SarahDo Everything From Home
Updated: Apr 2, 2020
Work from home is everywhere nowadays. We get it, it’s novel to most, and it’s probably pretty confusing having to navigate remote work so suddenly. But with how everything is progressing in the world, it seems like most of us are going to be doing a lot more than just working from home.
So instead of a typical “This is how to be more productive working from home” article, we’ve gone for a more holistic approach. Here’s how you can do everything from home, links inclusive, tried and tested by the Breathe team.
1. Learn Something New
We don’t know about you, but at Breathe, we want at least try to be a little productive with all this newfound time we’ve got on our hands.
250 free Ivy League courses if you feel like reliving your uni days and picking up something new. (psst: They’ve got a course for AI and machine learning that may be useful considering these were listed as the top 2 in-demand skills to learn in 2020)
Learn a new programming language at Hackerrank and codewars
Improve your Mother Tongue (or learn French) at Duolingo
2. Work on Your Portfolio
Following the thread of being productive, we’re pretty sure everyone’s anxious about possible layoffs and how to remain employable. Hopefully, this will help you if you’re looking to zhuzh up your portfolio. One of the easiest things? Update it with your latest and greatest works. But we’re also seeing more and more companies asking if you’ve got contributions on Github, so that may be a platform you’d want to explore as well.
3. Meditate
Not gonna lie, being productive is a lot of work. Plus with all the gloom and doom going around now, taking some time to relax is going to do wonders for your mental health (like it did for ours). What sold us on meditation was that experts have found that it’s beneficial for reducing stress, anxiety, insomnia and depression, which sounds pretty spot on for what we need at this point.
Headspace and Calm are some of the best options, but can get pretty expensive
Smiling Mind and Insight Time are great free options if you just want to try things out
4. Spend Some Time With Your Friends
Within the means of social distancing of course, so let's not do anything drastic like inviting them over to your place, or going out for drinks. But even the most introverted introvert gets tired of being alone sometimes right?
Just to hang,
Zoom and Google hangouts are great options for a virtual meet-up
Houseparty is good too if the other two brings up work PTSD
NetflixParty lets you sync up your shows for virtual netflix and chilling
For the Gamers
Call of Duty Warzone is free to play!
World of Warcraft is having a 100% XP event till 20th April, so it’s a great time to level a new character, or just catch up.
Niantic is updating their games with more content and so you can play remotely (for Pokemon GO)
BONUS: Plague Inc now lets you save the world from a pandemic instead of destroy it
5. Help Out Those In Need
Lots of people have things pretty bad now, so if you have the capability to help and want to do some good, check out SgUnited for how you can help the community. These aren’t always donation based, and to be fair, some of them do involve you having to leave the house.
6. Get In (Better) Shape
Okay yes we know the gyms are closed AND Decathalon’s out of gym equipment, but that doesn’t mean your fitness goals have to be put on hold. There are lots of things you can do at home to maintain your progress.
Chris Hemsworth’s Centr is having a 6 week free trial
Natacha Oceane’s Home. Reload is on 25% off for as long as social distancing is a thing
Try some yoga for free at CorepowerYoga
Live daily workouts by Barry’s that would kick your butt
7. Get Cooking
We’re lucky that in Singapore, shelves at the supermarkets are -mostly- filled. And with all the extra time you’ve got at home, may as well learn a new dish or two right?
For those of you feeling a bit atas, here are some recipes from gourmet chefs
Some pantry staple recipes if you can’t go out to get fresh groceries
Eatwhattonight is great for local foods and treats
8. Travel
Anybody else’s travel plans get unceremoniously cancelled? While we can’t do much about that with Covid-19 the lockdowns happening around, lots of tourist attractions are starting to offer virtual tours if you’re bored of wanderlusting out your window.
Museums and exhibitions you can visit include
You can also check out wonders and places like
Plus, maybe it’ll give you some inspiration on where to go after Covid-19’s done. Our recommendations are The Smithsonian and Iceland. But Montery Bay Aquarium is pretty good, and it’s got live cams as well!
9. Spend Time With Your Kids
Sure, it’s great to have some time with your kids, but it can get hard managing and entertaining young children while trying to finish all the work you’ve got. So here are some ideas for you to (hopefully) get you at least a bit of quiet work time.
Bring your kids to the safari
Let them play with some puppies (we won’t judge if you go with them)
Get someone else to tell them a story
Teach them to follow in your footsteps
Let them make their own playdough
So there you have it, your list of things to keep you sane during your stay home notice, or if you’re just trying to stay home as much as possible. If you’re on the search for a new position, remember to check out our tips for job searching during a hiring slowdown.