We’re in the third week of lockdown. It’s a really weird time for everyone. By now, we’re starting to get used to the idea of staying in and finding new ways of doing things. I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve been doing to keep myself occupied and stop myself going stir crazy.

Film night

I have never been into films. I can watch hours and hours of sport but sitting in front of a film for two hours or so has never appealed to me. I’m a bit like Michael Owen. I haven’t been to the cinema since 2008 and even that was a sixth form trip to see a French thriller.

The lockdown and the consequent extra time at home, however, has given me the opportunity to watch the occasional film. Where I live we have a semi-regular film night where we sit and properly watch (no devices allowed) with some snacks. The most recent one we watched was 24 Hour Party People.

Games

What’s going on at the moment can make you feel helpless. The news is relentlessly depressing and there’s no end in sight to the pandemic. I’ve found it really helpful playing games. Games give you something to focus on, some achievable goals (as in you can’t stop the pandemic but you can win that game) and a form of escape.

There are three types of game I’ve been playing since this all started. In my house we’ve been playing games such as Uno and Bananagrams to give us all something to do together of an evening.

I’ve also been playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the PS4. It’s not the sort of game I’d usually play, but it features a massive open world that you can explore and that seems pretty appealing when you can’t really go anywhere in real life at the moment. Some might think it’s daft finding solace in computer games but apparently Salman Rushdie played a lot of Mario when he was in hiding and says it helped him through it.

A few times a week I also play FIFA or GTA with a friend of mine who lives in Cambridgeshire. We talk to each other over a headset while we play so there’s a healthy social aspect to our sessions, even if we are not very good at the games. The video below, for example, is my friend missing the most open of open goals.

A stay-at-home pub

My landlord and I like to go to the pub every now and again, but that’s obviously not possible at the moment so we’ve dedicated Wednesday nights to our very own stay-at-home pub. We’ve called it The Head In Hands.

We sit around the fire, have a couple of drinks and listen to music. Each week the music has a theme. Last week the theme was Brians (don’t ask) and this week it was originals that are less famous than their cover versions. One great example is Gloria Jones, who recorded Tainted Love nearly two decades before Soft Cell had a number one hit with it.

What these themed nights are doing is giving me a way to mark the days of the week instead of allowing them all to blur into one boring mess. They’re keeping me social and broadening my horizons. I recommend everyone give them a try.

Stay safe everyone.