The first lockdown was immensely difficult on people, let alone the second and now the third! I have moved back to university and I am the only person in my household. Hence, I have picked up some useful tips on combating low morale and keeping myself busy.
1. Firstly, I have tried to plan all my days, ensuring that I have at least three fun things to do. I prioritised scheduling walks, nice meals, and self-care. Completing tasks that take up your time, is so helpful, as lockdown can make life seem quite pointless and repetitive.
2. I love getting out and moving my body. Exercise boosts endorphins and being in the fresh air can help you to forget the doom and gloom on the news.
3. Time to flex those baking skills. Rumour has it that whilst banana bread was big in the first lockdown, Victoria sponge cake may cinch the top spot for the third one!
4. My favourite activity has to be self-care. Whether it be painting my nails, doing a face mask, or doing my makeup and getting ready to go nowhere, this somehow instantly boosts my mood.
5. Stay connected digitally with your friends and family. Plan weekly phone calls or drinks on a Zoom call.
6. Social media cleanse. It can be so easy to spend hours scrolling through Tik Tok or Instagram, looking at others, and comparing yourself. Instead, I would suggest following insightful pages, for instance on health or positive quotes. These make the mornings alone much easier, as a reminder that today can be a good day.
Ultimately, the hardest but most useful thing to do is maintaining a positive attitude. If you feel as though your attitude is slipping, put on some music or watch a film. I would say the real danger in lockdown is to let your mind wander. When I know boredom has hit me, I go and download children’s games that I used to play when I was younger like ‘cooking mama’ or ‘interior design challenge’, and just mess around on them for an hour. It sounds a little weird, but just spending an hour engaging my brain in a way that I don’t usually, enables me to let my guard down and forget for a while what is going on in the world.
I really hope some of these tricks can help you to combat lockdown anxieties. I know it is so tough, but I am sure that this will all be a distant memory in a year. As people say, tough times do make us stronger.