Coronavirus: 7 things you never knew you wanted to do until you found yourself in lockdown

Boris Johnson contracting the coronavirus brings the reality home that we need to respect his advice to stay at home – we cannot stress this enough, please remain indoors.

We know it’s tough for all you workaholic, busy-body chefs not to be hard at work – or at work at all. So, to throw you a bone, here’s a list of things to keep you busy:

1. DIY

Paint the walls, fix the toilet, spruce up your house if you can’t access the restaurant

2. R & D

Read your favourite cookbooks, experiment in the kitchen, plan your menus...

3. Learn a new skill

You can pass your online certifications to validate your culinary skills on paper or if you think you’ll have it in you to start your own business when this all blows over, why not take a business management course, or learn the basics of accounting?

Helpful links:

4. Stay in touch with your team

Going from spending many waking hours among a busy kitchen brigade to being home alone is going to take its toll on morale. Now’s the time to pick up the phone and reach out to your compadres!

5. Create some content for all the kids out there

Why not do your bit for all the desperate parents out there and film a cook-along to keep their school-deprived little ones?

6. Volunteer

More than 500,000 people have already signed up to volunteer for the NHS, from delivering shopping and medicine to picking up the phone to chat with people who might be in self-isolation and need a bit of cheering up.

There are plenty of other ways you can give something back to the community – including helping to prepare and/or distribute food to those who need it most, from people in self-isolation to the homeless.

Useful links:

7. Catch up on entertainment

Now's the perfect time to catch-up on any must-see films or TV shows from your list. Fancy a break from the TV? Why not catch on our podcast, Grilled!

In these challenging times…

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