How to Never Feel Lonely When You’re Alone at Home

updated Sep 19, 2022
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(Image credit: Stocksy)

When you find yourself with zero plans and just stretched out on the couch, it can feel super easy to slip into a rut of boredom. To side-step that scenario, we created a list of 11 super fun and pro-active things you can do with your free evening. If you don’t want to spend your time getting lost in a Netflix black hole, some of these suggestions might help you embrace your time alone and love the next couple of hours with your own company.

Do Something Cute For Your Friends

Say everyone is tied up with dates or side hustles – just because your circle can’t hang out with you today doesn’t mean you can’t do something fun for them. Spend the evening thinking of cheap ways to treat them – buy fun cards from Etsy and write them funny and random “hellos.” If you know they’re stressed, buy them a cool Korean sheet mask and send it to their address. Or if you find a funny, indulgent book in the bookstore, buy it on a whim and gift it to them. Figuring out what to get them is half the fun, so get creative!

Find New Ways To Drink Your Alcohol

While a glass of wine makes a dull evening all the more fun, try to find fun new ways to consume it. For example, have you ever tried one of those boozy popsicle recipes? Or what about a wine slushie? Break out the apron and have fun in the kitchen.

(Image credit: Alexis Buryk)

Tackle A Home Decor DIY

Chances are you have pins on top of pins saved focusing on furniture DIYs or IKEA hacks that you’ve been meaning to get to “some day.” So why not this open afternoon? Hunt up a bargain piece at Goodwill that you wouldn’t mind tossing if you messed it all up, and try out one of your remodeling DIYs. For example, you can take a wooden dresser and paint it with a bold new color, or upholster a run down chair and give it new personality. There are so many options out there.

Buy Yourself A Fancy Bag Of Coffee Or Tin Of Tea

Treat yourself with the top shelf selections that come in pretty tins or interesting packaging – they might cost a prettier penny than you’re used to, but that’s what treats are for. Then when you’re armed with a cup of the good stuff, grab a blanket and allow yourself to sink into a book you’ve been putting off for ages. It’s a subtle bribe to clear out your nightstand, but sometimes we need that small push to crack open a book. That, and you’ll now have the pleasure of seeing a pretty tin of tea on your kitchen counter.

(Image credit: Natalie Jeffcott)

Hunt Down Pieces For A Gallery Wall

If you don’t have a salon wall at home, this can be your chance to create one. Even if you don’t pull the trigger and buy a bunch of prints that one evening, you can at least start a running file of ones you might want to get someday. Check out sites like Society6, Minted and Etsy for interesting designs, and try to express your personality and style through the images.

Pro Tip: Often on Etsy you can ask to buy the digital print and then print it out at Staples for the fraction of the cost. And IKEA has modern, thick frames for peanuts.

Buy A Kit And Start A New Hobby

Kits are a fun way to start a new passion, or at the very least, spend a few hours trying something new. So hop onto Amazon and see if there are any beer kits in your price range (you can turn your kitchen into a micro-brewery!), a positivity kit that will get your creativity flowing, or a scrapbooking kit that will help you display your photos in beautiful ways.

Buy A Book In Something You Want To Learn

Have you been meaning to get more into politics? Have you been curious about musician’s biographies? Do you want to learn more about important women in our history? Or maybe get a better grasp on fashion history? Have you been curious about poetry, or wanted to collect coffee table books? Whatever subject it is that has been rolling around in the back of your head, let this bored-evening-in be your excuse to finally explore it. Look up books that are highly rated on the topic, and then allow yourself to indulge and order a couple of them. That way you can use your moments of alone time to explore new interests and grow as a person.

(Image credit: Rachel Jacks)

Plant A Kitchen Garden

Whether you’re something of a chef or have been meaning to get more involved with cooking, planting a windowsill garden will inspire you to branch outside of frozen dinners. Take some time looking up ideas on Pinterest, and then jump into DIYing and planting.

Try it: Apartment Therapy’s Ultimate Plant Picker (For Less-Than-Perfect People and Places)

Look Up New Ways To Organize Your Life

If you’re feeling proactive, look up new ways to get your life tidy. From awesome drawer-organizing hacks and kitchen storage DIYs, to looking up daily planners that gloriously map out every hour of your day, allow yourself to fall into a Monica-Geller approved rabbit hole.

Find Podcasts To Listen To

Podcasts are amazing in the fact that they’re a lot like TV, but they allow you to multi-task. So research some shows that fall into your interests (politics, murder mysteries, writing, comedy) and take yourself on a long walk through town, or hole yourself up in a cute cafe with a cup of coffee. That way you can spend an evening alone, but still learn something while staying thoroughly entertained.

Figure Out Your Style

You know how frustrating it is when you have no cute outfits to wear and you’re running late in the morning— so make sure that never happens again by spending time playing in your closet. Look through Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration, and try to recreate looks with your own pieces. And every time you land on a winner, snap a picture of it and file it away in a folder in your phone. That way you’ll have well thought out and foolproof looks during those emergency I’m-already-five-minutes-late hours.

Try out some of these tips and your alone time can turn into an amazing evening in. You’ll never have to be bored again!