The Quarantined Maker 🦠

Hello friends!

I hope you're enjoying this Serial Maker newsletter! If you missed any of the past editions, make sure to check them out. And if you know someone who might benefit from this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend. 😀

This last week has been rough on a lot of people forced to distance themselves from others and isolate themselves at home. In our house, we've had to reinvent how we go about things. My wife and I are fortunate enough that we can both work from home, but we still need to provide homeschooling for our two oldest kids and take care of our infant.

Here are 6 ideas that should help the quarantined maker 🦠
 

1. Spit work shifts

Since my wife and I both need to work a full day, but we also need to take care of our children, we can't be working at the same time. So we've set up a split schedule. My wife takes the first work shift, starting early in the morning, through the early afternoon. I take the second shift, starting early afternoon and going through the evening. I get to homeschool the kids in the morning, and my wife gets them ready for bed at night. There are exceptions when we have important calls that we can't miss while the other is working, but those effectively break up the day, so it's not so bad.
 

2. Getting outside

We try to get outside at least once a day to avoid going stir crazy. Even if that just means playing with the kids in the backyard. Usually, it's simply a walk around the neighborhood, politely keeping our distance from any neighbors we see. We've also ventured into some public parks at off-peak hours to avoid others. Getting immersed in nature in that way lets you imagine things are normal again.
 

3. Passion projects

One up-side to this current state of affairs is somewhat of a drop in super time-sensitive work. This opens up a little more time to focus on projects that are important to me. This week I was able to get Link My Photos ready for its next iteration, with official approval by Facebook, and I'm excited to take that product to the next level.
 

4. Distraction

Sometimes we need a little distraction. Focusing exclusively on the 24-hour news cycle was stressing me out. Check out Instagroan for the iPhone and Android, built by my friend Robin and launched this week. Memes are going to help us get through this stressful time.
 

5. Contribute to the solution

Take a look at this list of tech projects focused on COVID-19 that are looking for volunteers. Think you have the right skill-set for one of these? Volunteer and let's all help each other to get through this crazy time.
 

6. Connect with video

This morning a group of people from my coworking space all got on Google Hangouts to chat about our new work life at home. It was great to see everyone's faces and to see other people managing their own new realities. It's easy to feel isolated when you're no longer in an office with others, but video chats help to fend off a little of that loneliness.


Keep making, and thanks for reading! 🙌

Hit reply to tell me what you're making. I'm looking for anyone interested in talking about their own side-projects and maker journey, so speak up if you'd like to appear in Serial Maker. I'd also love to know what you thought of this issue, and what you want to hear about in the future.

Until next week,

Craig