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14 March, 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19): What to Do When You Have to Stay Home (List)

Coronavirus is spreading around the country and more and more people are affected by it. Many of us have decided to stay home to work or study remotely, take care of the children or simply protect yourself from being infected or spreading the virus.

You may find this article written in a bit too dark humorous manner considering the circumstances, but I want to let you know that I am affected by coronavirus as well and I do take it seriously. My family member is in quarantine, nobody knows when and if I’ll graduate (the university I study at is completely shut down), my country closed the borders (my first Easter without a family) and I canceled a trip that I was looking forward to.

As a person used to having a very active life and meeting a lot of people, after two (yes, two!) days of this unexpected quarantine I felt like I am going to start climbing the walls if I won’t do anything. Also, compulsive reloading the websites with news from two countries (Poland on my phone, Sweden on my laptop) at the same time didn’t help to decrease my already pretty high level of panic.

But after getting a good 8-hour sleep time, I came up with a few ideas on how to make the best of the time spend at home and how to get organized. And these ideas are much better and saner than sanitizing all your door handles with alcogel (done that) and building a storage for a 30-years nuclear war.

Work & study from home

Working from home has pros and cons. I need to say I kind of like this feeling of sitting with my laptop in a comfortable armchair, baking while having a call (guilty as charged) and wearing my fleece pants instead of heels (don’t judge me, they are really comfy!). But what helped me to get organized and work efficiently was:

  • Finding a space where I ONLY do my work. It doesn’t have to be the whole room, a piece of a desk or a table will be just fine.
  • I have an agreement with my family members that when I work they don’t disturb me (OK, this one was easy, as I don’t have children – the parents I know spread the care between each other and communicate about it up to their needs).
  • I am trying to be a bit strict with myself – if I was working eight hours from 9 to 5 before, I do the same now. I don’t reschedule meetings, I am taking them online and do exactly the same as I used to do before.
  • I keep my place of work nice, organized and aesthetic.
  • If you can’t work remotely, take a shower and wash your clothes after you come home and follow the WHO advice on how to avoid the virus.
  • If you’re a student and your classes have been canceled, follow the information from your school/university, join e-learning or any substitute form of teaching provided.

Cool things to do when you’re in your home jail

OK, that’s it when it comes to normal life and performing your chores and duties. But being at home 24/7 saves you a lot of time. You do shopping rarely, you don’t have to travel to work… So here comes the list of what you can do in order to use this time as good as you can:

Do not neglect the danger. It is a fact that for some people coronavirus is very dangerous and we have to do all we can to stay safe. As The Newbie Team, we wish you a lot of health. We know it’s difficult and scary, but staying sane is as important as following the hygiene routines. Let us know what do you do – we will add the best ideas to the list so other Newbies can learn from your experience!

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The Newbie Team
The Newbie Team posts news, tips and general goodness that can be useful for all Newbies. We always try to find Newbie related information that will help all Newbies on their new life in Sweden.
Please let us know if there is something you wish we'd write more about and we will try to add it to our repertoire.

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