Geeks Vs Loneliness: duvet days

When was the last time you gave yourself a day off? Not a day’s holiday from work that you find full of necessary chores that have to be achieved in eight short hours. Rather, a whole day to yourself where you can bunker down on your settee and let yourself go with the geek flow.  

It can seem like sheer indulgence, taking a day for yourself. Life is noisy and it is hard to switch off. Your mobile devices follow you everywhere, bringing work in your living room. So powering down and switching everything off can seem daunting. 

If you can fit a duvet day slot into your life then grab it. Fire up your favourite streaming service and binge anything you like. Plan a schedule to watch, a series to binge or just take pot luck. 

There are more Halloween films hitting the streaming services right now than you can shake a bag of Doritos at (check out our guide to what’s available on Netflix if you fancy a good scare). Top up on Halloween themed snacks in lurid colours to compliment your slacking off. I’m particularly fond of pumpkin-themed fondant fancies that have enough sugar content to keep me fuelled to the end of a series binge. 

What does your perfect duvet day look like? Mine has cool Doritos and a TV box set that doesn’t have to engage the brain too much. The Boys fitted the bill perfectly – loud, funny, morally dubious and with some spectacular gross out moments. Preacher is also a contender. What would you recommend for anyone looking to switch off for a day, an afternoon or just an evening? 

We’d planned to watch John Wick: Chapter 3 this weekend, but instead found ourselves on good old Channel 4 watching disaster movie Volcano. Rivers of lava burning up LA, creative if mildly unconvincing death scenes, millions of souls being saved by Tommy Lee Jones – perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. Cue more 1990’s disaster movie cheese. Dante’s Peak anyone?

Give yourself permission to be offline. Literally offline. No communications, no work, no “just checking work emails in case of emergency”. Totally disengaged from everyday life. Wallow in fictional misery or comedy, or settle on down with a good documentary (Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes on Netflix is fascinating). If your sneaky pleasure is Keeping Up With The Kardashians (and let’s face it, it’s like stepping into a parallel universe watching that show), then tuck yourself up, hit the play button and enjoy. 

There are also book duvet days. What have you been longing to read, but just haven’t had the space or time to give enough of your attention to? Grab a comfortable pillow, get settled and just lose yourself in the pages. 

A little bit of self-care goes a long way. There are probably more healthy ways of clearing out your brain and giving it a break from the stresses of life. Things like yoga, a good walk and meditation. But there’s something special about a duvet day. It’s a different level of self-indulgence, one that’s good for the soul on the rare occasion you get the opportunity to take one. 

Welcome to autumn. Wrap up, chill out and take care of yourself. And thanks as always for reading.