How to Develop a Healthy Relationship with Lockdown

Not even a week into the new year, and we find ourselves in another lockdown. What a bum start to 2021. It’s a really stressful time, especially stressful this time round because we’ve been here before, but today’s post is focusing on how to get through it while not developing a toxic relationship with it.

It’s partly about the way you look at it – obviously if you’re feeling a little down about it, it can be hard to get over the hump and appreciate that – or you might need more advice than just to look at it a different way. But for me – and I found this with the first lockdown as well – it was about stopping myself from seeing it as the world coming to a stop, and looking at it more as a break or refresh from my everyday routine.

Find new alternatives for yourself, but take the time to do it – don’t panic and rush it. For example, if you’re a gym-goer that’s obviously out of the quesiton at the moment. But, if you have the space, create your own gym at home. I’m not talking all the machines and weights and vending machine (however much I’d love that), but buy yourself some weights. You can get small and not too expensive workout tools, like kettle bells or resistance bands that’ll help you with your workouts. Date night – where you used to go out for a romantic meal in a posh restaurant, instead get ready in different rooms then ‘meet’ in the kitchen to cook an at-home romantic meal together. It takes being a little more creative than usual, but it’s all about bringing in the new normal.

Try your best not to get stuck in a rut. It’s easier said than done at the moment, especially when an hour sit down turns into a three hour switch off – then before you know it you’re spending everyday telling yourself that you’ll do something tomorrow. If that happens, find things that don’t require a lot of effort, but leave you feeling like you’ve achieved something with your day. Mine is with blogging – I might struggle to pick up the motivation to photograph and write up a new blog post, but I can spend a few hours focusing on other things for it, like scheduling and doing things on social media for it.

Think ahead to what you want to tell people after lockdown – in this I mean when people ask you how it was, do you want to tell them that you didn’t have a productive time, or would you rather tell them about the two online courses you completed, the wall hanging you painted for your living room, and the side business idea you came up with. (on this note, appreciate that it’s also okay to say you didn’t do anything much or anything new – it’s completely up to you when it comes to what you want to get from lockdown!)

Help yourself out – and this will vary person-to-person. My most productive method is to write down. I get myself a lovely notepad, use to-do lists, and write down everything I want to achieve in a daily or weekly planner. Once I’ve written it down there’s no getting away from it – if I don’t tick it off my list it’ll stay on the page. You might not find this works for you – you might be more of a thinker, listing the things you want to do in your head. You might want to take each day as it comes, or you might want to plan by the week. There’s no pressure, you do you.

Lastly, try to look at the positive things from it that cover the good. For example, it’s horrid not being able to go into work and be surrounded by your colleagues – but you don’t have to leave your house, meaning a lie in and a later night before is okay. Use that extra time to distract yourself, like finding a new series to watch, or hosting film nights for yourself – or a pamper night.