21 Screen-Free Activities to Lift Your Spirits

As we move into February of this new year amidst lockdowns, unemployment, and societal turmoil, it is helpful to find activities that will uplift our spirits and recharge our souls.

However, if we’re honest, that rarely happens when we spend time in front of a screen. Screens usually have the opposite effect – they leave us feeling unsettled and unfulfilled.

So, if you feel that you need to hit “play” on another episode or check Twitter one more time, try one of these instead. The month could move a little faster – or at least more peacefully.

1. Read a book or flip through a magazine
2. Listen to a podcast or audio book
3. Pet your dog/ cat/ hamster/ iguana
A recent study found that petting a dog or cat for ten minutes relieves stress
4. Write a letter or postcard
5. Memorize a favorite poem or speech
My personal favorite is The Gettysburg Address
6. Water your plants
7. Do fifty sit-ups
8. Look wistfully out the window
Like these women depicted by a 17th century Spanish painter
9. Take a walk or go for a run
10. Do some cleaning
11. Cook or bake something
Make the whole house smell like oranges with this moist olive oil cake
12. Knit, crochet, or needlepoint
13. Finish a jigsaw puzzle or crossword
14. Practice your pliés (or squats)
Start with this real time video with New York City Ballet’s Lauren Lovette
15. Do a load of laundry
16. Try out a new hairstyle
17. Paint/ sketch/ doodle/ draw
18. Make a mental list of things you’re grateful for
Peter Lipsett says it takes just seven seconds to regain gratitude
19. Write in your journal or diary
20. Meditate on a passage from the Bible
21. Make your own list of ideas!