The coronavirus pandemic has changed daily habits for everyone across the globe. Many today stay at home as a way to limit the transmission of the virus. Nations have even required businesses to enable work from home configurations. While it’s a bummer for some, it may just be the best time to discover new ways to keep you busy. Here are some of the best things you can do to make your day productive while practicing social distancing:
Start a Watch Party
Get started on that movie bucket list and even enjoy it with your friends. Recently, online traffic of streaming services such as Netflix saw a surge in data usage because of the pandemic. Vox reports that virtual movie nights have now become a ‘thing,’ with Discord and Netflix Party becoming the perfect accomplices for most. With more than a million subscribers now, Netflix Party has become one of the hottest Google Chrome extensions. The extension not only synchronizes the video playing, but it also has a sidebar where you can exchange messages with your friends.
Rediscover Online Gaming
The digital crowd is getting bigger as online gaming has proven itself as the perfect diversion when movement is restricted and events are canceled. Classic video games like the Mario Kart Tour: Grab Mario remains on the top of the list of online games during this time of social distancing. For some who are avid social gamers, their choice of genre has similarly slowly migrated online as operations of casinos have shut down in some states in the USA. Online social gaming has become very popular, leaving many online casino providers the challenge to set themselves apart from the crowd. Lower entry qualifications and higher incentives are now the name of the game.
Case in point, Gala Casino‘s generous welcome bonuses are designed to appeal to the now increasing number of new online players. And indeed, if this is your first time dabbling in an online casino, then choosing one with a welcome bonus is a great place to start, as it will give you momentum as you go forward. A small bonus for any slot game could even be turned into tokens and grant you some free spins. Many games also now reference popular TV shows and films, giving you a new way to interact with your favorite characters. There are lots of adventures to choose from, and you will undoubtedly have fun and stay occupied as you try out the array of games that they offer.
Socialize While Social Distancing
Another way to combat boredom and perhaps loneliness is through virtual group hangouts. After the outbreak of coronavirus, Discord went mainstream all the way. It’s a free application that uses VoIP first designed for video gaming communities. Now it has gained popularity among different groups that crave human interaction. It allows people to start servers that can be private or for invite-only, almost simulating an offline interaction.
For younger people, however, Zoom is the app of choice. While Zoom has been originally designed for work, webinars, and conference calls to coordinate projects, it has now become the answer for our innate need to socialize. This free app can handle multiple live videos simultaneously and is generally considered reliable, as it doesn’t often lag or buffer.
Read, Listen, Learn
It’s the best time to pick up that learning hat again, with popular journals and learning apps offering free services just so people will stay at home. Scribd now offers a 30-day free trial via a special link and JSTOR has just given access to most of its content without the need to register. If you’re currently a university student, the good news is that Coursera just expanded its free online courses to a whopping 3,800. By the time all of this is over, you might just be an expert in new horizons like blockchain and Big Data applications.
This whole trend has transformed a host of applications and technologies to suit the needs of people in quarantine. It’s up to you to take full advantage of these with the extra time on your hands.
