Doing Our Part during COVID-19: How We Can All Pitch In

Strange times right now, huh guys? I’ve watched this whole Coronavirus pandemic unfold since it started ramping up in China. To be honest, I wasn’t that worried about it at first. I don’t think a lot of us were. That’s not to say, my heart wasn’t going out to the people of China – it most definitely was and still is and it hurts for Italy right now, as well as the other people and countries this virus is effecting.

I didn’t really worry too much about it hitting home until a couple weeks ago when I read an article about how it wasn’t a question of “if” it will hit the United States, but a question of “when.”

And now it’s here. Schools in our area are shut down for the remainder of the month, churches are holding online services, government buildings are closed and everyone is being encouraged to practice social distancing and/or self quarantine. What are things like where you’re at?

We’re not panicking or freaking out over here. We are being cautious though, self-quarantining for the most part and only going out if its essential. I had bought a few extra groceries (not too mention beer and wine #priorities) when I’d went to the store over the past couple weeks just to be on the safe side. We’re set for awhile, although I’m sure my family will be over all varieties of frozen foods and/or pasta by the time we’re past all this.

As crazy as it may sound, this whole thing might be what heals some wounds in our nation – if we can all come together and do our part for the greater good, that is.

I think this is a time to learn from what has happened in Italy, take our cue, slow this thing down and stop the spread of COVID-19 to save some lives. It’s not about being democrat, republican, rich, poor, or anything else, but about coming together and each of us doing our part for the overall wellbeing and health of citizens in our nation.

If Grunt or I were to pick this thing up somewhere, we may weather it just fine, but there are others around us who may not. And those people are the ones we need to be thinking about right now guys – older adults, folks with weakened immune systems, people who have asthma, lung issues or other similar chronic medical conditions. This is our time to help them. You can help simply by staying home. Additionally though, you can also offer to pickup their meds, groceries, etc. so they don’t have to go out and risk infection.

Let’s not forget about other folks who are also going to take a hit from this virus from an economical standpoint – small businesses. This is one of those things where as a small business, you can’t ever really prepare for something like this and it can totally blindside you.

All that being said, I’ve came up with things we can all be doing at home with this extra time on our hands and a fews ways we can still support those small businesses during this time – things to do while banding together for the greater good. Please drop any additional ideas you have in the comments.

Things To Do at Home During COVID-19

Catch up. Personally, I have a whole lot of work I can catch up on – both business and personal. I’m going to try and get caught up with lots of business things that have been piling up on me. I’m also going to try and get all those pictures finally put into photo albums. Yes, I do still print out photographs.

Clean out. Clean out closets, cabinets, under beds, etc. Here’s a checklist to get you going.

Yard Sale Prep. After you’ve done all that cleaning out, prep for a yard sale after Coronavirus is a thing of the past. Here are my best yard sale tips.

Deep Clean. All those things you’ve been putting off cleaning? Do that now. For me, I’m going to take my own advice I gave my aunt and work on restoring some old wood furniture and brass pulls around here.

Plan your next home project. This is another one I’m hoping to tackle. I’m going to use my free printable project planner and create a moodboard for a few room refreshes around here. Here’s my tutorial for how to make a moodboard.

Start a garden. It’s the perfect time to start your own cut flower garden! That link will show you my beginner’s guide for getting started – you can order your seeds online and never leave the house!

Read. There’s no better way to escape than with a good book. Here’s a list of my most recent favorites.

Start a new series. If you’re not a reader, start a new series on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. You could also rewatch an old one. A few of our personal favorites off the top of my head are The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Ally McBeal, Grace and Frankie, and A.J. and the Queen. I’ve also just started The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and it’s everything I need right now. Hit me up with a few of your favorites in the comments!

Walk. The outside is not off-limits, it’s just being in close contact with others that is! Take a walk, go for a hike, have lunch outside.

Take advantage of this time with your family. Best for last right here. 🙂 Use this time to cuddle up and watch a movie with your kids. Bake chocolate chip cookies. Work a puzzle. Read a book together. Play dress up. Have a spa day. Let your kid do your makeup. Why not use this time to make some pretty great memories?

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How You Can Support Small Businesses During This Time

Buy a gift card. Whether it’s to a locally owned shop, restaurant or some other business, buy a gift card from them. If they don’t offer this online, call them up. When all this is over, you can treat yourself to a little something or have an extra gift on hand.

Don’t cancel your travel plans, just postpone. If you’ve worked with a travel agent who runs their own business or lives off commissions from vacations they’ve booked, don’t totally cancel your plans, just see about postponing them. This could help that travel agent to keep from losing their commission.

Shop online or via social media. Peruse your local small businesses website or social media channels. Find something you like, call them up and ask to purchase it over the phone. I’m sure they will hold it for you until this mess blows over.

Share small businesses social media posts. This is something easy you can do that won’t cost a dime. Simply share posts from small businesses on your own personal Facebook or Instagram account. Pin images to Pinterest from their site. This helps get new eyes on that business, hopefully helping them grow and maybe even make a sale.

And guys, I’m just going to throw this in here too. All us bloggers, we’re small businesses too. We depend on ad revenue and affiliate sales to support our families. While we aren’t brick and mortar stores that depend solely on tangible item sales, I’m worried the economic fallout from all this will affect people’s habits online, which is understandable. So when you do buy something online from say Amazon, Target, Etsy, Home Depot or another large retailer, using one of our affiliate links for your purchase won’t cost you anything more at all, but it will earn us a small commission.

Bottom line: We’re all in this together. Let’s support each other during this uneasy time in our nation. All love, friends. All love.

In an effort to keep things relatively normal, I will be back to “regular” blog posts later this week. Just needed to take a minute today and say some things that were on my mind. ❤️