Here at Offline, we’re committed to helping you improve your life in as many ways as possible. We’ve all been confined to our bedrooms and trapped in home offices for months now, so we decided to see what ‘lockdown life hacks’ we could use to make things a little bit easier. This blog is just one way we’re trying to provide lockdown tips for students and young people everywhere.
Over the last few months I’ve been spending my COVID relief money buying a lot of random stuff online. Admittedly a lot of it has been terrible, but here are 6 (reasonably) cheap things I bought that have really improved my lockdown experience.
- LEVEL UP YOUR COFFEE GAME
I think it was about a thousand years ago (or was it last year?) when we used to go places in person rather than through a screen. Back in those heady days it was standard practice to pop into a coffee shop and grab a drink on your way to work or class. Now that we’re spending our mornings at home instead, many of us have foregone this ritual in favour of a cheap jar of instant coffee. Here at Offline, we can do better!
You can buy coffee beans pretty cheap in your local supermarket, and it’s easier than you’d think to make a decent cup of coffee at home. I bought a grinder on Amazon for about €7 and a cafetière (French press) for a tenner and voila. Your caffeine addiction will thank you for it.
- BREAK UP WITH YOUR LAPTOP'S TOUCHPAD
Let’s be honest, trying to scroll through Twitter on your laptop when you should be working is a nightmare. It doesn’t work half the time, you’re clicking on things by mistake and before you know it you’ve gone full Trump and tweeted “COVFEFE” to everyone. Buying a mouse is an absolute game-changer for anyone working from home on a laptop. Who knows, you might even end up getting some work done! A wired mouse won’t set you back more than €10 - and if you’re feeling fancy, you could even get yourself a wireless one.
- TREAT YOURSELF TO SOME NEW SOCKS
OK hear me out on this one. Working from home means we’re chilling in our socks way more these days, and most of us could do with some new ones. There’s something about pulling a new pair of socks out of the pack that can’t be beat. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re clean and matching, maybe it’s the lack of holes in them. Whatever the case, new socks are better than old ones, and that’s good enough for me. Stay comfortable, buy some new socks. Amen.
- SHOW YOUR BUTT SOME LOVE
My home office setup, like a lot of people’s, was pretty much thrown together overnight, with a wobbly desk and an old kitchen chair in the corner of my bedroom. It’s quite a step down from the executive desk chair you might’ve had in the office or even the dodgy ones in the university library. Home offices aren’t the nicest places to spend your day, but they’re even worse when you have to sit in a creaky seat with no back support.
I went a bit over budget on this one, spent €70 on a brand new office chair. I figured it was worth it if I’m going to be working from home for at least another couple of months. If you keep an eye on second-hand websites though you can definitely pick one up for less than half that price. Sure, you might be stuck in your room for days on end, but at least you’ll be comfortable!
- TRY OUT SOME SMART HOME TECH
It’s not as pricey as you might think to incorporate a little technology into your home. You can get yourself a pair of Wi-Fi plug sockets for less than €20 on Amazon. They’re easy to set up too- just download an app, follow the instructions to connect them and you’re good to go. This lets you remotely turn on anything electrical with your smartphone- I mainly use mine to boil the kettle before getting out of bed, I highly recommend it! Smart plugs are a fun and cheap way to play around with this technology, and they can definitely help to make life under lockdown a bit easier.
- INVEST IN A GREAT NIGHT'S SLEEP
In these stressful times, getting plenty of sleep is more important than ever. It can be hard to switch off and relax when you might be working all day in the same room, but there are some simple things you can do to help catch some z’s.
A bit like the socks I talked about earlier, buying some comfy pyjamas is always going to help you improve your sleeping experience. It can also get pretty cold (I should know, I’m in a student house) so picking up a hot water bottle or an electric blanket is a great way to stay cosy and warm.
These are just some of our ideas on how you can make life under lockdown a little bit easier with a few quick purchases. If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment!
For more lockdown tips, why not check out our Movie Guide: http://ucd-5469086.hs-sites.com/en/3-good-movies-to-watch-during-lockdown
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