9 Productive Things to do in Lockdown - that aren't "learning a new language"

When lockdown started and I was (luckily) furloughed from my job, I started googling loads of productive things I could do with my new-found time. Since graduating nearly two years ago in the creative sector, I'm always looking for new ways to build upon my skills and make myself more employable for my "dream job".

After googling "productive things to do in lockdown" I stumbled across a load of web pages scattered with ads down the side bars, who clearly jumped at the chance to produce these articles because of course; people like me would be searching for ideas.

Some of their suggestions included things like: join an online choir, learn how to cook or learn a new language. In no way am I bashing these ideas, don't get me wrong, if you want to download duo-lingo and have a go at Russian (no digs to my lovely friend Izzie, who is doing exactly that), but for me it wasn't exactly the type of info I wanted to have suggested as a "creative" person.

Side note: Okay, don't come for me for posting something like this kinda late...I know its June. But, after the past two months I ended up creating my own list of productive things to do during lockdown (yes, I had to think for myself). Now that I've completed most of them, I thought I'd share them as inpso for others. If you hadn't guessed already, it doesn't involve stuff like learning to make mocktails.

(I understand the creative industry is very diverse, so not all of these will be relevant to everyone, but I have tried to make these applicable to as many niches as possible).

#1 UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE

When I say update, I don't just mean any software that you might need updating on your laptop like Adobe Creative Suite etc., but also any professional profiles you might have. Is your LinkedIn up to date with you relevant experiences? Do you want to include short summaries about what your previous roles involved? Does your profile picture look professional or is it a zoomed in grainy selfie that others were clearly cropped out of? (If it is, then I suggest you re-take it, I did because mine was exactly that). This is also a great time to ask people to take a minute to send you a positive recommendation which will show on your profile, think about who to ask; collegues/someone you studied with/someone you managed/uni lecturers.

It doesn't stop at LinkedIn...The Dots is pretty much a creative version, so if you haven't set up a profile on there, I'd suggest to do so. The Dots also allows you to add "projects" where you can showcase your visual work.

Other platforms like Behance for designers or IMBD for film makers and more (I could be here all day), make sure they're all up to date with your most recent work and everything looks polished and professional.

#2 NETWORK & COLLABORATE

It's so easy now to make new connections and reach out to people via social platforms. Look up companies you'd like to work for, see who works for them and send them a message. At this time, people are more likely to reply because a lot of people are working from home or furloughed. Look at it as Instagram stalking but via LinkedIn and other work-based platforms.

If you get a reply, then ask if you could meet up for a coffee/zoom call (dependent on the whole pandemic status) and talk about the industry you're in and whether they have an advice they could give you.

Collaborating is also another way of mashing together networking whilst producing work for you own portfolio - it's a win win. The Dots is really good for this, during lockdown they have created an "Ask a question" section, where you can ask to collaborate with other creatives on pretty much anything.

#3 CREATE A WEBSITE OR A BLOG

This doesn't have to be a personal website with your portfolio, as to be honest, you don't reaaally need to have a website to showcase your portfolio anymore with the amount of platforms already out there. With that being said, you could create a website or a blog that are just talking about stuff you like. It really that simple.

There are many website and blog builders to choose from like Wordpress, if you have the patience but is more flexible in the long run with what you want to do with your site. Squarespace, very simple to use and I personally think they have the most aesthetic looking pages to choose from. Wix, Go Daddy and more.

(Just note after researching them for them, you will get a Squarespace ad before e v e r y Youtube video you play for months after).

Having something like this to talk about in interviews shows that you have a "side project" that you're genuinely passionate about.

#4 LEARN A NEW SOFTWARE

This one might sound a bit predictable, but learning a new software can be really useful (even if you learn just the basics).

For starters, I feel like every creative should know how to use Adobe Photoshop. There are 7 day/1 month trials for a lot of software out there, so give some a go and see how you get on with them, just check how many GB of RAM you have on your device, because a lagging laptop is really not fun.

There are endless Youtube tutorials and forums on pretty much every software out there so you don't need to pay for lessons to learn.

#5 UNSUBSCRIBE FROM EMAILS

I've seen this one mentioned on other people's lists, and honestly I think it's a really good one.

For the past five months or so I keep getting emails from a man called Barry asking me to RSVP to his cycling classes. I have no idea who Barry is or how he got my address, but we parted ways earlier this month when I finally unsubscribed from his emails.

Unsubscribing from random emails seems a bit of a chore even though it's really easy to do and take literally two clicks. Just set aside fifteen minutes and see how many you can get through, it makes a big difference to your inbox and is actually quite satisfying. Plus, important emails can get lost if they're surrounded by 10% cat food deals.

Also, another thing; have a look at what photo your using for your emails (if you use one that is), and see if it's professional. Whilst we're on the subject, make sure your email address isn't something like [email protected] if you're using it for business...

#6 ORGANISE DESKTOP FILES

If you've seen the Adobe ad of this girl stressing over her files named "Final1", "Finallll", "FINALTHISONE", "FINALFINAL", and you relate, then you probably need to organise your desktop files.

A bit like unsubscribing from emails, this one is also really satisfying when done. Make clear named folders and pop your files into the ones they belong to. Also, going through images that you don't need anymore really makes it easier to find what you're looking for when working on projects.

#7 COMPLETE AN ONLINE COURSE

See I used the word "complete" and not "start", because trust me, these courses are easy to abandon half way through if you don't dedicate a certain amount of time a day to them.

At the start of lockdown I made the mistake of paying my hard earned money for two online courses through Reed (www.reed.co.uk/courses) which were around £15 each, one of them being a digital marketing course. It's not breaking the bank, but I found Google Digital Garage (https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage) do a digital marketing course that is much more up-to-date and broken down into 4 minute videos.

If there's a specific subject you constantly see mentioned in a job description (e.g. Google Analytics), or you just fancy learning about a different industry, an online course is going to give you more knowledge, and knowledge is power, people.

#8 BACK UP FILES ONTO AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

My ultimate fear whilst at uni was losing all my work. Sure, sometimes a programme crashes as you lose the most recent edit that you were just working on, but your whole portfolio is a different story.

Buy an external hard drive that you can regularly back up your files onto. You can buy some affordable ones on Amazon, or if you want to invest into something a bit more spenny but have 2 years guarantee, you may want to buy one from somewhere like Currys. (Check how much GBPS you'll need too).

#9 CHILL OUT

Just thought I'd add this one in here, because taking care of yourself is also a form of productivity :) *turns on Netflix*