Most of Albania is under lockdown for the next few days with cafes, restaurants and many shops closed, schools shut, and private cars banned from taking to the streets. Even going outside is advised against unless really necessary, so as a result, most of us are stuck at home wondering what on earth to do with our time.
Here are a few suggestions from Exit, to you on how to make the best of your time during Coronavirus lockdown.
Cook
With all restaurants and cafes closed and people asked to avoid all but essential outdoor trips, you might be wondering what on earth to cook for you and your family. With cupboards full of random ingredients you grabbed during the crazed panic-buying that occurred at the beginning of the week, you might be running low on inspiration. The Super Cook recipe generator allows you to input what ingredients you have, press search, and it will provide you with a list of recipes that can be followed that include what you have in stock.
Read a book
Instead of just buying them and displaying them in an attempt to look cultured, lockdown is a great opportunity to actually pick up a book, open it and read it. Reading has been proven to increase empathy, reduce stress, alleviate depression, and help you sleep which will come in very useful when cabin fever really sets in around 2 pm tomorrow afternoon.
Exercise
Getting your blood pumping is a sure-fire way to stave off feelings of frustration and being confined to your home doesn’t mean you cannot do a bit of exercise. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube that provide you with workouts, yoga sessions, and even fun dance activities you can do in the privacy of your own front room. Even if you are not usually a fitness freak, doing a little bit of exercise will pass the time and stop you being so grouchy.
Lay out expectations with family members
If you are going to be pretty much confined to the house for the foreseeable future, it wouldn’t hurt to sit down and have a chat about how you are going to manage it. Each family member has a right to space, peace, quiet and a break and ensuring tasks are evenly distributed and everyone gets time to breathe is key to ensuring harmony. Come up with a list of activities, chores, tasks, and things that need to get done, figure out who will do what, make time for eating, relaxing, playing, and entertainment and be sure you are all on the same page. If you don’t, a few days will quickly turn into an eternity.
Spring clean
Now is a great time to do all of those tasks you’ve been putting off for ages because you’ve been too busy. Clear out old clothes, give every surface a good clean, fix everything that is broken, change that lightbulb that’s been out of action for the last 18 months (we all have one), and rearrange the spare bedroom. Divide tasks between everyone, put on some music, and detox your life.
Start a new hobby
Always wanted to write your own book? Or take up knitting? Or start meditating? Now is your chance! With hours of nothing to do stretched before you, there has never been a better time to learn Origami or a new language. What are you waiting for?
Call your great aunt in America
We are all guilty of not keeping up with correspondence- emails, social media messages, phone calls we promised to return but never did- now is a prime time to get on top of your communications. Call back Great Aunt Gerta, reply to your college friends email from November 2019, and go through social media and respond to all the messages you meant to reply to over the previous months.
Binge watch a series
Want to see how many prisons one guy can break out of? Curious to watch the neverending zombie apocalypse? Not offended by incest, death, depression, and copious amounts of nudity? If you have been wanting to catch up with TV series but just haven’t found the time, then lockdown is a great opportunity to settle down on the sofa, deplete your stash of panic-bought snacks, and enjoy some quality, if slightly mind-numbing entertainment.
Stay calm
We all love our families, but being in such close quarters with them all, at the same time, for days on end, with no escape can test even the most patient person. The important thing is to remember to stay calm. The world is not ending, this situation will pass, and it’s important not to lose your temper just because your mother in law breathed in the next room. Take a deep breath, pour yourself a raki if necessary, and try and enjoy switching off from society, consumerism, and the rat race of everyday life.
Contribute to the population
Birth rates tend to spike around nine months after disasters. Just saying.
