This is different from what I normally post on this site, but my wife and I had a couple of years where life threw everything at us, and we spent about 1.5 years living in close proximity almost 24x7. We felt that our experience may be valuable to other people at this point in time.
So you’ve nailed the recommendations for optmising your hygene from the World Health Organisation and any other government bodies relevant to you. If you haven’t started lockdown or quarantine where you are yet, you probably will soon. (If you’re not sure if you will, it would still be worth doing the preparation just in case.)
In any case this artcile is for some unofficial tips for maintaining your sanity, and maximising the chances that you will still be close to your loved ones/co-occupants at the end of it.
This article will evolve as our experience does. So it may be worth checking back from time to time.
Nothing in this article should contradict official advice in your area. But if it does, the official advice must take precedence.
If lockdown/quarantine hasn’t begun for you yet. Do this now. We were lucky that we had two days warning. In reality, the government then started the lockdown a day early, so we had one day warning. But it helped, and we made the most of it.
Get out and do the things you won’t be able to do once lockdown/quarantine begins. Eg biking, hiking, swimming, sneezing, walking, running, For us, this was a bike ride in the mountains.
At this point, it’s probably too late to stock pile anything. So just slowly accumulate long lasting supplies, and keep your fresh produce up-to-date. Make sure that you stocking up on something doesn’t mean someone else can’t have any.
If there is anything you want that will be hard to get once there are only critical supplies available, now is the time to get on with it. But keep in mind that deliveries (particularly international) could well be affected by any lockdown that is about to happen that you don’t know about yet.
Find ways you can exercise in your house. If you have a roof or back yard available to you, use it. A hall-way, or large room like a lounge could be an excellent space to move around.
Exercise regularly. The exercises that are viable to you in your house are unlikely to be as effective as ones you can do ourside your house.
I’m finding exercising a smaller amount, but multiple times a day is really helpful. It gives the body a chance to move the blood around more often, which is important considering our movements during other parts of the day will generally be less effective than normal.
It’s also worth varying what exervises you do.
When the weather allows, opening the windows, going to the roof/balcony to get some fresh air makes a big difference.
Independantly of this, we try to open all windows in the house at least once a day to clear the air. It doesn’t need to be long; just long enough to change the air.
Eating healthier food makes a massive difference to your mental state, and it’s often not obvious until you look back some days after a change. But it does make a massive difference to your ability to cope with the situation.
You might need to adjust the quantity of food you consume a little as well. But please don’t take this to extremes, and do get advice from a professional for any doubts you have.
Not being too tired, or over-slept drastically impacts your mood.
I’d actually take this a step further. Keep up with enough news to know what you need to be doing/not doing and what’s coming up, and stop at that. Spending 20 minutes hearing about the death told city-by-city really isn’t going to help you.
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Some people will be finding this harder than others. AND! There’s nothing like helping someone else for making yourself feel better.
Different people cope with stress differently. If it helps you; great. If it offends you; let it be. They probably weren’t trying to offend you.
Enjoy the moments you can. But try not to be obnoxious.
Don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you or anyone else is failing. Take some moments. Get some space. And come back to the picture when you’re ready.
There are lots of cool things happening in our area:
You have two options. * Get frustrated at all that dang noise! * Embrace it and enjoy it.
I strongly recommend the latter. It unites everyone, giving us a feeling of belonging, and being in it together. It brings smiles and laughter, and a reminder of how much tallent surrounds you. These moments may only last for a few minutes at a time, but they change the scenery and keep things interesting.
When the lockdown ends, I’m going on a mega bike ride in the mountains. But for now, I can’t do that under the local rules. So I’m not giving that much thought, and instead I’m concentrating on what I can do.
We have a roof and a garage where we can go to do exercise (being careful what, and how we touch things, and what we do about it afterwards). We have everything we need to watch shows together, or to work on our indoor hobbies.
To describe this as an opportunity is probably a bit deluded, but it’s certainly a trigger to focus on things you might not normally prioritise as highly.
:)
I can’t find a way to word this. Hopefully the heading is enough to get the message across.
What ever you do, it’s eventually going to be mutual. Being considerate will go a long way to everyone’s comfort.
Well m… NO! ;)
Assume no. And definitely don’t do it back.
If you have a skill that would make someone else’s life better, and you can do it without breaking the rules that you are supposed to be following, do it.
A few people doing this, goes a long way. Additionally, it strengthens the community.
Sometimes we just need space. Some people more so than others. And when we’re all stuck in a small space together, this will happen more than normal. Respect it, and don’t be afraid to ask for it.
Hopefully at the end of all of this, everyone will be much closer.
“Part of being cool is being calm and understanding when the other person isn’t. You don’t know what they are going through.”
Just because someone is finding it harder, or easier than you, does not invalidate yours or their experience.
Things will get better. Follow the guidelines. They will probably change as we learn more. So follow the new guidelines when they happen, and things will get better.
It could be worse. Let’s focus on what’s good. We have food, water, warmth, each other etc.
We don’t know when the next wave will hit. So it’s worth getting out and enjoying the fresh air while you can.
You are the best person I could ever hope to get stuck with.