- Jenny Bjorklof
150+ things to do without screen
Here is a list of 150+ screen-free activities for adults. Beware, a few of the activities might need a bit of screen to prepare!
Most of them are possible to do alone, making them COVID19 and confinement proof.
I hope these will inspire you to experience something new, fun, creative or challenging. Something out of your comfort zone that helps you grow. Something that connects you better to yourself and others.
If you have feedback or want to add something to the list, feel free to email me at jenny.bjorklof@freelancersinbelgium.be
Here are the sections:
- Do something for others
- Do something for yourself, practice self-care
- Do something romantic with your significant other
- Get to know your partner, friends and connections better
- Develop yourself personally and professionally
Exercise
- Outdoors
- Indoors
Read/Write
- Read
- Write
- Audio
Food & Drinks
Improve your home
Photography
Music
Games
Beauty
Crafts
- Involving pen & paper
- Involving textile
Other crafts
Do something for others
Send a postcard/letter/package/voice or video message to someone you love and/or haven’t spoken with in a while
Deliver a portion of food to someone who lives alone
Pay a window visit
Call your grandparents
Donate blood
Volunteer
Check if elderly homes in your area need extra help
Deliver meals to the vulnerable
Help charity organisations with their needs, usually every commune has a list of these.
Do something for yourself, practice self-care
Take a bath with essential oils or a bath bomb
Groom yourself with a facemask, manicure and or pedicure
Enjoy a moment with a luxurious, sentenced candle
Follow a meditation or mindfulness course
Go to bed early
Do something romantic with your significant other
Share a bottle of champagne for no reason at all
Go to bed early
Play truth or dare
List your favourite memories of your time together. Look at old pictures and messages. Make a collection.
Make a plan for monthly or weekly dates and add them to your agenda. Tip: pick stuff from this list to do together.
Get to know your partner, friends and connections better
Get inspired by these deep questions. My favourites:
- Do you believe in fate, or do you think that things happen because of our decisions?
- How would people close to you describe you in three words?
- What skill do you envy in other people?
- If you died tonight, what would you regret not doing?
- Do you give advice to others, and why?
Develop yourself personally and professionally
Learn a new skill. Some ideas:
- Focus
- A new language
- Self-defense
- Dance moves
- Survival skills
- First aid
- Strategy
- Communication: Public speaking, copywriting, listening, leadership
Teach someone something you know very well, and ask that person to teach you something new
Study something you don’t know anything about
Improve current knowledge
Train your brain with riddles and calculations
Set goals and make a plan for yourself - think where do you want to be in x amount of years with your career, financials, health, relationships, society contributor…
Map out your reason for being with the Ikigai diagram
Make a list of business or side-project ideas
Visualise your dreams with a mood board/drawing
Read about philosophy
Make a bucket list of things you want to experience and do before you die
Change a habit or start a new one and stick to it for a week (at least!)
Do a 30-day challenge in a domain (e.g. writing, fitness, sleep, learn about a topic, social media…) you want to develop. Make a list with tasks on your own, or look one up online.
Freelancer? Check this list for 50 ways to group your freelance business from the comfort of your home.
Exercise
Outdoors
Run
- Sign up for a digital race or train for a challenging distance/pace
- Do a virtual running challenge with a group of friends
- Mix exercises with running (lunges, squats, push-ups, planks…)
- Mix running fast and slow
Cycle
- City exploration
- Countryside
Bootcamp (get inspiration from bodyweight exercises you can do anywhere by searching for them online or join a FB group)
Join a digital event by an OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) organiser
Walk
- Discover new places
- Make a scavenger hunt (map out tasks or trivia on a map)
- Take pictures
- Walk a shelter dog
- Schedule a walk & talk with a friend or business connection
- Go for a walk at sunrise
- Walk in a forest
- Research tree- and plant species and go out to find them
- Watch people passing by and make up stories about them
- Go off-road and do a hike
Parkour (be careful!) - instead of walking find ways to run, jump and flip through your environment
Geocaching - a global treasure hunting game
These exercise methods require access to specific material:
Skateboarding
Rollerblading
Surfing
Paddle boarding
Kayaking/rowing
Mountain biking or road biking
Indoors
Yoga
Pilates
Martial arts
Strength exercises
TV Aerobics/Zumba/HIIT (alternatively write down exercises and use music/timer for a screen-free option)
Have a dance party
Get a mini trampoline
Read/Write
Read
Cheesy novels
Magazines
Philosophy
Make a book chain = read a book and then give it to another friend who passes it to another friend etc. Write a note in the book for the next reader.
Write
Write a short story
Make a cartoon
Practice journaling, e.g. morning pages; Morning Pages are three pages of writing done first thing in the morning. The idea is to just write anything that comes to mind.
Write a dirty story
Audio
Listen to audio books.
Listen to podcasts - one or more people engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event. You can find podcasts for any topic, from life- and business advice to true crime, politics, food, music, sports and anything in between.
Start a podcast.
Food & Drinks
Try a new recipe
Make something that is technically challenging. Examples:
- Croissants
- Béarnaise sauce
- Beef Wellington
- Paella
- Soufflé
Do meal planning and cook for days ahead
Brew kombucha
Bake sourdough bread
Do a wine discovery
Make fancy cocktails
Improve your home
Declutter your home - try the KonMari method my Marie Kondo
Clean out your closet while listening to Eminem
Donate unused items to charity and/or sell them
Do home improvements (paint)
Redecorate your interiour
Restore furniture or antiques
Practice woodworking or whittling
Repair things
Deep clean (scrub shower, dust off lamps, vacuum under the sofa and beds…)
Wash windows
Start decorating for X-mas
Photography
Learn how to take better pictures, either by smart phone or with a DSLR camera.
Make a photo project, e.g. breakfast arrangements like this one featuring Pantone cups.
Sort your pictures
Print your best pictures and make an old-school photo album
Music
Sing
Play an instrument
Write song lyrics
Compose music
Games
Learn how to play chess
Play DIY Pictionary (pick words from a random word generator like this one and draw them. Tip: buy a memo board, like this 9.99€ one from Ikea.
Play various board games
Play cards - Solitaire if you're on your own.
Escape games
Solve Crosswords
Do Sudoku
Tired of playing? Create a game!
Beauty
Learn to make hair styles
Learn braiding
Practice makeup techniques
Learn nail art
Crafts
Involving pen & paper
Paint
Draw, e.g. with Bob Ross - an American painter and art instructor
Doodle (e.g. social or business experiments)
Calligraphy
Visual sketch notes
Colour in colouring books for adults
Involving textile
Knit
Sew
Crochet
Embroidery
Felting
Darn socks and garments in unusual ways
Other crafts
Glass art and mosaic
Pottery and ceramics
Flower arrangements
Shrink plastic
Thank you:
Dobrinka Barzachka, Maria Alexandrakis, Sarah Martens, Marlies De Bonte, Barbara Symons, Lien Vandeputte, Marie-Helene Dibenedetto, Ilse Van Dyck, Maarten Verschuere, Monica Nicolle Dimitriu, Diana Schulz, Koen De Braekeleer, Nicky Wijns, Delphine Van Belleghem, Laura Dixon, Laurens Heinen, Stephan Van Der Wildt, Anna Mulock Houwer, Sara Reyniers, Elise Van Hoecke and many more for contributing to this list!
This list is written by Jenny Bjorklof, Co-founder and Community Manager of Freelancers in Belgium.