IKEA Hacks – Ways You Can Improve Your Quality Of Life During COVID-19

IKEA’s mission and raison d’etre during the COVID-19 pandemic are “to create a better life for many people.” – As the COVID-19 pandemic grinds on, many people are exhausted and strung out by the ongoing stresses related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the need to maintain physical distance from other people. There are individuals, admittedly falling within the high-risk bracket, who have not had meaningful social interaction with other people since February or March 2020.

Scientific research studies have shown that loneliness and social isolation heightens the risk of smoking much more than usual and developing an alcohol use disorder. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, notes in her co-authored meta-analysis that “there is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators.”

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Apart from the social isolation challenges people face during this time, the second challenge is the socio-economic challenge. Research conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that, while the US “labor market has recovered somewhat,” 25% of all American residents are still battling to pay their bills, even though we are almost at the end of 2020.

Circa 22 million Americans lost their jobs in early 2020, with many more transitioning to working remotely from home. And this scenario, for better or worse, is likely to persist indefinitely or until the COVID-19 pandemic is under control and on its way to eradication. While working from home might have felt exciting at first, there are enormous challenges involved in working and living in the same space for months on end.

Therefore, the question that begs is how do you divide a small apartment or home into both an office and a living space where you can relax and walk away from your work desk?

The concise answer to this question is answered by considering several IKEA hacks or simple ways to improve your quality of life while social distancing for months or years on end. By way of expanding on this statement, let’s consider a few of these hacks.

1. Declutter Office And Living Spaces

One way to make a small space seem larger is to get rid of all the unnecessary clutter. It is a good idea to donate or throw away all unwanted items or stuff you rarely use. Once this action is complete, the second step is to pack the remaining items into existing or new storage areas, such as cupboards or bookshelves. If you don’t have enough storage space, you can add shelves or baskets to cupboard hanging spaces or install bookshelves as room dividers or along the perimeter walls

2. Install Ergonomic Office Furniture

Spending long hours sitting behind a computer in a makeshift space can, and will, take a toll on the human body, leading to conditions like Repetitive Strain Injury, migraine and tension headaches, and eye strain. Thus, it is essential to ensure that you install an ergonomic workstation, especially if your company has closed its offices for the foreseeable future.

3. Personalize Your IKEA Furniture

IKEA is known for its well-designed, functional furniture that is extremely well-priced. However, after a while, it’s lack of decorative feature might become a bit challenging to live with. Fortunately, there are companies like O’verlays that manufacture decorative panels to liven up IKEA pieces like cabinets, bookshelves, and chests of drawers.

If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.

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