Living in lockdown is tough, but if you’re not used to spending day and night with your SO, it can get nightmarish. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, and for good reason. But sometimes, all you want to do is run out of the house for a break from your partner. If you’re spending this lockdown with your partner, and regretting the day you decided to move in with them, don’t worry. You’re not alone. But we’re here to save your relationship. There are several things to do in lockdown which will will make your life a lot easier and happier.

Related: How To Work From Home More Effectively

Try out these simple hacks for the rest of this lockdown, and keep disaster away from your relationship.

1. Draw up a chores chart

There is no point romanticising cooking together or cleaning together. You’ll both wait for the other to be free and then get to the task at hand. Since you’ve probably had a few fights about this already, it’s time to draw up a chores chart. Divide the housework equally, or on the basis of how much office work you have. Life will be a breeze. However (this is important, pay attention!), if your partner wants to take more chores off your hands, LET THEM! If you can escape work like an expert con artist in the office, why stop at home?

2. Use your earphones

Instead of telling each other to keep it down, use your earphones. This is a great time to blast music in your ear through the day, and let your partner do what they want. Whether they want to watch TV or talk on the phone, nothing will bother you. Catch each other’s attention when you need to communicate. And if you spot your partner screaming into empty space, turn up your volume.

Related: The Only Grammys Playlist You Need This Year

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3. Don’t insist on conversations all the time

On a regular day, you can’t keep talking to the same person all the time, can you? You also can’t keep talking about non-work related stuff during office hours because of the distraction. So, don’t insist on talking to your partner about everything all the time. It’s okay for the two of you to be together in silence as well.

4. Have separate work and chilling spaces

Being indoors all the time can take a toll on everyone. To maintain a sense of sanity, make separate work and chilling spaces. Create your own little nook in the house which is just yours, and let your partner do the same. If you live in a small space, this space can even be a comfortable chair and a desk. As long as you’re alone and there’s no potential to yell at your partner for an empty wrapper on the table.

Related: Sustainable, Vintage And Abstract: Home Decor Ideas For 2020

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5. Time a random coffee break together and walk around

As worker bees, we’ve been programmed to yearn for that coffee break as soon as the clock hits 11am. Why should that change at home, we ask? Since we’re all addicted to caffeine in some way, time your coffee break together and walk around the house. Pretend the kitchen is your office pantry or coffee machine, and meet for a chat there every other day. As suggested by some helpful folks on Twitter, make up an imaginary colleague and blame all your problems on them.

6. Plan a date night

Dress up if you want, but consider the extra laundry. If you have access to a terrace or a balcony, put on some club music on your terrace, pretend you’re out on the town, drink, wear heels till your feet hurt, and wait till the very last minute to go to the loo just to feel the urgency you feel in a long queue. Walk back into your room only at 4am, so that it feels like a proper night out. Make sure you know who’s cleaning up the next day though.

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7. Interact with each other’s families

Even if it is just to complain about how lazy the other person is, talk to your partner’s family regularly. It gives you and them a sense of normalcy. Also, if they get irritated with you, no one has the time to think about the life-threatening pandemic roaming around. You’ll still bicker and get on each other’s nerves as usual.

8. Try couple workouts together

This can be the best thing ever or an absolute disaster, so be careful. Try simple workouts first before getting naughty on the yoga mat. Couple workouts can be a great way to stay healthy together, especially if you’re also eating endless packets of chips together. And if a workout results in some new, improved positions (ahem!), why fight it?

Related: Healthy Habits To Follow In 2020 For A Happier, Fitter Lifestyle

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9. Go deep into the corners of Netflix together

Find the most obscure stuff to watch together so that you can both be pretentious at the next party, whenever that will be. Watch movies and TV shows in other languages to flaunt how much you’ve grown in the lockdown. Try documentaries on issues you don’t care about, just to make sure you have something smart to say in a crowd.

10. Be kind to each other

This means more than the occasional, absent-minded shoulder rub. It means full-on back and foot massages, on a give and take arrangement of course. You can also establish a no-nagging rule if either of you decides to not shower for a day or two. Any unworldly smells will make that rule null and void though.

This lockdown has been long and tough. Save your relationships, people!