10 New Things You Can Learn From Home
We all have certain things we have always been particularly good at and may have done since childhood, like art, cooking or fixing things. But as we age, we become painfully aware of our shortcomings, and we decide we’re going to fix ourselves, take up some hobbies or learn new things. However, life gets in the way and it almost never goes according to our original plans.
Now, with everyone stuck inside due to quarantine and social distancing, this is the perfect time to get to things you weren’t able to do before. Here are ten things you can learn from home!
1. Learn to Cook
If you’re anything like me and have almost burnt the house down trying to make yourself some dinner on multiple occasions, this may be the best time to fix that. With so many recipe sites and cooking skill how-to videos online, it’s a surprise that everyone isn’t a master chef at this point. There are so many simple things you can easily learn from home that can vastly improve your culinary skillset really quickly.
Let me clarify, instant ramen does NOT count as cooking.
If you’re not a big fan of the kitchen, have a few low-effort dishes in your repertoire you feel confident whipping up. Even if it is just homemade macaroni and cheese, the ability to cook a meal and eat it is a necessary life skill—it’ll save you when your favorite takeout restaurant is closed for a holiday, there’s no time to go to the store, or in the midst of a global pandemic.
2. Learn to Crochet
There’s a common misconception that yarn crafts are only for grandmas. Maybe you have a collection of knitted dishcloths sitting in a kitchen drawer or hand-me-downs that have passed through the family for decades. While everyone appreciates grandma’s lovingly knitted or crocheted gifts, they’re often relegated to the closet, never to be used (at least in my experience – sorry grandma!)
I used to think this way. My grandma tried to teach me to crochet when I was younger, but I couldn’t get into it, nor was my grandma the best teacher on the planet. My ten-year-old self didn’t see the point of learning something that surely wouldn’t help me as I got older.
Fast forward about eight years or so and here I am, writing about the relevance of yarn crafting. If you had asked me six months ago what I’d be doing when I was getting out of high school, I don’t think I would have thought “writing about knitting and crochet.”
Anyways, with all this extra time on my hands, I took up crocheting on my own terms and was able to figure it out with the help of various tutorials on YouTube. I’ll absolutely admit it. Now it’s an amazing hobby I was able to learn from home.
3. Learn to Code
We love technology, and we love it more when we can make it do pretty much whatever we want. Learning to code is something most of us life hackers aspire to do at one point or another, as it’s not only a great way to create cool apps and tools that we want to use, but it’s also an incredibly marketable skill when trying to get a job.
Most importantly, though: have a project you want to work on. Coding lessons can be really boring if you aren’t working toward something, so a goal project—even a simple one—can really help you out.
The Odin Project is an open-source project that pulls from curriculums all across the web to give you the tools it requires to become an employed web developer, including a portfolio of projects on Github. The enterprise is named for the curiosity for new knowledge. If you are curious about a career in computers, this course promises to take you through to the other (employable skilled) side in about 1000 hours.
4. Learn a New Language
When we ask ourselves which skills we really wanted to learn, a new language is where it’s at, or at least it’s close to the top of many peoples’ lists. Fortunately for you, this newfound time to learn at home offers a way to all but master a new language in a short period of time by teaching yourself at home. You’ll still have to work hard and put in the minutes every day, but you can come out speaking fluently in about half of a year.
Of course, apps like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone make learning a new language easy, even if you’re just trying to learn some new phrases for an upcoming trip. Learning a new foreign language can provide a number of amazing results in your life.
5. Learn to Play an Instrument
Whether you already know how to play an instrument and want to learn something new or are musically inept, you’ll find plenty of resources online to help you teach yourself to play just about anything. If the guitar is your thing, you’re in luck as you’d be hard-pressed to not find online lessons. Making it easy to learn from home.
The internet can also teach you piano, drums and even orchestral instruments like the flute and violin. Just like with repair skills, you can find a lot of how-to videos on both YouTube.
In addition to the instrument, you’re also going to want to learn a little music theory. We recommend this easy-to-understand resource to get you started. When you’re starting to get good, you can put together a home recording studio on the cheap to start capturing your talent and sharing it with others.
6. Learn A Form of Art
Although it often won’t earn you the big bucks, artistic skills are highly desired because they provide you with the technical abilities required to create something beautiful. You’re going to have to find your own inspiration and subject matter, but the skill you’ll need is really just a matter of technical aptitude and practice.
Picking up a book of anatomy and drawing different bones and muscles will teach you how to draw people. Drawing grids over photographs can show you a basic perspective. Obviously, it isn’t as simple as that, but focusing on learning to draw one simple thing, like the petals of a flower or the human hand, will help you learn how it works and get in a reasonable amount of practice. When you’re ready to move on from the basics and start illustrating on your computer, check out our digital painting lessons. For those of you interested in photography, we have lessons for you, too.
Whatever you’re looking to learn, just set aside 15-30 minutes every day to practice a very small part of that skill. It’ll take a while to teach yourself how to draw, paint, take better photos, make hamburger sculptures out of clay or whatever it is you want to do, but breaking the daunting task into pieces and practicing each part slowly will do the trick. Plus, it’s really nice to say that you learned something amazing from home.
7. Learn the Basics of Makeup
For those who study, practice and love makeup, sharing their work online allows them to showcase their artistry! For someone new to makeup, reading makeup blogs with photos and step-by-step guidelines is a fabulous way to get a sense of classic looks.
Makeup tutorials will show you how each look is created along with what the final outcome should look like. Keep in mind that reading blogs is no substitute for proper makeup training. The guru guiding you probably isn’t cycling through all the different variations in eye shapes to show you how to do makeup on a professional level. But it is an excellent way to give yourself an overview of different looks and products, as well as allow you to kill time and learn something new at home!
But this is all quite far into the future. For now, after deciding the direction you want to take, you’ll have to have the perfect makeup kit to practice your skills. Airbrush makeup artists will need an airbrush gun, compressor, and airbrush makeup.
Meanwhile, a traditional makeup artist will need a roll of soft makeup brushes and cream and powder makeup. The products you purchase should correspond with the area of makeup artistry you want to enter. If you’re not sure, we recommend starting with a traditional makeup course and building on those skills before going into specialty makeup services!
8. Learn Yoga
Yoga is a balanced practice of physical exercise, breathing control and meditation that can reduce psychosocial distress as well as improve cardiovascular and cognitive function. Yoga may prove to be a practical adjunct to a healthy lifestyle, according to research.
There is a need for simple, easy treatment to alleviate the burden on health care systems caused by a variety of common ailments and conditions. Yoga is among the top ten complementary and alternative medicine therapies, and the evidence supports its effectiveness.
Anxiety, sleep disorders, ADHD, depression, pain and stress symptoms can be helped by learning yoga techniques. Several recent studies have documented the amazing benefits of regular yoga practice on health, which occurs over a relatively short time period.
9. Learn Photography
Photography has become so popular, mainly because of the inclusion of cameras on mobile phones, so it’s more difficult for your photos to be noticed. But, if you learn a little more about photography your photos will be more likely to stand out from the crowd.
Your life is full of gadgets and equipment that can be challenging to learn to use really well. Learning to use your camera will make your photography so much more enjoyable. Photography is therapy. Picking up your camera, making time to take photos, can be a wonderful break from the busy pace of your daily life.
Committing even a small amount of time regularly to learn more about photography will help you enjoy the creative process of image-making. It will help overcome frustrations you may have because you don’t understand your camera well enough. As you study you will find that your creative ideas and expression will come more naturally. And, as you know and understand more and begin to relax when you have your camera in your hands, you will find a personal groove and means of expression that will be unique to you.
10. Learn Feng Shui
Feng shui, also known as Chinese geomancy, is a traditional practice originating from ancient China, which claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term feng shui literally translates as “wind-water” in English.
Traditional Feng Shui incorporates BaZi or Four Pillars of Destiny, which is another layer of discipline that examines your birthday to understand your personal luck cycles. When you understand the luck cycles of the people inhabiting the space, you can use this information to prioritize the Feng Shui of the home or office. In this regard, it makes for a more powerful and comprehensive assessment that merges the energies of both people and space.
When you learn Feng Shui, you will learn to examine your life from the inside out and outside in, which is a beautiful and tender way of encouraging you to develop a deeper sense of gratitude for all the lessons and blessings in life. And because Feng Shui also includes the consideration for time, people, and space, it enforces the idea to stay connected with the present moment, to appreciate all things, and to understand the network of the energies we receive and put out.
