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With unsettling lockdown and coronavirus news, and images of intensive care wards and exhausted NHS staff ever-present in the media, it’s no wonder that many of us struggle in lockdown. The key is to stay positive, but how can you bolster your mental and physical health to ward off negative thoughts?
It is a worrying time. Anxiety levels are high as the need to keep ourselves and others safe is at the forefront of every thought and action. To ‘stay positive’ means to ride out this public health crisis by maintaining a positive vibe to everyday life. Here, we offer 21 tips for keeping positive in lockdown, despite these trying times.
- Daily exercise. Getting your trainers on and taking daily exercise, leaving and returning from your home, will boost endorphins (a feel-good hormone) as well as maintaining your physical health. Remember to follow the rules and stay COVID-safe!
- Modify your self-talk. Self-talk is the inner voice that we all have. It is the voice that scolds us when we think we’ve made a mistake or we should have done something better. It is also the inner voice that can help us be kinder to ourselves and so changing self-talk to positive vibes is key, especially at this difficult time. For example, working from home is a shock to the system and not everyone has welcomed it or is enjoying it. If that’s you, that’s OK!
- Stay in touch. You might not be able to socialise face-to-face but stay in touch in other ways. Call people, chat about times gone past as well as plans for the future.
- Zoom quizzes. They were a hit in the first lockdown and there’s no reason why they can’t be now! Zoom is a great way to connect and have fun with family and friends from across the UK and beyond. Be the quizmaster and enjoy a few hours away from the grind of reality.
- Get creative! Take up a new hobby, something you have always wanted to try. Order learning to knit kits, for example, from an online retailer or try your hand at sketching, colouring or painting.
- Get rid of guilt. In the first lockdown, we saw many on social media shouting about all the new skills they had learnt. Many of us, however, have chosen not to learn seven languages or take up knitting. And that’s fine too.
- Thinking time is good. Lockdown has given us a chance to step away from ‘normal’ life into a different bubble. Perhaps use this time to think through things and be detached for a while.
- Set Boundaries. From social media to the news, there is a plethora of information coming at us from all directions. Set boundaries for how much of this you consume. Watching the news once a day is enough for most people.
- Get up, get dressed – for those well used to working from home, they know the importance of getting up and getting dressed. It might seem like fun to work in bed but in the long term, it means that work is seeping into a personal space. Stick to a morning routine, so set the alarm and get up, at least from Monday to Friday.
- And get the kids to do it too. With home-schooling a nightmare for many parents and carers, the temptation is to leave them in bed. But get them up too and keep a routine to their day.
- Treat yourself – make sure you take some time to treat yourself. Whether you give yourself a pedicure or schedule in a long bath with a book, treating yourself kindly means you’ll feel more rested, which can aid positivity.
- Timetable and lists. If you feel yourself drifting, creating a list of things that need to be done helps to keep you on track. This can be work and home activities.
- Eat well – it can be tempting to exist on pizza and snacks, but sugar-laden food is not helping your mood. Allow yourself the occasional treat but make sure that your daily menu has plenty of veggies and fruit. Don’t forget to include fish, pulses and lean meat.
- Invest in a weighted blanket – different things work for different people, especially when it comes to anxiety. A weighted blanket or massage pad works great for some people, instantly soothing physical agitation.
- It won’t last forever – these are ‘unprecedented times’ but they won’t last forever. Vaccines are being developed and programmes are underway. It may be a little while before we can leave these strange times behind but, it will end.
- Seek help – if you have dark thoughts or feel that you are depressed, you must reach out. Your GP can help, as can online and telephone support lines such as the Samaritans and Mind. It can be the hardest thing to reach out when you are at your lowest but take that step because you will not regret it.
- Extend a helping hand – just as you may need a helping hand, someone else might. There are volunteering opportunities that are helping people during these difficult times. From volunteering at vaccination centres to working with local food banks, making a difference to others can be the best thing for us.
- Support local businesses – everyone is having a tough time but how lockdown affects one person is different from another. If you can, support local businesses from ordering takeout from a local restaurant to afternoon tea from a local café.
- Random acts of kindness – drop a card or a letter into a neighbour to let them know you are there if they need anything. It is, after all, the smallest things that can make the biggest difference.
- Remember what you have – take a few minutes every day to think through all the positives in life. It can be hard when dark thoughts cloud the horizon or boredom snapping at your heels. However those few minutes can set the world and your mind to rights.
- A good book – choose uplifting novels and sink into the depths of an audible book from time to time. It makes the world of difference…
Whether giving yourself a facial, listening to an audiobook or spending time working out makes you feel good, embrace it and try to fit it in to lockdown life. Practicing self-care in these unprecedented times could help to give you a more positive outlook throughout, ready to emerge with gusto when we’re all back into the swing of things.
Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash