With many of us following the government’s advice to work from home and reduce social interaction, the reality of being indoors for most of the day is here.
Even if you love your house right down to its most eccentric of quirks, you’re still going to want a strategy for staying sane and looking after your wellbeing at home. Here, and on our Facebook page, we share some tips for preventing cabin fever, from new things to try in the kitchen to making simple changes to your space to promote a sense of calm.
Connect with your community however you can
It may be important to create a sanctuary at home, but it's also good to know what is going on outside your walls. So why not join a resident’s group in your area to run errands or collect shopping for the elderly or those who are self-isolating? Or could you simply reach out to someone who might feel isolated and lonely by phone or social media.
Resist the urge to buy more than you need and start by doing a larder sort out to see what you have – note, expiry dates are often misleading and you can often trust your instinct.
Cooking is a really creative process that comes with a sense of achievement and, even better, you’ll get to enjoy the results of your labours! Being at home means you’ll have much more time to devote to something more ambitious, why not try sourdough bread for example, or perhaps try pickling. We also recommend dishes that require slow cooking, like a ragu, as you’ll have the time to develop more flavour.
For more inspiration, search on-line for recipes.
Learn how to work from home
Asking your home to double as your workspace brings all sorts of challenges: maintaining separation, the potential for loneliness and lack of routine. But it can also bring with it opportunities and new experiences and you can keep up to date through social media.
The government’s priority is to save lives and the best way to protect yourself and others from illness is to stay at home.
However, exercise is still important for people’s physical and mental wellbeing, so the government has said people can leave their homes for exercise once a day. We all tend to drive off to far-flung locations, so this is a great opportunity to really get to know your immediate area.
If you can, take a walk in a park or wood, and, if you have a garden, search on-line for advice on what to sow in April. Although most Garden Centres are closed, many items can still be ordered on-line, and one of our local nurseries, Job's Cottage, is taking orders by phone from April 6.
