The good news is, after months of Covid turmoil, we’re a lot wiser about the activities that make social distancing a dream, and those that make us want to send profanities to our group WhatsApp chats (we’re looking at you, sourdough starter).
It’s safe to say we’ve all had a rough year, so do yourself a favour and avoid repeating any of these lockdown cliches…
1. Zoom quizzes
Once upon a time, the Zoom quiz was actually fun. You didn’t mind the dodgy internet connections and tinny music rounds, because you were buzzing from the novelty of finding a way to hang out with your friends that didn’t involve traipsing to the pub.
By the fifth instalment though, quiz fatigue really began to set in – which is a shame because you’d already signed yourself up to a good 30 of them.
If you found yourself internally groaning every time the weekly quiz rolled around, make it your mission to avoid them at all costs as winter kicks in. Sitting in an empty kitchen with a gin and tonic is not a vibe.
2. Bingeing on [insert trendy TV show]
The start of lockdown feels like a total blur, but one thing that really sticks out is how much time we wasted watching Tiger King on Netflix. Was it actually good or were we all just clinging to the hope that obsessing over a man with a terrible mullet could help us forget about the unfolding pandemic?!
3. Baking banana bread
A lot of us dutifully made banana bread because Instagram told us to. Seriously, you couldn’t open social media without someone smugly clutching a cake tin and telling you about their ‘dreamy’ Sunday in the kitchen.
The beauty of banana bread is it’s near impossible to screw up, so it became the bake of choice for entry-level cake makers during the darkest days of April and May. While we don’t have anything against banana bread per se, there’s only so much of it we can bake, eat and share on Instagram Stories before we start to question our life choices.
4. Joining TikTok
Deep down we all know TikTok is for people under the age of 25, yet so many of us went against our better judgement and downloaded it anyway.
Instead of uniting the family in one gloriously unified performance of Megan Thee Stallion’s Savage Remix, it only led to major arguments and thoughts of family therapy. Two words: never again.
5. Doing PE with Joe
We applaud Joe Wicks for all the great work he did in getting kids and families active during homeschooling, but it doesn’t mean that we, the adults, want to get up at the crack of dawn to wheeze our way through another of his ‘P.E. with Joe’ sessions ever again.
We’re still haunted by the first round of star jumps, planks and bouncing bunnies. Although we will admit, there was something quite special about an entire nation of parents suffering together on a daily livestream.
6. Organised fun
As well as the parasitic Zoom quizzes, we’re opting out of any organised fun you’d never normally agree to if the pandemic wasn’t going on. This includes everything from virtual birthday drinks to socially distanced crafting sessions and singalong musical nights.
Basically, there’s a time and a place for these activities, and that’s when it’s safe for us to hang out in real life – not on a random Monday night when you’d rather be having a bath and catching up on Coronation Street.
When you start seeing the Zoom grid when you go to sleep at night, it’s probably a sign you need to log off. And if you ask us, that’s a good enough excuse to be a bit of a digital recluse for the rest of the year.
