All throughout this school year and the beginning of last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every single aspect of daily life.

One of the most common phenomena experienced by most people during this time is boredom, stress, and anxiety. According to BBC News, about two thirds of the population ages sixteen to sixty-nine is reported to be experiencing higher levels of boredom, anxiety, and stress after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Taking this into account, there are many things and activities you can do throughout the duration of this pandemic to keep you and your mental wellness in check. Activities like watching movies, watching tv shows, reading books, exercising, drawing, painting, learning a new language, listening to your favorite tunes, or taking a stroll at your local park can all reduce boredom levels, stress levels, and anxiety levels.

Watching digital entertainment, like watching a TV show or watching a movie, and reading literature, like reading a book or reading a poem, can reduce your stress levels, boredom levels, and anxiety levels. According to lifehack.org, watching a TV program aids in social surrogacy and expands an individual’s mind to expand their knowledge on all sorts of things ranging from general knowledge, to cultures, and languages. Educational programs, brought by educational channels, can expand and broaden an individual’s knowledge, however, the amount of screen time should be taken in moderation since watching more than three hours of screen time or binge watching can cause a plethora of problems like health problems, behavioral problems, and difficulty falling asleep.

However on the other hand, reading a book hosts a variety of benefits. According to Healthline, reading a book has been shown to improve vocabulary, prevent cognitive decline, reduce stress levels, pave the way for a good night slumber, decrease depression like symptoms, improve brain connectivity, lower blood pressure, and a lower heart rate. Taking all of this data into mind, you might want to read a book or watch an hour or two can help you reduce your stress levels. 

Another great and awesome way to reduce anxiety and stress levels during this pandemic is to go do some form of exercise. Exercise does not have to be something that is too hard to do. Actually, there are a plethora of exercises to choose from, ranging from physical, mental, and even breathing. Depending on the kind of physical exercise and how the exercise is performed, physical activity brings lots of benefits for physical health and mental wellbeing. According to an article published by the CDC, constant physical activity promotes learning, judgement skills, better thinking, reduces the risk of depression, anxiety, and helps you have a good night’s sleep.

 In the long term, physical exercise reduces your risk of developing any mental diseases like dementia; lowers the risk for heart disease; lowers the risk for a stroke; lowers the risk of attaining type 2 diabetes; lowers the risk of bladder, breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, lung, and stomach cancers; keeps your body at a healthy weight; improves your bone density, which prevents the acquisition of osteoporosis; and overall improves your balance and coordination. On the other hand, there are mental exercises, like figuring out a puzzle, that offer various benefits to the body as well.

In an article published by Baylor College of Medicine, figuring out jigsaw puzzles help with improving visual-spatial reasoning, creativity, productivity, and cognition. Completing breathing exercises has also been shown to be one of the best methods to reduce stress levels and tension levels, according to the University of Michigan Medicine. Also, listening to an individual’s favorite jams and tunes have been proven to elevate mood, reduce stress, curb depression out of the way, manage pain, ease the feeling of emotional and physical pain, eat less when soft background music is played, and increase your overall performance during exercise according to North Shore University Health System.

Ever since the pandemic has started, the daily lives of individuals has been something out of the ordinary. Activities like going to the store, eating in at a restaurant, and going to entertainment establishments are now limited if not mostly restricted. The number of people that stay at home during the lockdown is now more than ever. Having no access to recreation activities, people are starting to get bored, highly stressed, and anxious. However, watching tv show or tv series, reading a book, exercising in any form, and listening to music may help with reducing those high stress levels, anxiety levels, and boredom levels.