Lockdown 2.0 ~ Things to help from a stay at home pro!
ID: Graphic with a yellow background. Surviving Lockdown 2.0 is written in black in the centre and there are illustrations of a house, a cup of hot chocolate and a cosy jumper under it.
{This article contains an affiliate link}
Hello friends,
Although I said my site would be a safe space during the current pandemic, with England back in lockdown for the next month, I did feel I should at least acknowledge this difficult time we’re all dealing with and maybe offer some help.
So as someone who is very use to staying home, {I have been well enough to leave my house once since December 2019} I thought I’d share some tips and things that help me through the autumn/winter months when spending time outside becomes more limited due to the weather and it’s dark outside by 4pm. These things can all have an impact on a person’s mental health, even without being in lockdown, and it’s important to keep a check of yourself and implement things that help lift your mood.
Cosy Environment:
One of the most important things is to make sure that your home feels cosy, warm and somewhere you actually want to be. Cushions, blankets, candles, fairy lights, and a warm fire can all contribute to this and curling up under a warm blanket and watching Netflix when things get too much, can really help at times.
If you’re back working from home, it’s important to make that space just as comfortable as your lounge ~ even if you’re working from your kitchen table. A comfortable chair, lighting a candle, turning on some fairy lights or having a blanket over you to keep you cosy and warm while you work can make the space inviting. While you don’t want to make it so cosy that you’re falling asleep during those zoom meetings, these things may help motivate you to work each day if the space you're spending the majority of the day is inviting.
ID: A picture of Louise’s desk space in her office. There is a chair with a cushion, a desk with her laptop on it and a bookcase beside that. Above the desk space is print that says Breathe and a string of fairy lights.
I spent most of my working life in an office that was cold and uninviting despite the walls being painted purple! Although I enjoyed my job, having to be sat at my desk in a space like that didn’t make me eager to go to work every single day. But now, on the days I feel able, I love being in my little office space writing or studying because it’s just as cosy a place as my bedroom.
Keep Warm:
There’s not many things worse than being cold and personally, being cold can often make me feel miserable and also trigger my pain to worsen. So keeping warm is important, especially if you’re working from home and have to be sat for a long period of time. If you’re able to, getting up and having a break to move around and warm yourself up every hour for a few minutes can help.
If you struggle with cold hands, wearing fingerless gloves or having a hot water bottle on your lap that you can use to warm your hands can help, as I’m sure you’ve noticed your hands get cold while you’re typing away on your computer even if the rest of your is relatively warm.
In general keeping yourself warm at this time of year can be tricky, especially if money is tight and you're trying to not have the central heating on all the time. Layering up your clothes and investing in a couple of thermal pieces can really help in the long run.
Personally, I love a big chunky knit or hoodie with a vest and t-shirt underneath on those really colder days when I’m able to be out of bed, I’ve even been known to pull out one of my bobble hats if I’m really struggling to keep warm!
As my feet are always cold, I tend to wear two pairs of socks on those no bed days as well. I love long thermal/Welly socks and wear them over my jeggings or jeans, putting a pair of trainer socks under them really works wonders in warming up my feet. Add a pair of warm slippers or my uggs and my feet are usually a lot warmer by the end of the day.
ID: A first person picture of Louise’s legs. She’s wearing blue thermal leggings, with long striped socks over them and cosy slippers on her feet. She’s also holding a warm cup of tea in her left hand.
Warm Drinks:
It’s not often that I don’t have a warm cup of tea or a hot chocolate in my hands at this time of year {or any time of year to be honest} and warm drinks help to keep us warm from the inside out. Also when you’re not having a great day mentally, taking a breather with a warm drink of your liking, can help soothe and calm you.
Personally, I have a tea station in my office, mainly for energy saving purposes, it’s a long way to the kitchen when the stairs feel like Mount Everest most days! It also means that I have access to a warm drink anytime I need one, something that is invaluable during these colder months and even with the heating on and a hot water bottle, I struggle to keep warm at times.
It’s also nice to have a good selection of teas/coffee/hot chocolate as this adds a little variety and means you can adapt your chosen beverage to your mood if you want. If you’re looking to expand your tea selection, then I’d definitely recommend having a browse of the teas Twinings has on offer.
Routine:
Having a routine is so important. If you’re use to getting up at a certain time every day and heading off out to work, suddenly not being able to do that can have a big impact on your mental health.
So maintaining structure and routine can help to keep you in a good mindset and hopefully lessen the “lost” feeling that can come when you can no longer do something anything more. Believe me, I’ve been there.
When I began to have no choice but to stop and stay home more and more for the sake of my health and the things I was able to do became less and less, I felt like I had lost my purpose and each day began to blend into one and my mental health began to suffer for it. Those few that know me very well, know I need routine to function and so from my bed on days I had the energy, I began to set out a little routine for myself in my planner ~ writing it down helps to remember what you want/need to do in a day.
Like everyone else, this year has certainly caused my routine to go out the window at times, despite being a somewhat seasoned pro at the stay at home stuff. Change can be hard to deal with no matter what your circumstances and doing your best to keep to a routine can help bring some stability to an unstable situation.
Physical Wellbeing:
Looking after your body is just as important as looking after your mind. We all know it’s important to eat right and drink plenty of water, so I’m not going to go into that side of things here.
If you are able, try to keep to a good skin care routine each day, using products that are hydrating will help combat the effects of the central heating and cold weather. The same goes for your hair, treating it to a hydrating hair mask once a week will help keep it looking healthy even if it’s in desperate need of a cut and colour!
During this time of constant hand washing and sanitising, it’s also important to take care of your hands. Using a soothing hand cream after you’ve washed or sanitised them, can help stop them from feeling sore or dry.
Taking a bath is also a lovely way to treat yourself if you’re able to do so. Personally, I find baths really exhausting but on the odd occasion that I do have one instead of a shower, I always find for the time I’m in the tub, I feel like my constantly sore body just eases a bit as the warm water works to soothe it. So maybe adding in a weekly “Me time, Bath time” is just what you need to reset and pick up your mood if you find yourself struggling and feeling overwhelmed during this lockdown period. Also, both baths and showers are great ways to warm yourself up on those extra cold days when even the central heating or the fire isn’t helping.
If you do have a garden and are able to and the weather isn’t too bad on certain days, getting outside to get some fresh air and just being closer to nature can really help boost your mood, plus fresh air can help clear out your lungs and help you breath better. If you don’t have access to a garden, then a walk round the block would be just a good for a short time. Or if, like myself, you have a lot of days where you simply aren’t able to get outside, whether that’s in your garden or your street, then opening a window and letting the fresh air circulate around your home can be just as beneficial ~ just be careful you don’t leave them open too long on very cold days as you may struggle to warm up your house.
ID: A photograph of a pink Hydrangea.
Mindset:
Lastly, I just want to focus on mindset. Now I’m not going to tell you that you just need to buck up and think positive and all will be okay. Life doesn’t work that way and it’s totally okay to not be okay, even if admitting that at times can be difficult. It’s also okay to embrace those so called negative feelings and allow yourself to feel the bad with the good ~ life is all about balance and perspective.
So when you do feel like being back in lockdown is all too much and you’re not sure how on earth you’re going to survive it, do things that help you feel comforted. Virtually connecting with friends or family can help to lessen the times you may feel lonely, especially if you live alone. Keep a check on the “doom scrolling” and constant news reading ~ while it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, be aware of how what you’re reading is impacting you mentally and if you find the effect isn’t good, then consciously make an effort to lessen the time you spend on reading or listening to the news.
I noticed the BBC News App has a “Covid Update” each evening which gives you an over view of the days news and I found reading through the highlights all in one article was much better than reading article after article and slowly feeling my mental health take a nose dive. So that might be something to try yourself.
Finally, when things begin to feel overwhelming and you feel you can’t keep going or carry on, remind yourself that you survived the first lockdown! It doesn’t matter if you think you just barely survived, you just barely coped or you had days when you just hid away under your duvet hoping it would be over soon, the point is you survived!
So when it comes to Lockdown 2.0, which we’re almost a week into, remember these three little words:
You Got This!
Stay Safe. Stay Home.
L x
