‘I COULDN’T HELP BUT LAUGH AT MYSELF’

Cigdem Tanrioglu, 30, is a freelance journalist. She lives in Enfield, London. When Boris declared the UK’S lockdown in March, social media was suddenly filled with friends and celebs using their spare time to complete challenges. While I appreciate these nominated tasks are intended to bring us together, I prefer to spend my time talking to loved ones or – and

I can’t be the only one with a penchant for this, watching box sets. But

I started to wonder what I was missing, and whether taking part could really improve my lockdown experience, so I finally caved and decided to give them a go.

I’ve been living in loungewear for weeks and I’m missing dressing up, so I started with the #Pillowchallenge. It basically consists of wearing nothing but a pillow, fastened with a belt, but as I secured it around my waist, I couldn’t help but laugh at my reflection in the mirror.

Taking a photo to send to a friend, I wondered what the point of this task was. I couldn’t leave my room looking like this, and you can’t even sit down in it. Maybe it was a good way to read a book on your front… as long as the belt didn’t give way.

Slipping back into my comfortable clothes, I decided now would be the perfect time to try out the Dalgona Coffee Challenge. The video tutorials made it look so simple, but making fancy coffee is a skill I do not possess. My first mistake was attempting to mix the ingredients with a manual whisk. As my arm started to burn, I swapped to an electric one, which sent coffee flying everywhere – despite the huge bowl. In the end, I put on the kettle and had a brew.

Next up was my most dreaded challenge: running 5k. As someone who despises running, I’ve tried to avoid this challenge as much as possible. But as it’s for a good cause, with over £5 million raised for the NHS, I thought I should try my best.

I set off towards my local park feeling optimistic, only to find myself breathless after five minutes. As

I was gulping for air at some traffic lights, a cyclist asked if I was OK. Feeling humiliated, I nodded and decided to walk the rest, although I did donate my £5 anyway.

Next on the list – Tiktok. Once the app was set up I was lost in a maze of filters and visual effects. I’m pretty tech-savvy, but figuring out how to make a video was not as much fun as it seemed. I was seriously confused and this was before even attempting to learn a dance routine. The app was swiftly deleted.

Finally, I settled on a challenge that should have been simple. All I needed to do was post a nice picture of me at 20.

After pulling out albums and boxes of old snaps, it turned out all photos were just evidence of my poor fashion choices and drunken nights out at uni.

However, I was reminded of the people I love, so instead of posting a dreadful snap, I decided to call my best friend, making this challenge a semi-success.

All in all, while taking on lockdown challenges did kill a bit of time (and some of them are for good causes), most of them do seem a little…pointless.

I’d rather have a good old-fashioned phone call any day!

‘I PREFER TALKING TO FRIENDS’