With South Africa heading into three weeks of lockdown, I cannot emphasise enough, the importance of routine. This is not vacation time where you can do what you want. Many of us are going to be closed in at home for 21 days.
Routine
It seems like such a small word. But it might make a huge difference to our well being if we have a routine to stick to. I think a lot of people take for granted how much their routines shapes their days. This post is very much from my perspective. But I hope it can offer some good advice. What are your plans for routine and normality during lock down?
What we do now during the week
From Monday to Friday our alarm goes off at 05h45. Dave gets up, feeds the dogs and makes coffee. We drink that in bed – he reads his book and I read blogs. We then get showered and dressed and head to work. Even though working hours only start at 08h00 it is good to get in before 07h00. The phones don’t ring that early and I can get through my emails and type a blog post without disruption. An hour into my working day I get stuck into everything else that needs attention. Once a week I head out to see customers. And on other days I stay at work until at least lunch time. That signals the end of my working day. After that I do the errands that keep our household running.
When we get home
When I get home I train in our home gym, and watch TV. And then set about preparing dinner for us. Dave’s work day only ends at 17h00 – except for a Thursday when he works late. He trains 3 times a week when he gets home. And mood dependant I join him. We then sit and have snacks and a drink together before cooking dinner and eating at the dining room table. We watch TV, read books in bed and turn the lights out around 22h00.
Our weekends
Dave likes to sleep late over the weekend and I let him. Well, at least until 07h00. Our morning coffee takes longer as I am not in a rush to get ready for work. We have a lazy start to the day, with Dave cooking breakfast. After our morning espressi I start on whatever I am cooking for the blog. Recipe testing is a weekend affair with hits and misses. Before Covid-19 we watched a lot of sport, so cooking was done in-between that. Once a month we attend local motor racing, and every now and then we would have an away race. Socialising is important to me so I usually make plans at least a few times a month.
My 21 day plan
I know if I have a routine in place and a plan in mind we will get through the madness. So, these are my plans. During the week I want to wake up at our normal time. I plan on training every morning as it is a great way to start the day. Then after breakfast I will do one hour’s work on the computer. Staying connected via my blog will make me feel a part of a community. After that I shall test one recipe a day so as to not pressurise myself. But also, something each day to give me focus. Hopefully I can walk to the shops when I need to go, as fresh air will be vital. And to ensure I get that fresh air, and sunlight, I will read for an hour outside. The only change over the weekends will be to sleep in.
The importance of lock down
More important than routine, is the importance of lock down. South Africa has a high population percentage of people with TB. That coupled with the number of people who are HIV positive puts our impoverished population at a higher risk of infection and death. Instead of waiting for the numbers to be in the thousands, our President took the decision to keep us safe when only 402 people had been confirmed as having the virus. With 4 of those people having already recovered and no-one yet having died. Hopefully the early declaration of a National State of Disaster, and these drastic measures will mean less people being infected and dying. Nkosi sikelel’ Afrika and the rest of the world.
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime March 25:
- 2019 – Coconut Chicken Curry
- 2018 – Power And Empire
- 2016 – In My Garden March 2016
- 2015 – Food For Your Brood
- 2013 – Sourdough English Muffins
- 2011 – Snoek Soufflé
Be safe and stay healthy!
<3, Tandy to you and Dave. Xx
Thank you Jane xxx
Routine is good.. Waking up time wise I have stuck to routine.. The rest of the day is a bit of hit and miss.. 😉
I fear that will be the case for me too as Dave will also be home!
I just don’t know how our poor are going to survive without the ability to earn money for three weeks, TAndy. What happens to the people who do piece work or help people park at the shopping centres. They are going to starve. It is very worrying.
Dave and I discussed this from the other perspective. We are both self employed and no work for us means no income. Yet, we have to pay our staff. With the majority of our nation being unemployed, and the minority employed it would have made sense for the self employed to come to work alone. Thus contributing to SARS etc. However, it is so necessary to not spread the virus as the consequences for our poor will be death. There is no hiding away from that sadly. And a lot of people who live hand to mouth would come to work regardless of being sick because they need the income.
I love your routine; it seems a bit like mine until I started teaching overseas this semester. Have not been able to get completely back into a routine since there is little on my agenda. I usually like to start things on a Monday, so I’ll see what I can do then. Thanks for the motivation!
I look forward to reading whether you managed to reset next week or not 🙂
I think routine is the key. I kind of like the new routine I’ve gotten into. I do have the luxury of being able to home office when needed. I think the biggest good change is being able to have the time to cook IN. No more eating out which is a good thing for us.
I am thinking of doing restaurant nights at home – getting dressed up and candles 🙂
I never thought about the importance of routine until now-thanks Tandy! We will need everything we’ve got to get through this. Stay safe xxx
We will indeed xx
Your determination seems to be a way to keep from worrying, as well as to stay on course with your work and exercise. I hope you can persist!
be well! … mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Thank you Mae, you too!
I’ve been watching on the BBC about your country. I pray that everyone is smart about this but it appears that many are not following the rules. Please stay safe, stay healthy. We haven’t left the house in a week…we will see how many weeks this continues before it feels safe to leave our home.
A lot of people do not realize how serious this is. I think that after the first wave of illness hits the impoverished people it may hit home that this is real. Stay safe as well.