Surviving Lockdown

There are two types of lockdown survivalists; the first are those that are striving to be productive in order to come out the other side having achieved something. The second type are the people whose only goal is to get through each day; doing a lot of comfort eating and completing nearly the entirety of Netflix. The important thing to recognise here, is that both of these coping mechanisms are OK. My advice to get through this (hopefully) once in a lifetime experience is to take each day as it comes and do whatever makes you feel good; if that means completing a 5k run then good for you, but if that means burrowing beneath your duvet from sunrise to sunset, then know that you are just as worthy.

The emphasis here is on the fact that coping mechanism number two is only okay if it is making you feel good and helping you survive. However, recently I have spoken to a lot of people who have well and truly fallen down the rabbit hole of waking up at 4pm and watching TV till 4am, and said that it’s making them feel even worse and they don’t know how to stop. So, if you do want to incorporate a little more productivity into your routine, are tired of spending your days on the sofa and are ready to inject a little life back into your lockdown; then the following tips are for you.

Stick To A Routine

You may not have any commitments or responsibilities to show up for at the moment but you still have to show up for yourself. The number one key to prevent the days from rolling in to one long week at a time is to maintain a routine. Go to bed at the same time every night, and set an alarm every morning; this doesn’t have to be a 6am start but as long as it’s the same time every day you will regain some sense of normality.

Waking up when our alarm tells us to do so can be difficult even when we have somewhere to be, so I know the thought of doing this when you have no plans all day can seem near impossible. My advice for this is to set out a plan before you go to sleep of what you want to get done the next day; whether it’s doing the weekly shop, powering through a workout, cleaning your room or making your favourite breakfast, make sure its something you need to get out of bed for. Cross things off of your list throughout the day, and reward yourself in the evening with something you’ve been indulging yourself with during lockdown; i.e., an episode of your current favourite series on amazon prime.

Lost Your Exercise Mojo?

You’re not the only one. When speaking to people about how lockdown has affected them, one of the biggest hurdles people have found themselves facing is the inability to get back in into their usual exercise regimes. Whether its fitness fanatics who would usually workout for hours at a time, or someone who has never stepped foot in a gym – people from all walks of life are finding this a huge challenge, and are desperate to get their endorphins up in an attempt to better their mental state, which has taken a tumble from the lack of motivation to get moving.

I recently spoke about this on an Instagram live and I think that firstly, its important to recognise that feeling like this is okay, and that we don’t all have optimum motivation levels 24/7. That said, when you are ready to get back into the swing of things, start by taking baby steps. Set yourself small goals every day to build up to where you want to be. If your end goal is to be working out for an hour a day, don’t start there, start by doing fifteen minutes. If you’re thinking how am I going to build it up when I can just about get out of bed, just know that the way you feel after that first fifteen-minute workout will remind you how good it feels to move and will keep you coming back the next day, and the next.

My second tip to get your movement mojo back is to keep it fun! If you miss the gym then experiment with home workouts, if your excuse for not going on your daily walk/run is that it’s too cold, then find something you can do inside! Truthfully, you wont stop making excuses until you really decide you want to get out of the rut that you’ve been stuck in for months, and that isn’t easy, so don’t rush yourself. A good way to ease yourself back into working out, if you’ve decided you want to make change but aren’t ready to jump straight in, is to spend some time creating a space for you to use. Whether you’ve got a whole spare room, some outdoor garden space, or just a corner of your own bedroom – make it your sanctuary, somewhere just for you to go and forget about the rest of the world whilst you dedicate some time to yourself and your wellbeing.

Lastly, my final tip to get you back to those burpees is visualisation. Since we have now been stuck indoors for almost a year and counting, it’s difficult to picture the things we used to do that we now realise we took for granted; holidays, a night out, being with our family and friends. What keeps me motivated to exercise everyday is visualising life post lockdown; visualising being on a beach or wearing that dress that’s been hanging in my wardrobe since October. Imagine yourself in those places you long to be, picture how you want to look, feel how you want to feel. Know that those days are coming, keep those visualisations in your head and use them as your motivation to be feeling your best once these restrictions are lifted.

Don’t wait for the gyms to be open to make a change, make the change now. Don’t wait for a green light from the government, make your own traffic light system; on the days you get a green light from yourself then give one hundred percent, if your body is telling you amber then take it slightly slower, maybe lighter weights or a shorter walk, and on days where you feel like you’re at a red light; stop, reset and start again the next day.

Lack Of General Motivation

I asked my Instagram followers earlier in the week what the main difficulties are that they have faced over the last year, and lack of motivation to do anything was one of them. I think this has become even more of an issue in lockdown 3.0 for several reasons. Firstly, a lot of people feel as though there is no end in sight, endless false promises as to when the restrictions are supposed to cease have left us feeling deflated and confused. Secondly, the fist lockdown was a new experience for us, it was during the summer so there was still some fun to be had; garden bbq’s, endless days of sunbathing, picnics in parks full of flowers in bloom – all of that is no more as we are in the depths of winter and don’t know when our lives will return to normal. It’s scary, and to some extent everyone has been affected by this pandemic, but its so important to remember we are all in the same storm, not the same boat. Thousands of people’s mental health has seriously declined, and this one is for you guys.

One of the reasons that so many people have lost all motivation is a domino effect of the fact that they have lost control. High flying city business women/men who were used to long days in the office, early morning rises, and late-night gym sessions, have suddenly found themselves stuck at home, with no reason to wake up (other than the occasional zoom call), and no gym to release the stress of the day. People that had their whole lives planned out to a t, suddenly have no control at all. The answer, regain control.

Whatever your situation prior to lockdown was, whether you were a city worker, a waitress or a stay at home mum, the best way forward is to see the light in any dark situation. Have you ever sat and thought about all of the things that you would love to do with your life if you only had the time? Now is the time. The world is standing still and giving you an opportunity to chase the dreams that you’ve never had the time to chase before; so, start the side hustle, read the book, learn the new language, spend more time with your children, and cherish this time that we may never experience again. Don’t wait for the world to tell you that you can live, our freedom may have been taken away from us (to an extent) but our minds haven’t. We still have creativity, imagination, desire and dreams, so follow them.

Some of you may be thinking that’s great but I still don’t have the drive to get up and do it, and that’s okay too. In this world of uncertainty our priority has to be being kind to ourselves, but there are some smaller steps you can take to find that motivation that you have within you. Say you are sat in bed watching Netflix, have a notebook next to you and start brainstorming ideas of things you would love to do; whether that’s simple things like going to your favourite restaurant or more career orientated future aspirations and business ideas. When you are on a daily walk or even just walking around your house, have some earphones in listening to affirmations, this is most effective as you are falling asleep or as soon as you wake up so they get deeper into your subconscious mind. Get some fresh air; a ten-minute walk, five minutes in your back garden or just opening a window and feeling the breeze on your face. At some point, you will feel ready to take action on those ideas you brainstormed, that fire in your stomach will return. In the meantime, just take each day as it comes, and know that better days are coming.

Procrastination

I see you; you have a 2000-word essay to write but you’re in the middle of re watching game of thrones for the third time. Another popular answer from my Instagram followers as to what they have been struggling with is procrastination. You have the dream, but taking action towards it is at the bottom of your to do list. You want the gym body, but you’d rather order a dominos then do the workout. You have an essay to write but day time television has become your best friend. We’ve all been there, but ironically, at a time where we have been stopped from doing anything we want do to, we have found everything we can possibly do to prevent ourselves from doing what we actually need to do.

My first tip here would be to just make a start; there are days where I put off my yoga practice and just getting to my mat is often the hardest part. The same principle applies here, that first sentence of the essay you type, first zoom call you attend on time, first shopping trip to buy ingredients for the meal preps you want to make – are all the hardest part. Once you’ve overcome that hurdle, the rest will follow.

Secondly, have a schedule, and stick to it. As I said earlier, routine is key; the same way you need to set an alarm in the morning, you need to create a plan for your day and be disciplined enough to stick to it. Share the plan with a family member, partner or friend and set a time in the evening to catch up and see what each other have achieved. sharing your plan will make you more accountable and want to follow it. This way, if you don’t do what you were supposed to get done, you have to explain to someone else what you’ve been doing all day instead of aiming to meet your goals. Do you really want to explain to anyone that you recorded four new videos on tik tok but didn’t meet the work deadline that was due two days ago? I didn’t think so.

Finally, a rule I apply to almost everything in life, break it down into smaller pieces and smaller goals. The uni dissertation? One page at a time. The marathon you’re training for? Increase your daily run by one mile at a time. The promotion you’re after at work? One successful project at a time. Pace yourself, and give yourself praise where it’s due. If I tried to write this whole blog in one sitting, I would shut down and be terrified to come back to my laptop in case I made myself feel like that again. If you’re procrastinating, you need to make whatever you are doing more fun. Work for no more than an hour at a time and then treat yourself; maybe that’s where you schedule in your daily walk, or maybe you deserve a takeaway. The key here is to set a timer for one hour, once that hour is up, stop working. Even if you feel like you could go on for longer, to prevent that inevitable eventuality of the crash and burn once you’ve been up all-night slurping red bulls, put the laptop away, close the book, end the workout and rest. Giving yourself that time to reset ensures you will be back for your next hour of work, and won’t put it off to water your house plants instead.