15 Skills To Learn Online During Quarantine - Page 4

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Why not come out of quarantine a bit smarter? More knowledgeable? Boasting a greater skillset? Feeling more capable? More competent? Knowing how to do more on your own, rather than having to hire somebody else to do it for you? It’s not like you’ve got any other plans this evening, right? Happy hour isn’t happening. You aren’t going to the movies. If you are still fortunate to have a job and be working from home during the day, then your evenings at least have become a bit freer. And if you aren’t currently working, then you’ve really got quite a bit of free time on your hands, and educating yourself could increase the chances that you work again, or that you even get a better job when this is all over.

Learning doesn’t even have to be about making more money, though. It can be about feeling confident that, when you need something done in the future, you don’t have to compare prices of professionals, totally in the dark on what a fair price even is. You can do it for the price of free, yourself! Or it can mean finally solidifying certain information in your mind, for a task you often have to do, that you usually need to look up over and over again. It can mean moving some knowledge from the temporary part of your memory to the more permanent part.

Taking an online class is also quite smart right now because it adds structure to these structure-less days, and that’s healthy for the human psyche. It’s good to have a “place” (or online platform) where you’re expected to show up at a given time, on a given day. Here are 15 online classes you should take during quarantine.

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Negotiation

Negotiation is a very important skill that you’ll need in every area of your life. Whether you’re negotiating salary with a boss, negotiating rent with a landlord, or negotiating the interest rate on your car loan, knowing how to negotiate can help you walk away from many situations knowing that you didn’t get screwed over. And it shows others you can handle yourself and are not one to take advantage of.

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Basic auto mechanics

Though the professionals exist for a reason and you shouldn’t attempt in-depth jobs yourself, it’s good to learn simple things about your car. Like how to check the oil or how to simply identify what the problem is, so the auto-body shop doesn’t make up problems that need expensive fixes, while you aren’t the wiser. You spend a lot of time in your car, so it’s a good idea to become more familiar with how it works.

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Nutrition

How much do you really know about nutrition? Fruits and veggies good, sugar bad, limit red meat, etc., etc. But do you know things like, which fruits are actually so high in sugar they’re basically candy? Or how certain foods interact in your body when consumed too closely together? Or how exactly your lifestyle affects the nutrition you need? Nutrition is the gateway to a healthy life, and it’s worth exploring deeper.

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Plumbing 101

This, like auto mechanics, is another thing for which sometimes you just need a pro. But too often, we call someone the second the tiniest thing goes wrong, unable to diagnose it ourselves, and paying $300 for something we likely could have done ourselves. Learn a bit more about the pipes in your home so you can save some cash in the long run.

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Intro to baking

Baking is an art. Nay, it’s a science. A pinch too much of this, and suddenly you have a bowling ball-sized baked good instead of a cute little muffin. Turning the oven temperature up to this, when there is that ingredient in your food could mean a major problem. But it’s nice to be able to make baked goods from scratch sometimes. It can be therapeutic, and it’s a way of infusing love into your food – which just doesn’t happen when you get a store-bought cake.

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A second language

This is an excellent time to learn a second language. Maybe there is a region of the world you’ve always wanted to visit, or even live in, but the fact that you didn’t speak a lick of the local language there has held you back. Maybe there’s a certain job you’ve wanted to apply for, but a second language is always a requirement. Maybe you want to connect to your heritage and learn the language your grandparents spoke.

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Sewing

It’s a shame to throw out a sweater all over a little hole. Or to walk away from your dream designer jeans that are on sale, all because the only size left is one size too big. It’s a pity to donate something with excellent materials, just because it’s a bit out of style now. But if you learn how to sew, mend, hem, and fix things yourself, then you can fix that sweater, or make those jeans fit you, or re-purpose that chunky denim jacket into an adorable handbag.

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Tax prep

Every year, we spend hundreds paying a professional to do our taxes for us. Some individuals do need to do that, as their taxes are complicated. But some have rather simple taxes, and are just intimidated by the process, so afraid that one mistake on one form could result in an audit or a missed deduction. So take a tax prep class, and get comfortable with the process. You may still get to use those skills for your 2019 return, since the filing deadline has been extended.

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Excel

These days, many office jobs will require you to know how to use Excel. You can calculate numbers on there, create simulations, and streamline so many tasks. But it can be quite a tricky software, and not a teach-yourself situation. Learn how to use it and boost your resume.

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Intro to finance

How much do you know about finance? Do you know what stocks and bonds are? Do you know anything about investing? Do you know how to strategize with your money? You have worked hard for your money so, in addition to asking an advisor for help, it’s important that you know what that advisor is talking about.

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Social media marketing

Almost anybody can benefit from knowing how to market on social media. Maybe you need to market yourself as a brand. Or you need to market your restaurant. Or you need to market your tax prep services. Maybe you’re a realtor, and need to get the word out there about your work. Social media is the place to market now, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. Well, there are many wrong ways to do it. Let the pros show you how.

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Website development

Whether you would like to make money building websites for others or need to build and/or regularly update your own website, this is an excellent skill to have. Almost everybody has a website these days, and is willing to pay someone who knows what they’re doing to work on it. If you have your own, it’ll be nice to not have to pay someone for every little change.

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Interior design

Have you always wanted a beautiful home that could easily be featured in a magazine? Have you walked into the gorgeous homes of others, seen how much interior design can affect how you feel, and even your productivity, and wondered, “How the heck did they do that?” It’s not a guessing game. Interior design is a skill, and you can learn it, to turn your home into the type of environment that makes you happiest.

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Cooking

Maybe you don’t know anything about cooking, and you need to learn the basics, like how to boil rice, make an omelet, or bake a potato. Maybe you have the basics down and want to take your skills to the next level, so you can become the type of chef who quickly eyeballs the ingredients in her kitchen and can create something delicious and impressive, without using a recipe.

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Pro makeup

Every time you have a wedding to attend, or just want to look your best, you might be rushing off to a makeup counter to pay to have your makeup professionally done. But it’s quite easy to learn how to do professional-looking makeup yourself. And it’s empowering to have the tools to create any look you want, all on your own.