In a pandemic, retirees know what to do: how to get through the days, the weeks, the months. Your first thought about retirees may concern the age demographic’s susceptibility to the disease, and while present and frightening, that does not erase our competence during the pandemic (as long as we remain uninfected, but that goes for everyone).

The competence of retirees in a pandemic is this: the ability to impose structure where there is none imposed.

Self-isolation/quarantine/lockdown in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic is the responsible course—just as thorough hand washing and mask/glove wearing in public are—it’s the only course until there is a consistent decrease in infection over time, and ideally, a proven vaccine and treatment available. The internet and newspapers are filled daily with suggestions for how to survive in isolation: what to cook, how to entertain ourselves, what to read and binge watch. Learn a language! Write a book! Learn to dance! Draw! Zoom a Zumba class! Clean the closets and repair those frayed hems! Like these are new ideas for occupying oneself. Hey, retirees, we’ve got this!—a loathsome phrase, but we really do.

So in the spirit of helping fellow humans who have not retired yet—folks who are quickly losing it, according to the internet and newspapers—here is a list of 10 to-do’s to help you stay sane, healthy, productive, svelte, and sweet smelling for whomever is locked up with you. Non-retirees: read and learn.

1. Get out of bed. In the morning. It’s a big step, but think about the lure of coffee or tea, whichever you prefer first thing in the a.m. (bourbon does not count). If you are sleeping poorly, take a nap in the afternoon, but get up at a reasonable hour in the a.m. And make the bed.
2. Take a shower. It’s allowed to touch your face while washing it. Wash your hair. Hair (cutting and coloring) is a serious problem now, unless you are a hairdresser or are locked up with one (warning: do not allow your non-hairdresser partner to cut your hair; cut it yourself and take the blame)—the least you can do is wash it. Moisturize in order to maintain the barrier that is healthy skin. Wash in the evening or the morning, whichever is your preference, but wash. Regularly.
3. Get dressed. Don’t lounge around in pj’s or underwear or some cringe-worthy combo of same. Or worse yet, a bathrobe. Put clothes on, even if it’s a “track” outfit. Pretend you are going out (more on that later in the list) or answering the door (ding-dong!) and you have to meet and greet someone. When Zooming with your boss, family or friends, wear something appropriate on top but don’t succumb to wearing something unreasonable on the bottom (in an emergency, you might forget and jump up, and you’ll never, ever live that down). For heaven’s sake, change your clothes for clean ones on a regular basis. If you are unlucky enough not to have a washer/dryer in your home, this makes things tougher, but washing by hand is possible and the activity will soak up many hours. Think of how life on the prairie was for the settlers.
4. Don’t spend all day and night on the internet. If you have to work from home, first, count yourself lucky to be employed, but don’t log out of the company account just to turn on the gambling channel, Facebook, Instagram, Googlezon or Twitterpin. It’s better for your brain and your eyes to resist the screen for some portion of each day. So yes, read, cook, clean, exercise without a screen on—all good suggestions, even if they are posted on the internet as pandemic activities.
5. Don’t sit all day. Sitting has long been described as the new smoking (don’t do that either) because it’s so detrimental to your health (starting with your rear end). Get up and move around, doing one of the many aforementioned actions: cooking, cleaning, exercising, dancing around like Gilda Radner on SNL (you’re allowed to YouTube it). Just get up every hour or so and move. As retirees know well, joints tend to stiffen with age, but even young joints benefit from the hydration increase caused by movement.
6. Go outside. As long as you are not under actual lockdown, go out, get some air. If you are under actual lockdown, stick your head out of the window. Most cities, states and countries allow for some outside time: walking the dog, walking or running oneself, even if the time and distance are limited. Grocery and pharmacy shopping are included in these permissions, but while necessary, shopping is so stressful that it is not a listed recommendation.
7. Don’t eat or drink too much. This pandemic is extremely stressful, and there’s no arguing with the pressure of that stress. Eating and drinking too much are fairly common responses to stress even now, when planning a shopping trip is on a level with the planning of D-Day. Find some other way that isn’t bad for you to relieve stress. The YMCA does provide loads of online courses, including yoga and meditation—whatever—find a path between the virtuous and utter degradation—enjoy a cocktail of any sort and rant and rave at the news channel of your choice, for instance (certain retirees have been doing that for at least 3.5 years). You’ll think of something.
8. Clean the house. OK, nobody ever comes over anymore, and if they did, you’d tell them to go away. The FedEx and the UPS guys (why are they never women?) are the closest thing you have to visitors, and they don’t get past the front door. The tendency is to become a tad…disinclined. As all retirees know, this must be nipped in the bud! Clear up the clutter. Don’t leave dishes in the sink. Above all, clean the bathroom, but vacuum too. It’s pollen season.
9. Make a to-do list. Even if you don’t get through all the items, it will keep you attached to the world, and you may actually get some things done! It will beat back the chaos inherent to the universe, at least for a little while, and will focus your mind. The isolation has cut you off, you are adrift. All retirees know better than to let that happen. Anchor yourself to the tasks only you can do!
10. Be grateful. If you’re stuck at home, you’re not on your way to your dangerous job in a hospital, fire station, nursing home, grocery store, delivery vehicle, police car, post office or garbage truck. If you’re stuck at home, odds are that you are pretty healthy. If you’re pretty healthy, be grateful. Stay grateful and healthy.