Having watched countless hours of news bulleting’s and reading hundreds of news updates I think some of us are almost feeling lost in the chaos of the COVID-19 lockdown.

I feel almost fortunate that I normally work from home so for me there hasn’t been that much change to my daily routine other than I no longer go to the gym and I am completing my workouts at home whilst making the most of the outdoor space I have around me.

I thought that I would share my top tips to surviving the COVID-19 lockdown and how we can work together as a community to ensure that we are looking after our health and wellbeing as a priority.

1.  Create a daily routine

Without realising it most of us have a daily routine, whether that be shower, breakfast then work or breakfast, shower then work; we all have our unique ways. Sometimes just having a bit of normality in our lives can create a lift in our mood and create a more positive outlook on the day. I like to set my alarm in the week to ensure that I wake up early in the morning as I take a little while to come around.

I like to do my exercise in the morning too as I feel that I have the most energy and its almost as if it’s the first thing I do on my daily routine checklist in my head. Once I have done my daily exercise I can feel the endorphins buzzing in my body and this gives me a real sense of empowerment for the day ahead.

I always make sure that I make daily plans for my work day too and set myself bite size achievable goals. It’s so easy when you’re working at home to go off on a tangent so making yourself accountable I find gives you a great level of personal management. Create space that you associate with work and that you can easily clear away at the end of the day, this way you don’t confuse your work and home life balance.

One thing I also make sure I do is I plan my meal times, yes it’s very easy to work your way through the fridge and the snack cupboard but within your routine if you make time for exercise, meals and relaxation I find that you aren’t constantly thinking what you can eat next!

“Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keeps you going”

Jim Rhon

2.  Pay attention to self-care

All of the research into self-care points to the more we practice self-care, the more confident, creative, and productive we are as humans. We also make better decisions, build stronger relationships, and communicate more effectively.

“Self-care is so much more than a beauty regimen or an external thing you do. It has to start within your heart to know what you need to navigate your life. A pedicure doesn’t last, but meditating every day does.”

Carrie-Anne Moss

Here are my top 5 ways to practice self care:

1. Pamper yourself – put on a face mask, exfoliate your skin or even put on some fake tan you’ve been wanting to do for ages!
2. Remove your phone – we are all guilty of it, notifications from 10,000 apps popping up onto your home screen. Remove your phone from your life for a few hours and concentrate on you.
3. Eat a healthy snack – take time to prepare something from scratch, it’ll taste so much better
4. Say “no”- prioritise your to do list and make time for the things that really matter.
5. Get outside – At the moment we are fortunate that we are able to go outdoors once a day for exercise and research suggests spending time outside helps you sleep better at night, lowers heart rate, reduces stress levels, boosts mental health, and stimulates the immune system. Get out there!

3.  Reignite Community

 You know your neighbour across the street that you haven’t talked to in six months, you don’t even remember her name? Maybe she is the one that’s struggling right now. She can’t see her family and friends and can’t get out to work. Sometimes the simplest of things can help lift someone’s spirit.

On my road my neighbours posted through a note detailing the help that they could provide and an invite to a Whatsapp group for our road. The group has been so welcoming to everyone on our road and people are offering to do shopping, collect prescriptions and even a phone call for those in need. We’ve lived on our road for years and never have we felt more a community spirit. We have even planned a street party for when this is all over!

If your road haven’t got something like this, maybe it’s something that you could set up. It doesn’t take much but it just let’s people know that you are there. There’s a little template that @beckywass created, you can easily print it, fill it out and post it through your neighbours letterboxes.

 “Love yourself first, and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”

 Lucille Ball

We are all in this together, stay safe and keep moving.