As many of our Clubhouse alumni are practicing physical distancing, working from home and changing lifestyles during the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to share some resources to keep you busy during this time. We have been taking free online classes, learning a new language, and also streaming free Broadway plays!

Take Care of Your Social and Emotional Health

We want to make sure you’re taking care of yourselves during this time. All of this is new and concerning, whether you’re open or closed, we want you all to take some time for yourselves. Along with the resources above, here are some tips for mental wellness in the time of COVID-19, from the blog Active Minds.

Maintain routines as much as possible. Whether you are returning home or participating in online learning from your dorm temporarily, try to maintain your typical schedule throughout the day.

Practice healthy habits and the kinds of self-care that most benefit you. Prioritize getting a healthy amount of sleep, eating well, avoiding alcohol, and moving or exercising regularly.

Avoid crowds – but stay connected. School closures can mean you might find yourself distanced from the people you would normally see on campus. If so, make the effort to stay connected through social media, email, texting, and video calls. Take advantage of new opportunities to see friends and loved ones close-by.

Seek news only from reliable sources, and only in short stints. As with all things, we can find ourselves over-consuming news and updates. Try not to become absorbed in the coverage for long periods of time and find opportunities to appropriately disconnect.

Take breaks to ease your mind and distract yourself when you start to worry. Play a game. Watch a movie. Take a yoga class. Try a meditation app. For more coping skills to consider, visit activeminds.org.

Learn New Skills

Thank you to Independence.edu for this list of learning tools.

Udemy is an online service that offers a vast array of courses on everything from web development to personal development. Want to learn how to play the guitar? Just keep in mind; while the Udemy app itself is free to download, you’ll have to pay for each course you take. Some courses are longer and therefore more expensive than others. The good news is Udemy frequently hosts sales on many of their offerings, allowing you to buy a $100-plus course for as little as ten bucks.

Similar to Udemy, Lynda.com boasts a huge variety of courses in a whole slew of different subject areas, such as video production or software development. The Lynda mobile app likewise gives you the freedom to learn at your own pace, whenever and wherever it’s most convenient for you. Unlike Udemy, however, Lynda’s vast library of courses is offered on a monthly subscription basis, allowing you to take as many courses as you like each month. Not sure if you want to commit to a monthly payment? You can take Lynda for a no-risk, ten-day test drive for free. Some local libraries offer this with your library membership.

Khan Academy is the non-profit brainchild of Sal Khan. Before founding the world-famous organization, Khan was a teacher, entrepreneur, and hedge fund analyst. In 2012 he was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. What’s different about the Khan Academy app when comparing it to services like Udemy or Lynda, however, is that all its courses are offered 100% for free. Like, literally. You can take as many of Khan Academy’s professionally taught courses at absolutely zero cost to you. Most of the organization’s classes focus on more “academic” subjects, such as math, science, and the humanities, though there are some great courses in computer science, too.

Edx.org is a website that allows one to access over 2,500+ free courses from top institutions like Harvard, MIT and Berkeley!

Want to learn a new language? Whether you wish to learn Spanish, French, or one of 23 other available languages from around the world, Duolingo‘s mobile app is a great way to get started. The Duolingo app provides a user-friendly, go-at-your-own-pace system that works well for both beginning and advanced speakers. Using pictures and phrases spoken by native speakers, you’ll be beefing up your language skills faster than you can say, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”

Bandlab is a cross between Garageband, Soundcloud, Github, and a social network. It’s free, works on both iPhone and Android, and in a web browser on a PC or Mac. You can upload existing work, create beats from scratch, “fork” from someone else’s project.

Stay Entertained

Google Arts & Culture Virtual Tour is a great way to take a stroll through a museum, without leaving the comfort of your couch! Travel to the world’s greatest museums with your own personal docent (museum guide), maybe you’ll learn something new about an old favorite!

BroadwayHD.com offers a 7-day free trial to watch your favorite Broadway plays!

Metropolitan Opera “Nightly Met Opera Streams,” is a free series of encore Live in HD presentations streamed on the company website during the coronavirus closure.

We hope you find these resources and tools helpful! Remember you can join us on Facebook. Now is a great time to update your information, too!