Now most of us are compelled to stay home during the various government lockdowns, it seems to be the perfect opportunity to finally pick up that one project you’ve been postponing for months. Perhaps you want to pick up a new programming language? Or maybe brush up your French, which you’ve spent so much time on in high school but has faded away over time? Here are five ways to keep yourself busy during lockdown, and get smarter at the same time.

Try out some prototyping tools

In our blog about prototyping tools we already gave you an insight in some prototyping tools, and right now might be the best timing to try them out and see what tool works best for you. These tools are either free, or have trial versions.  

• InVision
• MarvelApp
• Figma

Learn a language

It’s never too late to begin learning an entirely new language, especially when there are so many applications that can help you with it. Whether you already have a basis of understanding or are coming in as a newbie, these apps offer courses that are tailored to your level of skills and experience. So, when all this is over, you’re ready to travel the world and show off your newly learned skills.  

• Duolingo
• Lingvist (offers the entire curriculum for free until July 31)
• Babbel

Become a code master

This might be the best moment to finally start that programming course you’ve been talking about with your colleagues for months now. As a rookie, the internet is probably one of the best places to start your journey in coding, as there’s a wide range of websites and web apps that help you start from scratch. Or perhaps you’re already familiar with some languages, but want to broaden your horizon by diving into an entirely new language. No matter what stage you are in, these websites are here to guide you towards becoming a full stack developer:  

• Codecademy
• Pluralsight
• Datacamp

Dive into the basics of digital marketing

Google’s Digital Garage temporarily has a very alluring offer on one of their Digital Marketing courses. “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing” is a certified 40-hour course in which you learn the basics of digital marketing in 26 modules. You can pick your own pace and decide yourself in what order you go through your modules. When you finish the entire course you receive a recognized certification that you can use to boost your CV and grow your career. Best of all? It’s all free! So there’s nothing holding you back to become a digital marketing pro.

Take a break from your screens with educational podcasts

All that working from home probably requires you to sit in front of your computer screen for a significant amount of hours. Perhaps it’s a good idea to put Netflix on pause tonight and take a break from all your bright screens. With educational podcasts you can give your eyes some rest, and learn great new things at the same time.  

• Adobe Wireframe Podcast
• How I Built This with Guy Raz: NPR
• You Are Not So Smart

Read yourself smart

In case you want to take a break from all electronic devices and gadgets in general, reading a book will definitely do the trick. Maybe it’s time again to re-read your complete collection of the Harry Potter series, which are disappearing under a layer of dust in your bookcase. Or you can take advantage of the situation and invest in your future with some inspirational self-help books on becoming more productive and improving your business strategies with the fundamentals of working [Agile in Lean Startups](link to Agile/lean/scrum blog) .
 

• Eat That Frog: 21 Great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time
  • Brian Tracy
• Lean Analytics
  • Alistair Croll, Benjamin Yoskovitz
• The Lean Startup
  • Eric Ries

In case you’re more into digital blogs than books and already checked your go-to websites, take a dive into our Lizard Global Blogs and sharpen your knowledge on topics like UI/UX design, Design Thinking, prototyping, Digital Marketing, and much more!