How long have you been affected by the ‘stay at home’ order in California? Two weeks? Three? Perhaps even a month? Most Californians simply aren’t used to staying at home for such an extended duration. As time goes on, you might begin to develop a different kind of fever: cabin fever. Once you finish binging all the TV shows that catch your interest (and maybe a few that don’t), you could find yourself walking around the house looking for something to do.
Under circumstances like these, you’re bound to tread through the house a whole lot more than normal, and that means wear and tear on your carpet. Everyone here at Preferred Carpet Care (as well as those working remotely) understands that these times are difficult, but we also want your carpet to last. Therefore, for the sake of your carpet, we wanted to offer a few ideas. Keeping these things in mind will help you avoid going out of yours.
Procrastinate Some Other Time
Now that we have so much time on our hands, it’s easy to think that we have plenty of time to relax now and do other things later. Be careful, as it’s even easier to keep putting things off when you think you have plenty of time. It’s possible that as soon as we get used to these restrictions, they’ll be lifted, and we’ll return to our usual busy routine. Also, remember what they say about idle hands and certain workshops? Keeping ourselves busy will keep us out of trouble.
Strategize
For the vast majority, our daily and weekly routines are broken until further notice. But we’re used to having them. We are, in fact, creatures of habit, and need structure in our lives. It’s important to rebuild that structure to avoid aimlessly looking for things to do. Make a list of things you need to take care of on a daily and weekly basis. We’re not talking about a “honey-do” list here, because those usually focus on one-time tasks. Make a list of regular daily or weekly tasks, like:
- Going to the store
- Picking up prescriptions
- Paying bills
- Take out the trash, do landscaping, laundry, dishes, and other chores
- Vacuuming your carpet
- Exercises like walking, adhering to social distancing
- Watching TV, as in how much and when (Yes, that’s right – schedule it)
- If you work from home, schedule your work time and breaks, and keep to them
Gauge how much time each task should take. After you’ve scheduled those things, you can fill in the gaps with the honey-do list. Again, set that routine and stay with it so you don’t fall into thinking “there’s nothing to do”.
Also, keep your sleep schedule regular. Try to avoid sleeping in or staying up all night. For one thing, those can easily become habits and disrupt your routine. For another thing, you won’t have to reset your body clock once we all go back to work.
What About Carpet?
As we said before, we want your carpet to last. Preferred Carpet Care is still ready and waiting to schedule a carpet cleaning with you. In the meantime, protect your carpet from increased wear and tear. Consider investing in plastic mats, especially for higher traffic areas of your home. Since we are entering into Spring, it might be prudent to rearrange furniture.
Of course, if you have any questions or would like to discuss further actions you can take to help your carpet during this stay-at-home order, please give us a call or schedule an appointment online.