As we get used to Lockdown, and understand its constraints, we urge everyone reading this to think how their business, their products, and their brands can help people make the best use of their time.

Examples are emerging already.

Renowned Italian opera singers are producing a full opera online.

Our very own New Zealand Bear Hunt is an inspired piece of thinking to keep kids engaged.

We are urging one of our clients to provide inspiration and ideas on how people can give their homes an interior makeover, without leaving the house.

And for another client, we are helping to create an online DIY competition showcasing the work that people have done around their properties during the four-week stay-cation.

Work commitments aside, people are going to need stuff to do. They need ideas.

Crashing on the sofa in a darkened room watching Netflix is tantamount to giving up. 

Painting.

Re-designing our bedrooms or landscaping (you will be surprised what supermarkets have on offer for the latter). 

Tackling new recipes.

Using all those games and jigsaw puzzles that have never been opened.

Tidying the garage.

Giving the car a good valet.

Having a big wardrobe throw-out. Use the time we used to spend going to and from work to exercise.

In the next four weeks, there are also many tasks that we are going to have to learn to do for ourselves… 

Haircutting seems to us to be the most obvious (and the most concerning).

Dog grooming. (Maybe groom the dog first as practice for your own hair.)

Food preparation. (Involving more than just opening a can.)

Mowing the lawn.

Cleaning the windows.

Clearing the gutters.

Sweeping the chimney.

Unfortunately, “the man” who used to do all this for us, is now probably in his own dressing gown.

The residents of Remuera and Mosman and Kensington will have to put down their tennis rackets and pick up a mop.

Our fathers would love this. All us “pampered pooches” finally having to get our hands dirty. Whatever you do, don’t atrophy. You need to establish a routine early, just as if it was a normal workday, and above all, maintain your standards of dress and grooming.

We don’t want a country of men or women resembling Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway. If we all end up as heavily bearded hair bears, talking to volleyball Wilson, then the virus will have won.

So look good for one another, all the time.

And really think about how your business can look good too.