We spend our lives being busy; whether we’re running a home and looking after young children, out working in an office from 9 to 5 with the commute on top of that, or trying to spin a load of plates at once, being a stay at home mum who does some professional work from home too, while still fulfilling the role of being one half of a couple.
It’s no wonder that we sometimes just want to take a break, and doing so for a few minutes during a busy day can actually help you go back to the rest of your day feeling refreshed and revived; ready to take on the world again!
Today, there are so many options for ways to have fun that the choice is seemingly endless and many of those options can be found online. There are all kinds of games that we can play; either playing on our pc or laptop, or downloading as an app on the phone. Then, no matter where you are, you can simply start playing when you have a few minutes and quit as soon as you want to get back to work.
Playing online bingo is a great way to take five. All the different bingo sites like Winner Bingo, Instant Bingo and Bingo Hall give out free credit when you first pay in some money to an account. At bingo.winner.com, there’s a 500% bonus for players making their first deposit, so a game of bingo is always good value. Games only cost a small amount to join in and many bingo sites have a number of free games included in their schedules too. Bingo’s a great choice when you want to unwind and clear your head. There’s no strategy or decision-making beyond deciding which game to play, and you can choose to use the auto-daub feature which means the software will mark the numbers off for you. All you have to do is sit back and watch, or maybe you’ll feel like making conversation with other players of the same game in the bingo chat rooms.
If on the other hand, you want to flex your brain muscles a little, you could always choose to play a game like Words with Friends or WordFeud. There are lots of different word puzzle games that are basically just like Scrabble. You can invite friends to join you, or opt to play with an unknown opponent. Then, you get a notification when it’s your turn to play. Each turn only takes a few minutes but the games can go on for a number of days, so many people have a few games running at once.
For fine-tuning your hand/eye coordination, there are plenty of games that you can access through social media such as Facebook, or directly through downloading an app. Games like Candy Crush or Threes will keep you entertained and on your toes for a few minutes here at any time of the day or night.
If you’re really up for a mental challenge and you like to play for real money, there are lots of casino sites where you can join poker tournaments. However if you’re going to play poker, you probably should give it more than five minutes. Clear an hour or two to play – best to do this after the kids are in bed so you have less chance of being disturbed – and you can concentrate fully on the game. The reason you need to have your wits about you for poker is that there are a lot of full-time players out there, who are much savvier than most players and will be able to beat you easily. Of course, the only way you’ll get better is through practice, so be advised to keep your bets to a minimum and only play with a clear head.
Whatever way you do it, taking five from the rush of the day is a good idea. Don’t feel guilty about it; enjoy doing something different and then carry on with everything else!
