Home should be a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life – a place where we can retire after a long day and get recharged for what lies ahead. 

However, as we face into another couple of weeks where we are going to be spending most of our time at home, we need to make a greater effort to find that sanctuary. This is true not just for those that are now working or studying from home but also for those of us who are at home full time, and find that all our ‘alone’ time has disappeared. 

Since the initial lockdown in March 2020, I have come up with a few ways that might help to ensure that we can make the time and space to unwind and enjoy life. 

Tidy equals restful

I find it much easier to relax when the house is tidy and there is order to it. 

This is much harder when the house is full, everyone is busy, and all rooms are being used each day. In a busy household with everyone working on different timetables.  I have found that dedicating one day a week to tidying is an efficient way of making the home a nicer place to be. It also enables everyone to contribute a little. Even if just one day does not make much of an impact, it is nice to keep a sense of order and calm in the rooms where we spend the most time, and the rooms where we like to relax. 

Off-duty spaces

In particular, keeping high-traffic areas clean and clear of clutter, lighting candles and using soft lighting can really give a sense of being ‘off-duty’ for everyone. It may seem a little OTT, but it helps me to mark the end of the working day!

Another aspect of relaxation in the home that has been compromised by COVID is how difficult it has become to find ‘alone’ time to rest and recharge. When our house filled up last March, I certainly struggled to adapt to the lack of personal space. That means I needed to be all the more disciplined in creating this time for myself. For me, a great way to do this was to get up early and go for a run. For someone else, this may mean closing the door and having a room to yourself for a while, listening to your music, having a spa-hour, calling a friend - do whatever it is  that you enjoy and helps you relax.

Sleep

If there is one thing we could all do with getting a bit more of, it’s sleep. 

We’ve heard the recommendations – everyone should be getting between 7-8 hours a night. Unfortunately, it’s easy to get into bad habits that compromise our ability to meet that goal (for example, excessive screen time, late night snacking, exercise before bed, stress, not moving enough during the day). And if it wasn’t difficult enough already,  getting a quiet house when people have different routines is difficult. In our house, we had to resort to imposing ‘noise curfews’ whereby everyone has to be quiet between particular times so that people can maintain their own wake/sleep schedule. It may not always work, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.

More family together time 

Paradoxically, over the past year, I have been amazed at how difficult it is to get the whole family together in spite of the fact that we are all living under the one roof. 

The importance of family-time should not be underestimated, but may require a concerted effort on your part to bring everyone together. 

In our house, we have started a weekly tradition where we pull the couches together, light a fire and snuggle up to watch a film or play a game.  I’ve found it a great way to create some semblance of a ‘weekend’ when it just feels as if the days all blur together.  Getting (and sometimes begging) everyone to join in brought a lot of unexpected laughter and fun into the house. If you plan it in advance so that everyone is ‘booked in’, and has left a bit of energy for the end of the day, it is a great activity for everyone, even the reluctant one. 

Eating In 

Finally, eating out is a great form of socialising and something that many of us enjoy. 

Food is such a fantastic gift to share with people, and while we may be restricted from dining out, a nice meal cooked and eaten at home is still one of the best ways of enjoying each other’s company. My daughter, for example, became adept at baking and it was such a treat to have cakes and cookies in the house that she had made from scratch.  Seeing the effect of this, we decided to try a ‘come dine with me’ experience for a bit of fun. We picked teams randomly and each Sunday a team would cook dishes from a particular country. I personally really enjoyed the days off, being waited on, seeing the non-cooks come out of their comfort zone, and discovering a lot of hidden talent.

 A bit of adventure and variety in the kitchen is great for everyone! 

Survival - our ability to adapt 

Charles Darwin pointed out that it is not the strongest or most intelligent species that will thrive, but rather the species who can best manage change. The varying degrees of lockdown have disrupted our homes more than anything by forcing different people with different routines into the same space – indefinitely. 

Now, more than ever, we need to find ways to switch off, relax and make our homes peaceful, happy places.