How Learning New Things Can Help You Cope With The Pandemic

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The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected everyone in some way, whether it be financially, mentally or physically. Many individuals have reported feelings of loneliness, difficulty concentrating, changes in sleeping or eating patterns, and the worsening of mental health conditions. This is understandable in a time of crisis, and it is important to know that if you are doing a little or a great deal, you are doing enough. During such circumstances, it is important to take care of your body, take time to unwind, and aim to reduce stress.

In order to reduce stress in particular, good disciplines to implement include setting goals, allowing space and time for creativity, and connecting with others. Learning new things encapsulates all of these suggestions. It introduces direction into your life when you feel like things are out of your control, it allows you to set an achievement that you would like to reach and encourages connections between teachers and learners.

The best part is, you can learn everything and anything that you want. There are countless online learning websites where you can purchase online video classes with a tutor and start your learning journey.

If you want to learn how to do a double pirouette en pointe, you can! If you want to learn about the mutation of biological cells, you can! That is the beauty of learning. It does not just describe math, physics, and history; it can be anything you want it to be. There are no limits on what you can learn.

We all know the benefits of learning. But how can learning new things help you cope with the pandemic?

Increase employability

Refining your skillset and increasing your knowledge about a particular subject allows you to develop your expertise. Employers are always looking for interesting experiences, courses, and projects that people have carried out in their lives. During these unprecedented times when some of us may have a lot of time on our hands, you could use it to gain some extra skills to put on your CV or improve the skills required for your existing career.

Improve your physical health

Again, learning does not have to be sitting at a table reading a book. You can learn everything to do with health, fitness, and sport if you wish to. Online learning platforms offer all kinds of classes such as nutrition, meditation, yoga, dance and strength. These can help ensure that you maintain or kickstart that all-important healthy eating and frequent exercise lifestyle. Studies also show that exercise can help to improve quality and regularity of sleep.

If health problems or pain prevent you from exercising, interestingly, thinking can also burn calories. It has been stated that learning a new instrument can burn up to 200 calories in a day. This burns a similar amount of calories to walking up stairs for 30 minutes.

Feel more connected

A whopping 64% of Americans claim that they made new friends as a result of learning new things. This can be hugely beneficial during a period when feelings of loneliness are not uncommon. Online tutoring involves live calls between a geographically separated teacher and learner, meaning that you can make friends from all over the world. If you participate in frequent (daily or weekly) tutoring calls, it is likely that you will form new connections and make friends during the process of learning.

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Explore creativity

You can learn everything you have ever wanted to learn. You can be creative. There are endless opportunities and you are not restricted in any way. Creativity allows you to express yourself, reduce stress, and unlock feelings of enjoyment. This can be expressed in any way that makes you happy. Baking, painting, or learning a language are just a few of the countless options.

Set goals for yourself

You can direct your achievements towards a particular goal or endpoint, such as to play a particular song on the piano or complete an around the world football trick. This can increase the sense of direction and purpose in your life and also lead to feelings of pride and accomplishment when you finally reach your goal. Setting goals is also a good practice to implement in other areas of life as it can motivate you to learn and develop your knowledge.

During the coronavirus pandemic, it can be easy to feel like you do not have a lot of control in your life. Setting goals and learning new things allows you to take charge of your learning journey and regain some control.

Structure your day

The pandemic forced most of us to stay at home and entertain ourselves following the closures of shops and restaurants. It has been difficult for people to find ways to prevent their boredom, especially for furloughed workers or unemployed individuals.

Creating a schedule and having a structured day can reduce feelings of stress and anxiousness, increase productivity, and ensure that there is time for relaxation. When learning new things, you can plan a particular time of day, duration, and difficulty of the activity or subject, whilst still allowing time to unwind as part of your work-life balance. If you participate in online classes or live tutoring calls, the teacher is likely to set a particular time in which they are free, which you can set aside for learning in your schedule.

Boost your self-confidence and sense of purpose

Learning new skills can boost your confidence and self-esteem. When setting goals, trying new activities, and exploring new subject areas, people tend to realize that they are capable of many more things than they expected. This makes it unsurprising that people who learn everything and practice lifelong learning often report feeling better about themselves on top of an increased sense of purpose and hope. You can too!

Learning has a large number of benefits. We can use these benefits to improve our wellbeing during a time when we really need to.

Whilst we must make sure to look after our bodies, stay connected, take time to relax and stay safe as we all tackle the difficulties of the pandemic, our health and happiness are the most important things in life. Find a topic or activity which makes you happy, learn everything that you can about it and reap the benefits that it can have on your mental and physical health.

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