On the flip side, there is very little personal agency vis-a-vis the pandemic and reading the news/twitter may accomplish little beyond stressing you out as the

On the flip side, there is very little personal agency vis-a-vis the pandemic and reading the news/twitter may accomplish little beyond stressing you out as the practical limit on what most people can do is "stay home". Closing all those scary browser tabs, emails, and focusing on an unrelated problem can provide a welcome respite from a world out of your control, and likewise give you tangible mental health benefits. Skill building may be viewed as a secondary gain adjacent to the primary goal of maintaining sanity. So no, you don't need to become a brainiac genius during the pandemic, but working on skills is also a fine way to distract yourself.