How men can be productive when bored or stuck at home

If stuck at home for too long you could start to feel bored and unproductive, the best thing to do is always have a man-project to do around the house, that you can continue with whenever you have your next bit of free time.

This keeps you always busy and occupied, a simple idea can keep you busy for hours or years on a single DIY project.

This means to always have 2 or 3 DIY projects on-the-go this will give you something to always think about and work towards. If you’re finding you have too much spare time, it’s because you don’t have enough DIY projects going on.

Here is a list of DIY ideas to keep busy and productive at home.

1. Pull-apart your motorbike

If you have a motorbike and are stuck at home, there is always work that can be done on it.

Give your 2-stroke, or 4 stroke motorbike the love that it finally needs for once. That being said it is more fun to ride it.

2. Think of a woodworking project that will sell

So you are already a keen DIY’er or woodworker. Maybe it has been on the back of your mind to build something so that you can make money from woodworking.

If you want to make a decent profit from woodworking or a DIY project, you need to first pick a good design. Keep the design simple, unique, and practical, then start mass-producing it.

Something that might take a day or a week to build and design for the first time, could instead be reproduced much faster if you make templates and cutting lists. And switch to the most efficient tool set-up and further optimize by tweaking the design to be easier.

When you have a good idea and have simplified it you can sell it for a profit or as a gift for the family for when it comes around to Christmas.

3. Re-paint the house

In your house emergency kit, you should have enough paint to keep yourself going for days.

If stuck at home for a long period of time, why not re-paint the house, its low physical effort, and it can keep you busy while getting a practical job done.

First, have a read on my guide “how to remove paint” and make sure to have a good orbital sander ready to go.

4. Build a table straight from a tree

If you haven’t built a table yet, it is a must-do DIY project.

So, why not build a table straight from a tree using a gas chainsaw, cut some timber slabs freehand, or use an Alaskan mill to guide your chainsaw, then run the chunks of timber through the best thickness planer and start putting your tree-top-table together.

Read more on how to build a table straight from a tree here.

5. Organize the boat

Well, if you have a boat it should already be clean, right?

But you could optimize the setup, reposition or add some rod holders, think of a new seating arrangement, or think of a DIY project that could really help the next fishing trip to reach the next level.

You could give the boat a maintenance check, for any holes, while checking that the wiring, for the trailer is all working.

6. Build a chicken cage

If you haven’t yet got chickens, and have been thinking of eating free-range eggs for a while now, for the weekend pancakes, building a chicken cage is the first step.

You can build a nice place for chickens to go when they are laying, this makes the collection of eggs an easy quick process.

When building the nesting box, make sure to build it to the right dimensions otherwise the chickens won’t use it.

7. Build an internal wall

Internal walls are an easy project because you are not changing or removing any part of a wall.

Instead, you are only adding a new internal partition wall and not affecting a building’s structure.

You could turn a room into two, or partition off part of the garage to keep the workshop and tools more secure.

This shouldn’t require any building consents or design (check with the local council) as old linings, could be a bracing element and cant be cut.

Of course, an experienced DIY’er can check up in the ceiling space anyway to see if an existing wall is “load-bearing” or not. A Load-bearing wall is a wall that supports part of the roofing structure or any other part of the house.

Although you can check for this in the ceiling you won’t know if an existing wall is a bracing element or not until you look at your original house plans.

So don’t remove a wall that is designed to brace the house for horizontal movement. But a new internal wall can just be added without thinking about it too much.

8. Sound insulate a wall

Have you got a room or a wall that you wish had some sound insulation?

Maybe you are learning to play an instrument, or you are just wanting a better sound insulation between rooms?

This is a DIY project you could start working on.

Just like above adding on to an existing wall shouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, leave the existing linings in case it is part of a bracing element, and add some additional layers of lining particleboard and plasterboard.

Or create a second wall with an air gap, and seal the edges with a sound seal silicone for better results.

9. Mount your tv on the wall

A good DIY project is to install your TV on the wall.

Using a flexible and extendable TV bracket you can hang and secure an LCD to the wall and move it to face any direction within the limits of the extendable arm, for multiple viewing positions within a room.

Good for a gaming or work computer monitor set up, small spaces, and in the kitchen if you rely on videos to cook your meals.

10. Clean the garage

Still, don’t know what to do? Then yeah, I don’t really need to say much more about this.

You know your garage could do with a re-organize.

Install some new shelves, and get a new tool cabinet that can organize your gear.

Or even looking at some lightweight overhead racks, to free up some floor space.

11. Find new tools

For the people that want the best tools and are willing to go with a different tool brand from time-to-time to get the best current option, value for money, and performance.

Browse bangingtoolbox.com more and find what tools are missing from your collection. 

12. Do some landscaping work

Get your Line Trimmer, and your cordless chainsaw out, and tackle your yards landscaping jobs. Overgrown branches and invasive weeds are a mission to keep on top of, keeping your backyard under control requires the assistance of the best tools.

Having both a weed eater and a chainsaw ready to go means having something to do if when stuck at home.

Conclusion

There you go plenty of ideas to stay busy at home now, make a decision on what to do, build a table straight from a tree, or order the tools required for your next project.