Staying positive during a global pandemic...

I know it seems like all anyone ever talks about, and will be talking about for many years to come, but Coronavirus has effected every single person on this earth. Whether it be the key workers, the people that have taken the time to work from home for the first time, the hospitality industry that has completely closed or the students, like me, who have had to continue their studies from their own homes. Each and every one of us has had to change our lives for the greater good of the most vulnerable members of our society.

As an optimistic person, I have tried to take this time to develop myself, as we may never get this amount of free time again! This being said, this is just what I've personally chosen as my own coping strategy, but no one should feel pressured into dealing with this time any way other way than the way in which they want to!

I am lucky to be spending lockdown with my family surrounded by the people closest to me, however if you are not as lucky, and have to spend lockdown alone, just know that I am here for you, my email is in the contact section of this blog.

I thought that I would share with you 10 things that I have been doing to try and spend my time wisely throughout this very new and very strange time of our lives.

Yo sé que parece como sí el único tema del que alguien habla de, y inevitablemente será hablando de por muchos años por venir, pero el Coronavirus ha efectuado cada persona en esta tierra. Y sea el trabajo duro de todos los trabajadores esenciales, las personas que han tomado el tiempo para trabajar de hogar por primera vez, la industria hospitalidad está cerrado completamente, o los estudiantes, como yo, quienes han tenido que continuar sus títulos desde los confines de sus propios casas. Cada uno de nosotros hemos tenido que cambiar a sus vidas para el bien mayor de los miembros de nuestra sociedad más vulnerables.

Como una persona optimista, he intentado tomar este tiempo para desarrollarme, como quizás nunca volvamos a conseguir esta cantidad de tiempo libre! Dicho esto, esto es sólo lo que he elegido personalmente como mi estrategia de afrontamiento, pero nadie debe sentirse presionado para tratar con este tiempo en cualquier manera que no sea la forma en que quieren!

Tengo suerte para poder pasar este lockdown con mi familia, rodeado con los más cercanos a mí, sin embargo, si no tienes tanto suerte, y tienes que pasar lockdown en soledad, sepa que estoy aquí para ti, mi correo electrónico está en la sección de contacto en este blog.

Pensé que compartiría contigo 10 cosas que he estado haciendo para intentar y pasar mi tiempo libre prudentemente, durante esta época muy nueva, muy extraña de nuestras vidas.

1.) Excercise

Before this global pandemic I think I set foot in the gym once... and i am not an athletic person at all, however, I have started to do a workout every day throughout the week (giving myself a break on the weekends of course!) to try and give myself more energy to start the day. I do think it helps me to get up and active instead of spending the day in bed!

I started by doing my own homemade workouts but I tended to cheat a bit stopping when I got tired or bored, so I started looking at online workouts on youtube. The channel I have been absolutely loving is Heather Robertson's, as they are only thirty minutes but are high intensity and there are loads of them!

Link to her channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/heatherrobertsoncom/featured

2.) Writing daily to do lists

If you know me, you know I love a good to do list, and this has NOT changed during lockdown. I find that writing down a to do list, even if it's the most simple things like; making your bed or cooking breakfast, gives you the most satisfaction to tick off (or, if you're like me, drawing a big satisfying line through it). I like to do this in the morning while I'm eating breakfast, or even the night before, to give me good start to the day.

This helps me to focus more on the things I have achieved even on the least productive of days but also gives me a bit of purpose to fill my day with.

3.) Being creative

I have always loved being creative so I thought this was the perfect way to fill my time in lockdown. Whether you prefer doing a puzzle, painting or sewing, this is a great way to relax, by popping on a podcast or tv show and just distracting yourself, spending some time alone to take your mind off the news.

Here are a few of the pieces I have made during lockdown...

4.) Baking

I love to bake, like art I find it relaxing and a real therapeutic way to distract myself and pass the time. I especially like to follow recipes from Mary Berry seen as she is the queen of the cakes. I like to make cupcakes or cookies so that I have something to snack on throughout the week, however the household favourite is cheese scones.

Here is the Victoria Sponge I made just one week into lockdown. I sent some pieces to my grandparents and other family members that are social distancing to give them something to smile about :)).

5.) Keeping up revision

Even though I am in first year of university and all of our exams have been cancelled due to the lockdown, I think it is important to engage with online teaching as my teachers are still taking time to make resources for us to use. This will also help me next year in my modules which I am advancing in. As a languages student it is also a good idea to keep up language practice to maintain your level of understanding and speech.

6.) Cleaning and Rearranging my room

To keep ourselves from staring at the same four walls everyday in lockdown why not rearrange your room so that it feels like a brand new space! I had a bit of an existential crisis and did this at 9 at night and ended up having to stay awake until I finished it (because I am that much of a perfectionist), but in the end it turned out great and I'm so pleased I did it!

As a girl who loves change, I know this really helped me to feel refreshed in a new space. It also gave me the chance to really sort through my wardrobe and drawers to sort out what I needed and what I definitely didn't!

I have donated most of these clothes to charity, but I am also selling a few items over on my Depop which i will link here;

https://www.depop.com/lauraa2000/ :))

7.) Reading

As another way to pass the time and take my mind of the day I like to like to get stuck in to a good book. To treat myself during lockdown (seems to be a recurring theme lol) I ordered some new books from Amazon and have almost finished the first one already!

Don't worry book reviews and recommendations pending...

8.) Zoom calls

Like every student reading this I'm finding it really odd not being around all of my friends 24/7 like I would be at Uni :((. In order to cope with this a few of us are making it a weekly thing to catch up with each other over a zoom call, we started out doing quizzes where everyone writes a round on their own specialist subject, but now have changed it up to be more of a 'pres' situation as we are missing it so much! We each pour ourselves a drink (usually alcoholic) and play drinking games like scavenger hunts, psych, bingo, we even tried ring of fire...

If you have pals that you miss being around, drop them a message and arrange a time where you all free to chat, I find myself really looking forward to it every week and you never know which friends really need to see everyone together in order to cheer them up!

9.) Weekly Restaurant nights

As a family, we love cooking, and often, our evening meal is a time to catch up with everyone after a long day, but, as we are on lockdown, we are missing going out for meals more than ever. To combat this problem we decided to change Wednesday night meals to something a bit more special, to remind us of restaurants we decided we would have a theme each week where we would dress up especially for the occasion and enjoy a three course meal with a wine pairing. This could be something as simple as Italian themed or as complex as Tapas.

Here are a few examples...

10.) Taking breaks when I need them

This is the most important one for me! As a self confessed workaholic I find myself constantly putting pressure on myself to seize the day and make the most of my time but, as with everyone experiencing this situation, we are living in a global pandemic now, and I think it is okay to take breaks in your day to deal with that fact.

Self care is more important than ever and it is important that we think about our mental health as well as our physical health!

To take my mind off everything stressful that is going on I like to put on my favourite facemask, run myself a hot bubbly bath and listen to a podcast (non-coronavirus related pls!). this really helps me to relax myself and slow down all those anxious thoughts!!

I saw this tweet online and think it is most appropriate to insert here...

xxx :))