So you’re cliking around the internet and basically wasting your life.
From scrolling through Reddit to clicking around Facebook, we spend so much time on the internet doing things that can’t, in any way, be classified as productive.
But that’s all about to change!
These productive things to do on the internet can help you use your internet time wisely, even if you’re cooped up inside or stuck in bed and can’t do anything but stare at a screen.
Best tools for Productivity
Don’t want to waste time reading? Check out my favorite resources here:
– this is the best daily planner for productivity and actually getting stuff done
– if you prefer virtual planning, use ClickUp
– struggle with procrastination? This book will change your life
1. Learn a New Language
One of the most productive things to do on the Internet, without even leaving the house, is to start learning a new language.
There are plenty of resources including sites like DuoLingo that will help you learn vocabularly, verb conjugation and informal greetings.
You can practice your listening and reading skills, and when you’re ready to progress to speaking the language, there are plenty of groups to help you learn by videochatting someone who speaks the language fluently.
Sure, the most effective way to learn a language is immersion, but whether you’re planning for your next vacation or just interested in another language and culture, you can get started online.
2. Watch Ted Talks
Ted Talks are some of the best video content online to help you be productive, organize your life, think thoughtfully about the world around you, and much more.
You could spend a whole day binge watching Ted Talks, which is much more productive than posting photos of yourself on Instagram.
The easiest way to do it is from their YouTube channel.
Some are heartwarming stories, some are new ideas, some are life hacks and some are just think pieces to help you get your life on track, but they’re all productive things to do when you’re bored.
3. Organize Your E-Mail Inbox
E-mail is one of the most popular ways we talk to our family, friends, and coworkers, or at least get tons of incoming newsletters from companies we don’t remember signing up for.
Letting your e-mail inbox get so overloaded that you stop answering it is a recipe for disaster, so take the time to organize your inbox and make sure to unsubscribe to any newsletters you don’t want anymore.
This is a fantastic productive thing to do at work when you’re bored.
4. Take an Online Course
The number of things you can learn online is absolutely staggering.
You can search for anything and everything from a site like Udemy, or you can get specific about what you want to learn.
For instance, for people planning a trip to London, you could spend a lot of time digging into my course on visiting London which is filled with 86+ lessons on everything a person visiting London would like to do and needs to know.
You can learn everything from cooking to Zumba to photography to gardening to knitting to acting, the list goes on and on.
Check out our guide to the most interesting things to learn online for the top courses.
5. Start a Money-Making Blog
There’s nothing more fun than making money online and one of the best ways to do it is by making a money-making blog.
You can make a blog about any topic, but keep in mind that one that makes money will be about a topic that helps people, whether that’s to plan a trip, bake a cake, be happier, etc.
Blogs that just talk about your day to day life aren’t as popular anymore in terms of making money, so make sure that you pick a niche and produce lots of helpful content.
You can start a blog in just a few minutes for free on WordPress.com, or you can go the extra mile and set up a self-hosted blog with your own purchased domain if you’re sure you’re going to stick with it.
6. Increase Your Vocabulary
Whether you want to help your teenager study for the SAT or you’re just really wanting to sound a bit more educated in your day to day life, there are plenty of games you can play online to increase your vocabularly.
From flashcard type games or more intense computer games, you can expand your vocabulary and learn new words instead of scrolling around the Internet.
It might not be at the top of your list, but it’s a good thing to do when you have nothing else to do.
7. Go for a Google Maps Walk
Want to “get outside” but can’t actually see the world around you?
Take a walk via Google Maps streetview to wherever in the world you want to go.
This is a great idea when planning for an upcoming trip or vacation.
You can walk all the way around where your hotel or AirBnb is, check the route from your hotel to the major attractions, or just go ahead and and get familiar with places that you might want to visit.
8. Hold a Zoom Meeting
Zoom is one of the best online meeting websites where you can have up to 100 people on a free video call, and using it is one of my best working from home tips.
It’s so much easier to use than Skype, and if you need to either meet with someone for an important meeting or want to just hangout with your friends over video chat, get a Zoom account and get started.
This is also helpful if you want to get things done but need someone to keep you accountable who is also working at the same time.
Just keep your video cams on and check in with each other occasionally to see how you’re doing.
9. Play Games to Donate Rice
One of the coolest websites online is called Free Rice and it helps you improve your language skills while also donating rice to communities who need food.
You can set up an account and keep track of how much you’ve helped donate through the fun games and vocabulary tools.
10. Teach Yourself a New Instrument
If you have an instrument but can’t get out of the house, you can teach yourself an instrument using online resources.
There are courses online to help you learn an instrument, or you can follow someone’s instructions through a YouTube video.
Check out these awesome guitar learning videos and these piano tutorials.
11. Get Graphic Design Work
If you want to practice your graphic design skills, this is something you can do entirely on the internet and computer.
Depending on how good you get at it, you can submit your designs through sites like 99 Designs where people looking for designs including logos and book covers can choose a winning design and work with you to improve it and finish it off.
And, of course, you get paid!
If you want to start small, try designing flyers for local organizations that need them or work with a charity to see their needs.
You can then add these to your portfolio in getting future work.
12. Take Care of Your Budget
Okay, budgeting isn’t fun at all, but it’s one of the most productive things to do on the internet and really helps improve your productivity overall in life.
Use a site like Mint to get a budget figured out and set some savings goals to save up for the future.
It’s really helpful to see what you’re spending and what you’re saving and will help you feel on top of life and your financial life.
13. Increase your Brain Power
Using sites like Lumosity, you can train your brain to keep working at top speed and not letting yourself dumb yourself down with too much Netflix.
These have been shown to be great to maintain your mental sharpness, and you can do it all from the comfort of your computer.
14. Get Your Pictures Organized and Printed Out
Pictures are such a fun part of life, but nowadays they all seem to be on social media sites and on our computers.
Go back to the days of actually printing photos out and putting them up in the house or in scrapbooks.
You can also spend some time going through old photos to make sure that you need 40 copies of the same exact photo of the family just with slightly different poses.
Upload the photos to a site like Snapfish and get them sent to your house in printed form.
15. Talk to a Counselor
There are online counseling services like TalkSpace that you can use to talk to a counselor online if you feel like you need to talk to someone about things that are bothering you but can’t leave the house to go see them in person.
This is a great way for anyone who is slightly reticent to talk to a counselor and prefers text-based counseling to get started.
And in the meantime, quit social media as it’s not helpful if you’re struggling unless you’re using it to connect with others.
