No commute? - Here's some things that will keep you entertained during lockdown

We're all being told to stay at home - from online gym and dance classes, to free guitar lessons and cookery lessons, there's so much to keep us smiling.

Gone are the days of the commute for most people. Now more than ever before we get some of our own personal time back, with plenty of tools out there to help us up-skill, get connected and stay entertained, what will we do with our time? It’s in our nature to be curious and positive, so here are some activities and brands that have sparked our imagination...

At Mediablaze we realise there is a lot of doom and gloom getting plenty of screen time at present. So as we head into week three of working from home, we have decided to throw out the bad-itude and keep a positive attitude going forward. Glass half full, silver-lining and all that. 

One of the perks of working from home is that we have said farewell to the long commute. In my instance I get back two extra hours everyday. That’s 10 extra hours a week! My word, the possibilities are endless. What will we do with all of this time?

Now, I know what you’re thinking... “that’s a few extra hours of sleep or at least four episodes of ‘Friends’ I could be rewatching.” I get it, and while I would love to watch Ross yell ‘Pivot’ for the 100th time or sing along to ‘Smelly Cat’ again, I was thinking it might be time for us to find new things to do. Whether it’s learning a new skill, start a new hobby or even dare I say it… enter the world of TikTok.

Music Escapism

So many brands have jumped on the bandwagon - producing content that will entertain people while they are stuck indoors for the foreseeable future. Guitar brand Fender now offers free guitar, bass and ukulele lessons online so it could be time for your guitar skills to progress further than Smoke on the Water…

Staying on the music note (pardon the pun) one of the things we will miss most with social distancing is going to concerts, festivals and gigs! The joy of live music will be lost… or so we thought… Many musicians are using Instagram live to host virtual concerts in their homes, uniting the whole world through these intimate shows for an hour or so. The Global Citizen movement has created the ‘Together At Home’ concert series  where musicians including John Legend, Niall Horan, Hozier and many more perform some of their hits from their home to yours. The experience is way more personal as they take requests on Instagram live and interact with fans through the chat. Plus no queues for the bars or loos!

Get ripped like an inmate!

The other thought I had was if we do make it out of this by Summer, I will be attending my sister's wedding! If I choose to hibernate and eat all the Sour Cream and Chives Pringles on the couch all day my body may not be wedding ready (gasp). So, while we are imprisoning ourselves in our homes why not get ripped like an inmate! 

Loads of PT’s and gyms have jumped onboard the ‘at home workout’ train and it’s great to be helping W3 Club create ‘At Home’ content with their gym team. I have been using the free version of FIIT  which is a fitness app that has actually been around since pre-rona but there is so much choice out there at the moment. Gyms such as 1Rebel are live streaming workouts with their PT’s everyday using Instagram live including a virtual class schedule. Fitness influencers are doing the same thing using Instagram stories. Usually, I find their stories far too intimidating mainly because of all the fancy machines they use in the gym but now, watching them use only what they have in their homes, many of their workouts seem far more achievable. #Shredding4TheWedding🤷🏼‍♀️

Virtually working out with my sister all the way in South Africa!

‘Don't want none unless you got buns, hun’

Foodie content has really stepped up its game now that everyone has more time. Instead of the classic overly styled static images of peoples meals we are used to on social media, people have started really going to town showing how all of their meals are made using Instagram stories. Cooking and baking is a great skill to have a little fun with now that we have extra time (if you can get all the ingredients!) Bread Ahead are live streaming baking tutorials on instagram and their doughnuts are to die for. Give their tutorials a try.

‘Taming The Beast... TikTok’

Finally the social media beast, otherwise known as TikTok can provide hours of entertainment… no really… falling into a TikTok hole is a real two hour virtual adventure. 

I have been a tentative user of the app mainly because I don’t understand how everyone on it can dance and sing so well…seriously how? also how do they do their make-up like that?(maybe another thing I can learn with my extra time!) But being stuck in this 4-wall box has got me feeling all kinds of confidence that I can learn one of these dances or at least make some sort of piece of content. So here is my first attempt at TikTok:

@realitycurator First TikTok for a laugh!♬ original sound - aevans74

This virus may be able to take our regular freedoms but we can’t let it take all of our fun. There has never been a better opportunity to up-skill, and digital content has never been so necessary or more creative! So let’s take this opportunity to learn, connect, teach and have a bit of fun.

Talk to the content marketing specialists

Are you ready to explore more creative and effective ways to communicate with your customers? Get in touch with Alan Grove, creative director at Mediablaze and our specialist team to talk about how we can partner with you to supercharge your content marketing in 2020.