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How to be productive during a power outage.

It was a Saturday morning and forecast to be the coldest day of winter when I go the text message from Powercor advising me that the power was out and unlikely to be restored for three hours.

 

Bummer.

 

OK, no worries I thought – I’ll call some people and have a chat. 

 

Ah, nope – phone battery was at 3%.

 

So I’ll charge it. Doh, nope again.

 

I’ll catch up on some emails.

 

That’s a no-go ‘cos my laptop was out of juice.

 

Ironing? No. 

 

Vacuum? No. 

 

Bake? No, again.

 

I could have sat quietly and just read a book, but that didn’t seem like the most productive use of my time, and I’m actually not very good at sitting still without being productive.

 

So I did all (most) of this instead, and by the time the power came back on I had this list of 20 things to do when your power goes off to share:

 

1. Wipe all benches, surfaces & window sills.

2. Water your indoor pots (only if they need it, not just to fill in time).

3. Clean your toilet/s & bathroom/s & shower screen/s

4. Clean your windows.

5. Mop your floors.

6. Weed your garden.

7. Wipe out your fridge & dispose of spent items.

8. Organise your pantry.

9. Tidy your linen cupboard

10. Sort out your wardrobe.

11. Sweep your outdoor surfaces.

12. Remove cobwebs.

13. Walk your dog.

14. Clean your dog.

15. Purge your filing cabinet and make a pile for shredding.

16. Do a meal plan for the week.

17. Put a tub in your car and fill it with unwanted items to donate to the Op Shop. 

18. Empty your vacuum bag.

19. Wipe the inside of your car and remove the dog’s nose prints from all over your windows.

20. Change your bed sheets.

 

In closing I must confess, despite the power being out for two hours more than first advised I didn’t get through items 4, 8, 10, 14 or 15, but fifteen out of twenty ain’t bad, right? 

 

How do you fill in time when the power is out? Do you have any other suggestions for this list?

 

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