My 5 Favorite Things To Do When I’m Alone (Day Nine: Get Inspired By the Neighbors)

I’m ridiculously behind on my assignments for my Blogging 101 course (hello and welcome to the story of my life) but I’m going to try and get caught up and finish the course before my classes start in 11 days!

Five days ago I was reading through posts on my Bloglovin’ feed and came across a wonderful post by Krstn at Beauty Marks! Her post, 5 Things to Do By Yourself, inspired me to write my own post on the subject, so here goes!

Most of my life has been spent alone. That’s not a bad thing so don’t get all sad or anything, it’s just the truth! My dad worked and my mom stayed at home, but while she was reading or catching up on her favorite soap operas I would close myself in my bedroom and just be alone. After my mom passed away my dad was gone a lot either working or dating, so then I really was all alone instead of secluding myself in my bedroom while someone did things elsewhere in the house. When I moved in with Mr. Envoy he’d be gone a lot during the day for work, and there were times throughout the year where he’d be gone on field ops and I wouldn’t hear from him for a few days at a time (think of it like a mini deployment). Anyways, the point of all of this is that I’m no stranger to being alone! In fact, I’m quite comfortable being alone and I think I’m rather good at it.

Disclaimer: When I say I’m alone a lot this just means my time at home and does not include when I’m at school because obviously there are other people around when I have class! :P

I know that being alone can be a big adjustment for a lot of people, especially if they grew up in a busy household where there was always something going on. This is why I wanted to share my 5 favorite things to do when I’m alone so that way you can have some ideas and might start to enjoy your solitude instead of dreading it!

1. Binge watch Netflix – This one is a no-brainer for me. If I’m home alone and don’t quite feel like doing the things that I know I probably should be doing, I turn to Netflix! If you’re home alone and just don’t feel like adulting that day, give it a try. There’s tons of TV shows on there and you can watch episodes back to back with only a slight interruption from Netflix making sure that, yes, you really are sure you want to continue watching every few hours. Trust me, it’ll be the best $7/month you’ve ever spent. And besides, that load of laundry can wait, right?
2. Gaming – I’m sure you know this already, but I am a huge gamer. If I’m home alone and am not feeling the Netflix thing then I will pull up my favorite video game and dive in. Gaming is great because, depending on the genre of game anyway, you can be pulled into a story and forget about what’s going on in your world. Currently my go-to games are Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and The Sims 4. What’s great about some of these games is that you can be sitting at home completely by yourself in just a tshirt and undies and yet still be interacting with other people. When I’m playing these sometimes I forget that I’m home alone because of the social interaction I get! With The Sims I forget I’m home alone too, but that’s because I’m having too much fun creating sims and watching their lives play out in front of me. If you haven’t really tried gaming before, I’d highly recommend it. There’s so many games out there now there’s sure to be something that would interest you! If you aren’t interested in any of the games I mentioned above then be sure to browse through the Steam store, they have loads of games and you might find something that’s right up your alley! :)
3. Reading a book – Reading is a great way to pass the time and is one of my favorite solo activities. There’s just something about snuggling up in some yoga pants and a sweatshirt, finding a comfortable position on your couch and putting your nose into a big, thick book. Just like with video games, reading a book is great because it pulls you into another world. You fall in love with the characters and lose yourself for a while – there’s nothing quite like it! I love doing this with a hot cup of tea when it’s raining outside. ^_^
4. Listening to music too loudly and dancing embarrassingly bad – I usually pair this with tasks that I’ve been trying to procrastinate on, like laundry or cleaning or folding laundry or just being an adult. Putting on my favorite tunes, either from my library or from Pandora, singing along to them and dancing will help adjust my mood and get me ready to be productive! Plus it’s just lots of fun to dance in a way that you know would embarrass anyone who happened to see you and make them pretend like they had never met you in their entire life – but this is why you do it when you’re alone so no one has to run and hide when they see you! ;)
5. Try something new – For me this is usually trying out a new recipe I found on Pinterest, but sometimes I’ll just go for a walk. I haven’t really explored my new neighborhood yet so that’s something I want to try sometime before the semester starts.

What do you think of my list? What do you like to do when you’re alone that I didn’t include? Please leave me a comment and let me know, I spend a lot of time alone so I’d love to have something new to try for #5!

<3 and harp strings,
Kate