Once again so many of us find ourselves living and working from home, and while the past year has given us plenty of chances to get familiar with the process, things are slightly different this time.

With colder days and nights making activities outside tougher, we’ve had to grow even more acclimatised with our own four walls.

The tough times won’t last forever, but here are a few ways you can make the most of the current situation.

Keep your mind and body sharp

If you’re happy to hit the pavements when the mercury plummets, then great. But you might also be the kind of person that can’t bear to have the chill in your bones.

If that’s you, you’ll need to get an exercise fix indoors. But that doesn’t have to mean splashing out on expensive equipment, and it doesn’t have to mean pushing your body to untold limits either!

With gyms closed, many fitness practitioners have turned to YouTube to offer people classes and sessions they can do in their own time to keep fit.

Whether you go hard, or opt for something more gentle, raising the pulse in any way can benefit both your physical and mental wellbeing.

Speaking of the mind, using your grey matter can also keep the lockdown blues at bay. You might want to learn a new language, pick up an old instrument, or learn a new recipe in the kitchen.

Again, it doesn’t have to be ground-breaking, but honing your existing skills in some way can keep your mind active and ready to fizz again when life opens back up.

Get ready for normal life again

There will come a time when our lives resemble something approaching the norm again.

So, if things are a bit dormant right now, why not get ready for when you can go again later in the year.

Make a list of places you’d love to go, or things you’d love to do that you can’t already. Get your life admin out of the way, like organising your finances, so you can tackle things at full speed. Or, if the period of reflection has given you food for thought, ponder if a career move could leave you more satisfied in years to come.

Doing these things now will give you more time to enjoy everything when you’re spending more time with family and friends later.

Spruce up your surroundings

If you’re still working from home, then making sure your ‘office’ is as work-friendly as can be is crucial for productivity.

Similarly, spending this time at home might have drawn your eye to spots that could be improved.

If you’ve perhaps a bit of extra time on your hands right now, why not tackle that DIY project that you’ve been putting off? It’ll leave you with a sense of accomplishment that can help you get through some of the tougher times right now.