While not strictly wine related, most of us are going to be feeling slightly out of kilter with the sudden need to stay at home (thanks, COVID19). As someone who works from home, my routine has been thrown by my partner now working from home full time AND my valuable ‘out of the house’ time has all been cancelled.
But those kind of inconveniences are nothing compared with the utter upheaval experienced by the hospitality industry, culminating effectively in a shutdown on Monday – and with yet more closures announced last night (Tuesday 24 March 2020) there will be even more people forced out of work.
So – no matter why you’re at home, I thought I’d put together some ideas to help keep you sane.
If you’re working from home, a great idea is to book-end your day with a walk. Think of it as walking to work and then walking home from work. If you’re not working, incorporating some form of exercise and routine into your day is a good idea so by starting your day with a walk, you get yourself moving and enjoying some fresh air. Obviously, you can’t do this if you’re in isolation!
In the house, YouTube is the world’s most amazing resource. With yoga classes now off my radar, I’ll be heading back to some of my favourites (Yoga with Adriene, Erin Motz (the Bad Yogi) and Tara Stiles). For anyone struggling with sleep in particular, have a search for yoga nidra which is a form of deep relaxation. It does take practice so start off with shorter videos (and you might need to try a few before you find a voice that works for you!). If yoga isn’t your thing, search YouTube for what is – whether it’s ballroom dancing or Brazilian jiu-jitsu …
The internet is full of recipes and cooking videos so now may also be the time to up your cooking game or cook all the things you’ve never had time to try in the past. If you’re patient – build a sourdough starter (and then you won’t be hunting down dried yeast in the supermarket!).
To keep your brain ticking over, head to sites like Khan Academy and FutureLearn. For those of you with children, Prodigy is a maths game which comes highly recommended by my nine year old.
In South Australia, Libraries SA has a huge number of digital resources (newspapers, magazines, ebooks and online learning)- and earlier this week announced that Ancestry would be available via remote access (usually only available in library). If you’ve ever thought about delving into your family history, now is the time!
And while you can’t catch up with friends and family, technology such as Zoom, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts (inside gmail) means you can meet face to face (in a manner). Shift your book club, knitting group or Friday night drinks to online …
And if all else fails – watch a cat video (the whole point of the internet after all).
If you’ve got great ideas for other things to do while home – drop them in the comments below.
