The upside of load shedding

In today’s busy life, load shedding is seen as an obstacle to being productive and a waste of time. There’s no TV, without battery power your mobile devices are out of the question, and what’s there to say about cooking? Yet, in a day and age where we’re always “on the go”, load shedding might be just the thing we need to slow down and reassess how we spend our time.

Have a look at our suggestions of what to do when the the power’s out.

Movie marathon
Plan ahead, if you know load shedding is going to hit your area, ensure your laptop is charged and that you have a movie (or two) or a series at hand. Pre-make your popcorn or buy a bag of chips, invite your friends over and have every person bring something with, get comfortable under a blanket, switch on the gas heater and your movie marathon is good to go.

Bring and braai
Who doesn’t love a good braai? Gather the neighbours for a street braai; it’s not as if they have electricity either. Getting to know your neighbours is never a bad idea, you never know when you’ll need an emergency “cup of sugar”, and you’ll have an extra pair of eyes keeping an eye on your house while you’re on holiday. So, make a couple of delicious salads, light a fire, get your meat or veggies on the grill and enjoy. You can ever create a delicious dessert, by braaiing a couple of marshmallows.

Get active
Go outside and enjoy the fresh air. Take the dogs for a walk, go cycling or hiking in the hills – get some exercise and clear your head. Spend some quality time with the family, take the kids to the park for a picnic, feed the ducks (and catfish) at the dam, or head to the beach, if you live by the coast.

Explore
Explore an area near you that’s not affected by load shedding and become a tourist in your own town. Get to know its ins and outs and find all the hidden gems it has to offer. Visit a museum, watch some live music, or catch up on your grocery shopping.

Take some time out
Recharge your batteries with some well-deserved “me time”. Run a bubble bath, light some candles, read a book, meditate, have a nap; just relax. Finding time to unwind and recuperate is very scarce nowadays, so grab it when the opportunity presents itself. A little downtime can be the perfect antidote to stress.

Go low tech
Why not relive of the “good old days” and break out the board games? Challenge your kids or friends to a game of 30 Seconds, Pictionary, Rummy or Uno. It’s a guaranteed laugh. You could also buy a colouring book for adults and some bright Koki’s – you’d be surprised at how relaxing it is.

Share a pizza
Don’t let dinner worries get the better of you. Ask the neighbours to take care of the kids (you’ll look after theirs next time) and pay a visit to your local wood-fire pizzeria and share a meal over candlelight. Enjoy a romantic meal courtesy of load shedding.

Dialdirect Insurance
We’re constantly finding ways of making insurance easier for our clients, which is why we’ve developed Load Shedding benefits. These benefits are automatically included in your insurance policy. Now you can rest at ease that even if the power goes out, your cover won’t.

As frustrating as load shedding may be, it does have a fun element to it; you just need to get a little creative.