8 Unexpected Ways to Combat Loneliness (or Boredom) This Lockdown

Lockdown has been hard. I'll say it bluntly. As we spend more time at home and less with our friends, family or work mates, we can start to feel socially disconnected. Lonely even. So this post is here to cover some ways you can combat loneliness and build some meaningful connections.

But first, you're not alone. It's easy to think that you're the only one feeling this way but remember, millions are going through it too.

Cool, let's get into it.

1. VOLUNTEER

Volunteering doesn’t just benefit others but will really help you too- acts of kindness have been shown to massively boost happiness and overall wellbeing.

There are some really cool things you can do, like befriending a child/young person who's in care, helping children in Nurseries to read (who doesn't want to hear a 5 year old lisp their way through a good book?), fundraising, working as an online tutor, youth worker/mentor, or in administration/publicity for a charity. The list goes on. 

It can be fun or a way to boost your CV while you’re having a career gap. Either way, you can research what’s around you and filter based on what you’re looking for, or if you’d like to do it online or in person.

2. WALK OTHER PEOPLE'S DOGS

I just discovered this a few weeks ago on Facebook. Turns out you can walk other people's dogs, it's a genuine thing! 

Not only is this fun but getting outside and being in nature really improves wellbeing- and it's for a good cause too. Some people are busy working from home, elderly or shielding, and so it helps them out. (To be honest with you, I'm a bit scared of dogs, so I tried to pick a small elderly dog so I could outrun it in case of emergency). 

E.g. One website is borrowmydoggy.com- It's £1 per month and they connect you to people in your selected area. If you're outside the UK, find what's nearby or help a neighbour out.

DISCOVERING ONLINE EVENTS AND COMMUNITIES

A lot of the real life in-person events have shifted online. You can still find things like comedy shows, meditations and even bake-alongs. Just knowing there are other people doing the same thing as you at the same time is really powerful.

3. MEETUP APP

Find people like you and where they’ve all gone. Go to www.meetup.com. You can select your interests and it shows you groups and events coming up. The sense of community and regular meet ups can give you something to look forward to.

From book clubs to outdoor football practice, live meditations, dance or art classes and talks on specific topics, you can find some weird and wonderful things. 

4. JOIN A FACEBOOK COMMUNITY OR START A CHALLENGE

Facebook is a bit old school these days, but you’d be surprised what you can find on there. There’s a group search function, so whether you’re looking for fellow photographers, painters, or anything, you name it, you can join a community and follow along with the live events and challenges they post.

There are also challenge specific groups (search: ‘challenges’) and you can find fitness challenges, 10,000 steps a day, sketching daily, eco-friendly challenges, basically anything. Tip: If you’ve narrowed down your interests, search more specifically e.g., Art/Painting challenges.

Hobbie clubs

Note, you can find communities and hobbie clubs outside of Facebook. A quick google search and you’ll see book clubs are still running. If you’re interested in something, why not share the experience with others? There are live events and discussion forums for the most niche things (@Youssef who’s in a discord chat about Ramen, just ramen.) There’s something for everyone.

5. INSTAGRAM LIVES

Refine the people you follow on Instagram. If you’re interested in baking, fitness, psychology, business etc.  then follow people in that area, you’ll find there will be some Instagram lives being done.

E.g. BreadAhead has a weekly live bake-along, they post the ingredients in advance and you show up. This Wednesday they’re making a Valentine’s Day Special Dessert that I can’t pronounce, but maybe you can make it for a special someone. (Haha love yourself).

6. CREATIVE LIVE

One place I just discovered is CreativeLive.com - they have a free live video feed 24/7. You can watch concerts, spoken word, cooking, crafting, live Q&A's from creative icons. So whether you can't sleep at 4 am or you have some time to kill, it's a nice place to be.

(Note-They have paid courses but also free classes in a bunch of categories. For anyone interested I'm interested in listening to 30 Days of Genius- where they interview creative people on their stories, success, failures etc for 30 days. This one's free.)

7. ONLINE COURSES

There’s hundreds of online courses that can provide some structure in lockdown, give you something to work towards or a sense of achievement. You don’t have to pick the course that’s 3,000 hours long and destroys your soul, there are some really short ones too.

Pick a topic that interests you that you think will be fun. There's stuff for beginners, so whether you want to learn to write a poem, do clay-making or  learn more about the justice system, there's something for everyone.

I can vouch for a happiness course called “The Science of Wellbeing” on Coursera, me and my brother tried it. Each week they talk about what really makes us happy and then they give you one small action to take each day that week to improve your happiness levels. It’s fun.

Some popular websites (Coursera, EdX, Open University, Alison, Udemy + many more).

8. OPENING UP

Often, it isn't the number of people in our lives but how connected we feel to them. The act of opening up and sharing how you feel can really shift that. Try it out. Maybe others are going through the same thing as you, or can offer support and comfort. Or maybe, just getting it off your chest can allow you to let go and learn how to move forwards. 

If you don’t feel like you have that safe space in your life, consider speaking to a counsellor or therapist, phoning a helpline or joining a Peer Support Group-  some are available 24 hours a day, e.g. Side by Side is a peer support group recommended by the mental health charity Mind.

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🌟SUMMARY 🌟

There are loads of things out there and support you can access. Don't try to take it in all at once or else it will be overwhelming, just pick one thing you'd like to try out over the next few weeks. You've got this. 

Let me know in the comments if you found it helpful and what you feel like trying out.

So much love and share with friends/family or anyone you think could benefit from this xxx