Coping with lockdown
Lifestyle print editor Georgia Shepherd shares how she’s coping with the crisis
As a self-professed queen of routines, plans and organisation, this whole thing has thrown me off to say the least. As everyone has, I’ve had to make some *mild* adjustments to my life.
In my attempt to try and cope with this new way of life, I’ve devised a mini routine/plan, aka my way of functioning. This is by no means everyone’s cup of tea but it has really helped me.
I always try and have a call with a friend everyday, it’s so so important to maintain relationships especially in times like these. Having daily calls with pals really does boost the mood and nothing beats a good old natter. But it is difficult to not get into an hours conversation about the coronavirus and it’s repercussions. So I’ve started to do virtual pub quizzes and crawls, they aren’t quite the same but they provide good laugh and a welcome distraction. It’s just something fun to look forward too!
One of the things I have really missed are my gym classes. Gyms aren’t always the most social of places but it’s incredibly difficult to go whilst social distancing, and simply impossible to in the current lockdown. So in my attempt to replicate a similar experience I’ve started following live workouts on Instagram. I personally quite enjoy @rwl (results with Lucy), they do daily live workouts which vary from Boxrcise to Barre and are suitable for all fitness levels. If I’m feeling a more intense workout then I’ll do a @bradleysimmonds live workout, Bradley has built daily fitness schedules which generally consist of a HIIT workout followed by yoga or Pilates and then a strength workout in the evening, would 100% recommend.
In this current climate I’m sure many of us are spending *slightly* more time with family than we normally would, but I’ve decided to try and embrace it. In the pre-lockdown era my family weren’t the best at spending quality time together but now every evening we do a family activity, whether that be a movie night, quiz or board games. I find keeping my mind happy and busy to be a good coping mechanism for a lockdown.
I’m not always social medias number one fan but given that we are all in the same boat I’ve quite enjoyed being part of the online community. It’s been interesting to see all the weird and wonderful things that people are embracing in lockdown (street sing-a-longs at 11am are a personal highlight). However even when your Instagram is full of positive vibes, information overload is still a thing and can be very overwhelming. So embrace your online community but keep in mind that limiting time on social media is mentally healthy thing to do.
However lockdown is treating you, just try and stay positive, and fingers crossed it will be over before you know it!
Please note this was written before amendments were made to the lockdown on 10th May.
