The social distancing recommendations and stay at home orders in effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it difficult for many to continue their creative pursuits. Being stuck inside your home isn’t exactly the most inspirational place to work on yourself or be creative, and if you find yourself stuck in a rut, you aren’t alone.
However, despite your isolation from others, there are still plenty of ways that you can flex your creative muscles and remain productive until the world settles back down.
Make The Best With What You Have
If your city or state has implemented a shelter-in-place order, you’re effectively shut into your home. However, just because you can’t really go outside doesn’t mean that you can’t get creative inside your home. It’s said that practice makes perfect and as long as you’re holed up you can always get to work writing new music, starting the novel that’s been kicking around inside your head, or creating art through painting or sculpture with what supplies you have laying around.
Photography is a great creative outlet and you definitely don’t have to be outside to take great pictures. Whether you’re working with a DSLR or even just using the camera on your phone there is nothing stopping you from expressing your creativity through photography inside your home. If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that only social distancing recommendations are in effect, heading out to a local park to get some great pictures of nature or going out into your city while there is no one out and about can yield beautiful photography you can be proud of.
Try Something New
While you’re dealing with social isolation, you might be having trouble finding inspiration to be productive or creative in the ways that you’re used to. Anxiety can have a serious negative impact on your creative drive and you may have already felt some measure of dread when approaching old projects that need to be worked on. Don’t worry, everyone is going through it as well, and now might be a great time to pick up a new hobby or try some new creative outlets.
Think about something that you’ve always wanted to try or have been interested in and give it a go. If you’ve never tried crafting this could be an excellent time to practice your sewing skills and make some impromptu cloth masks that you can give to friends and family to help keep them safe. While you’re stuck at home with nothing but time to spare, you might just discover a new life-long passion that can help you express yourself creatively while also reducing stress and boredom.
If you’re living somewhere where you can still go out whenever you like as long as you’re social distancing, consider picking up a hobby you might regularly consider weird. Bird watching, geocaching, and metal detecting are great ways to spend some time alone outside while staying safe. While you might not think to do activities like these in your regular everyday life, giving them a try now could expand your horizons and spur on creativity and productivity in ways you didn’t expect.
Skill Up If You Have The Time
Another strategy for helping yourself get out of a productivity rut is to take this time as an opportunity to expand your skillset. While the COVID-19 pandemic is stopping many people from working and living their lives normally, these strange times can also present you with a chance to take the leap into educating yourself and acquiring some skills that might be useful once this is all over.
Maybe you always wanted to open up your own business and make sure that it is successful. Well, now is a fantastic time to read up on how to start your own business or even enroll in some online business courses that could help you get things rolling. After this is all said and done, there will be countless openings in the market for new businesses and it wouldn’t hurt if you took advantage and tried to make the best of a bad situation.
There is no time like the present when it comes to preparing for your future. If you want to feel a sense of productivity again that will extend far into the future, consider looking into what it takes to become a data scientist and ensure that you’ll be a high-value potential employee in the coming months and years.
Social isolation can take its toll on your creativity and productivity, but it doesn’t have to. You are the captain of your own ship and you can choose to make the best with what you’ve got on hand, put yourself out there and try something new, or work on yourself in preparation for when this crisis is over. No one is stopping you, so get yourself started.
