{"id":42299,"date":"2020-09-24T07:46:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=42299"},"modified":"2020-09-23T12:48:27","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T16:48:27","slug":"my-favourite-screen-free-activities-to-decompress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2020\/09\/24\/my-favourite-screen-free-activities-to-decompress\/","title":{"rendered":"My Favourite Screen-Free Activities to Decompress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With all my lectures and meetings being online now, it\u2019s definitely fair to say that I\u2019m spending way too much time looking at a screen! I can really feel the effects of this\u2014I\u2019m super exhausted by the end of the day, my eyes hurt a lot, and I have trouble focusing and staying motivated. Inspired by Olive\u2019s recent blog about eye strain<\/a>, I thought I\u2019d write this week about my favourite screen-free activities. These have been so essential to decompress after long days of online school\u2014Netflix doesn\u2019t feel quite as good anymore!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cooking<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I'm already a huge fan of cooking, so I know this year I'm going to take extra time to cook and decompress. Not only does cooking allow me to look after my body, but I can take that much needed break from looking at a screen. Tonight for dinner, I made roasted chickpeas and collard greens fried with onions and garlic! It was simple and easy, but actually so good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cleaning and redecorating<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also found that tasks like cleaning my room\u2014which usually got tossed aside for Netflix\u2014 are now super appealing. In addition to my usual cleaning tasks, I\u2019ve been redecorating my room, moving around furniture, and going through storage spaces in my house to see what old things I can dig up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercising<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For when I\u2019m feeling really tired, a quick walk or run around my neighbourhood has been doing wonders for making me feel energized and rejuvenated. I also have a yoga mat (but a carpet works too!) which I love doing some simple yoga moves<\/a> on to stretch and relax. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basically me! Creds: Giphy.com<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Exploring new neighbourhoods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I\u2019m feeling especially adventurous, I\u2019ll go on a walk or a run to a completely different neighbourhood! I've found this to be a great way to exercise, but also get out of my comfort zone and explore a completely new area of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of my favourite cafes which I found exploring in Little Italy (picture taken pre-Covid)!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meditating<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though I\u2019ve never been a meditation person, I\u2019ve been really getting into it lately. Closing my eyes and meditating for 10-15 minutes has helped me restart my brain, feel less anxious, and centred me in the present moment. If you\u2019re looking to get started meditating for the first time, I recommend U of T Student Life's Mindful Moments workshops<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I\u2019m craving the ease of consuming visual content, but can\u2019t handle a screen, I\u2019ve definitely been turning to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Here's a playlist<\/a> of some of the songs I've been listening to currently:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Journalling and planning<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also been taking the additional time to really plan out my weeks on paper. Though I haven\u2019t yet, I\u2019m definitely going to start bullet-journalling<\/a>. I\u2019m hoping this will encourage me to spend lots of time planning online-school every month and help me get creative designing my journal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s been your go-to off-line activity? Let me know in the comments below! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n
\nWith all my lectures and meetings being online now, it\u2019s definitely fair to say that I\u2019m spending way too much time looking at a screen! I can really feel the effects of this\u2014I\u2019m super exhausted by the end of the…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “My Favourite Screen-Free Activities to Decompress”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Continue reading “My Favourite Screen-Free Activities to Decompress”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":374,"featured_media":42300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7204,62,1,58,66,82],"tags":[1849,35540,259,35542,2214,6482,35541,571],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42299"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42314,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42299\/revisions\/42314"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}