Ten tips for lockdown, that will get you through no matter how long it goes on for!
1. Set three things on your to-do list. There seem to be two types of people during this lockdown: the people that want to achieve EVERYTHING, and the people who want to achieve NOTHING. Despite the fact that I am very much on the ‘everything’ side of things, I hate the thought of people overworking themselves, because they don’t have a ‘start’ and a ‘finish’ to their working day. Why has it suddenly become normal to work from 8am until midnight?! Pick three things that you are GOING to complete, and everything else is a bonus! 2. Download Zoom and Houseparty. We all know that Zoom started Corona (disclaimer: They probably didn't), but for real, it is such a great way to keep in touch with people! If you are looking for some entertainment, I can also highly recommend Houseparty, which has my favourite game ever built in to it - Pictionary (they call it ‘Draw something’). I challenge anyone to play this game and keep a straight face – it’s not possible! 3. Exercise. Oh, I know, you have heard it all before. You will feel so much better if you do this exercise, come and do my Instagram challenge, run 5 km and donate a fiver! All valid points. But let’s look at the bigger picture: At some point, we are going to come out of lockdown. At some point we are going to return to (a version of) our previous lives. Those of you who have taken the lockdown time to relax, and recoup, I think it’s wonderful, HOWEVER, when you return back to real life, are you going to have to start from scratch? Even worse, are you going to have to start again from a place worse off than you were before? I am not saying you should be running a marathon every other day, but I think that some sort of movement on a daily basis will do wonders for your mind body and soul. Click here if you want my help! 4. Meditate. Another thing that EVERY SINGLE INFLUENCER goes on, and on about: meditate. Yes, yes, meditation is great, we all know we should be doing more of it. Correct. And I am not here to repeat their bullshit, because we all know that’s not my game. HOWEVER, they sort of do have a point. I, myself, used to meditate on a daily basis for about 5-8 minutes every day. Since lockdown started, I went through a period of stress and anxiety, and my depression (which I had been handling so well before) started to rear its ugly head again. So I upped my meditation to a minimum of 20 minutes a day. Guess what? It only bloody worked! Stress and anxiety reduced (not disappeared, but a lot better than it was) and my concentration levels have shot up. Worth a try, right? 5. Cook. This works for both people who can’t cook – what’s stopping you from learning now? And people who already have a certain level of competency in the kitchen – it’s finally time to test out that ridiculously over complicated recipe you have been putting off for years. The entire world seems to be baking banana bread, so why not shake it up? Make something else! You can’t buy flour in the shops anymore anyway, so why not find some alternatives! Challenge yourself! When it all goes wrong, you can just laugh about that one time you took my advice and tried out a Pintrest recipe that went horrible wrong (If this happens, please send me photographic evidence!) 6. Connect with old friends. You know those friends that you have on Facebook, who you haven’t spoken to since school? The ones that only contact you when they want you to sponsor them on their 10km run for charity? Well it’s time to contact them, with an UPDATE, not asking for anything, just seeing how they are, what they are doing with their life. Who knows, you might rekindle some old friendships! 7. Connect with new people. Granted it’s harder to meet new people when everyone is stuck at home. Or is it? Everyone is online! Everyone is stuck to their computer, as the saying goes, “Everyone is at home on their phones, if they aren’t replying, it’s because they don’t want to talk to you.” So let’s strike up some conversations! Get on LinkedIn, meet people that you could help you with your business, or your future. You literally have nothing to lose, and you might just meet some incredible, inspiring people! 8. Take some time out. Everyone is trying to achieve EVERYTHING during this lockdown, myself included. But let’s not lose sight of the long term. When the lockdown is over, we are all going to go back to our lives, at 100 mph. You are going to wish you had taken more time to relax. So, take a little time now for YOU. Have a long bath, relax those muscles. Catch up with your favourite guilty pleasure on Netflix. Take an evening once a week where you get to eat your favourite meal. Do the things that make you happy! 9. Contact your family. This one is less indulgent, but just as necessary. You might be coping just fine in this situation, but other members of your family might not be coping quite as well. A quick phone call from you, might be the only time they speak to another human all day! Everyone is so busy ‘being busy’ that sometimes we forget that some people in our lives don’t have the option to do all the fun and awesome things we have been doing. They are just stuck at home, alone, wondering if they have been forgotten about. 10. Get some fresh air. Last but by no means least, get some fresh air! I know it sounds controversial, because everyone is being told to stay indoors as much as possible. However, there is a very real possibility that you have been breathing in the same air for about a week and quite honestly that’s just gross. Open all the windows in your house, get some plants for your windowsill, and make sure you are vacuuming regularly so that all the crap that gets blown in from the window doesn’t stay there. If you have a garden, spend as much time in it as possible, but if not, just make sure you keep that air circulating through your house.
A bonus tip for anyone that has a car: Clean it now because it’s going to be the longest it’s ever stayed clean since you bought it.
