How to stay cool during a heatwave when working from home
In the next 48hrs, the UK is experiencing some of the hottest temperatures on record. Everyone is talking about the heatwave. The government are hosting Cobra meetings to discuss how to tackle it. The sales of overpriced iced coffees have skyrocketed. It’s quite the frenzy. If you work from home like most of us do, you’re probably sick to death of office-based friends and family bragging about the fact they can go to their lovely air-conditioned offices to escape it (we’re not remotely jealous). But what if you work from home? How do you stay cool during a heatwave? We’ve got some suggestions that absolutely nobody asked for.
Fans + ice blocks = 🥶
Don’t have an air con unit? Join the club. But we’ve found a handy trick to mimic the effects of air conditioning without the price tag of one! Grab your fan (if you don’t have one of those, you’re crazy) and pop some ice blocks in front of it. It cools down the air it throws your way immediately and keeps you feeling nice and cool. We recommend having some ice blocks on rotation in the freezer so you can just keep replacing them when it starts getting too warm again.
Frozen bananas are your friend
If you don’t like bananas, scroll on. If you do, chop a load up and pop them in the freezer. You can either shove them in a blender when frozen to make a healthy make shift ice cream (we like to add a touch of vanilla to it too) or mix it with a milk type of your choice (and some vanilla or flavouring) to turn it into a healthy no-ice-cream milk shake. Tasty ways to cool down are definitely our favourite kind.
Load up the fridge with water bottles
For anyone else that seems to have accumulated a heck of a lot of branded water bottles, now is the time they find a purpose in your life. Fill them all up with water (or if you’re like us, pop a bit of flavoured squash in it too) and pop them ALL in the fridge. Always having cold water on hand is the easiest way to stay hydrated and keep your internal body temperature in check too.
Shut all the windows
This might seem counterintuitive, but bear with us. In the daytime, it’s worth shutting all the windows and pulling down the blinds if you have them. Your windows will act as a barrier to letting the heat in and if you’ve got fans on etc, it’ll make them much more efficient in keeping your house cool. At night, open up EVERYTHING. Get that air circulating.
Cold showers are your friend
Having your day interjected with cold shower breaks is necessary. And make sure it really is cold. Put on your big person pants and get that temperature dial RIGHT down. It’ll hurt at first but rest assured, your body will thank us for it.
Look after your pets
Obvious, right? Don’t walk dogs during the day time - get up super early or go in the evening. Not only will this save them from overheating but the roads in the UK aren’t made for extreme heat and can burn their paw pads really easily. If you have a garden or patio at home, it’s sensible to make sure you splash it with water before they go outside to stop this from happening at home too. Pop ice cubes in their water bowl. Rub them down with ice packs. Give them a cold shower or take them in with you to yours!
Keep your feet cool
If your feet are cold, the rest of you should be too. We like to station ourselves at our desks with a bucket filled with ice water when it gets hot. Your feet will end up looking like shrivelled prunes by the end of the day but it’ll be worth it.
Don’t go outside
Ok, we get it. Sun shines and you want to stick your body in it. And whilst we get it and agree, not in 40 degree weather. Stay inside when it’s at its hottest - 11am-3pm and when you do go out, slather on the factor 50, stay hydrated (and not with alcohol) and don’t do anything too vigorous.
Take a siesta
We’re big fans of day time naps but think about how mainland Europeans handle the summer heat…for the most part, they shut up shop in the early afternoon to take a breather. Learn from them. They’ve been battling high summer temperatures much longer than us. If you need to nap, do it.
Most importantly, remind yourselves that this current extreme heatwave is just for 48hrs. We can get through it.
