It’s been a difficult year. For everyone, so much has changed and the inability to see people you love and ultimately, have fun, has been limited massively. It’s been a struggle for everyone around the world, key-workers doubling their shifts and hospital staff enduring 17 hour days on 6 hours sleep. The coronavirus has pushed us all to limits we’ve never seen before, and of course, it’s been difficult.
I’m very lucky because other than my last year at University moving online and not being able to jump on a train as often I’d like to see my friends and family, not too much has changed. But the world just seems a little glum at the moment. The sky is grey as ever in Nottingham and the impending essay deadlines have taken the life out of my local area. But like most, I have found motivating myself extremely difficult recently, so today, I thought I’d just give a few tips on how I’m attempting to power through those super bad days and a quick reminder that it’s okay to have bad days sometimes, especially in a pandemic.
First of all, when you’re down, it’s so easy to isolate yourself and not attempt to see other people because the thought of having a conversation is too exhausting. But I’d really recommend not to do this. Of course, I’m not saying go downstairs and talk to your housemates for 5 hours straight but calling a friend for a quick catch up or asking your housemate how their day has been, is definitely a good start. Having a quick conversation can be grounding and remind you that even if things aren’t feeling the best at the moment, life can still be beautiful within its mundaneness.
Secondly, and I’m unsure whether this is something that just helps me personally, but external stimuli like listening to music or watching a youtube video always makes me feel slightly less all over the place when I’m down. More often than not, I probably couldn’t tell you anything about what I just watched or listened to, but the comfort of the audio often helps me calm myself down and not think for a short amount of time. It’s comforting and there’s always a chance it’ll be entertaining. When I’m down I have a tendency of watching SNL or Stand-up comedy, so literally anything works.
The last one, is pretty obvious and annoyingly repeated, however, ensuring to move around is so beneficial for these types of days. Even if you just get up and pace around your room, or just wiggle your arms and legs for a minute or so, it’ll make you feel a little bit better. It’s so easy to stay cooped up in bed when the world is the way it is, but just ensure that you have a few moments a day moving your body around and stretching.
Reminder: A bad day doesn’t mean a bad life, neither does a bad week or a bad month. You will get through it.