This course gives tips on overcoming the fear of public speaking by learning some fundamental techniques.
Explore interest-based learning!
There are tons of ways to explore subjects you are interested in, or things you’ve always wanted to learn. One of the best is Coursera! Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses in many different subject areas and allows you to explore thousands of courses based on your specific interests. The best part is that the site has many classes you can audit for free. This article outlines many of the free courses offered on Coursera broken down by category.
Local schools like Boston University, Tufts University, Northeastern University, and Harvard University all have free courses to explore. Cornell is also offering free one-time keynotes.
Center your health and wellness!
Lots of time at home means you have the opportunity to define what your new routine looks like. In addition to mentally stimulating yourself, it can be really important to figure out ways to stay active, or focus on your mental health.
Peleton is offering a free 90 days of their app! The best part is, you don’t need to have their bike to use it! They have bootcamps and other work out alternatives in addition to their bike workouts, so whether you have a home gym or not you can still stay active!
Like cooking? Check out Leanne Brown’s FREE cookbook Good and Cheap here! It’s full of great recipes all centered on eating great for less than $4 per day. The cookbook is also now available in Spanish!
Don’t forget to prioritize your mental health during this time! Yale’s most popular online class is all about increasing your own happiness and building productive habits – and it’s free! You can check it out here.
One final way you can use this time is by sitting down and figuring out how you want to represent all the great learning and development you’re doing during this time! This article gives some great tips on how to highlight informal learning or professional development. You can use these to update your resume and cover letter and show the world how you’ve put all your time to great use!
Be sure to check back every day for more videos and blogs for all ages from BGCB staff.
