Customer Login7 tips to see you through social isolation
I don’t know about you, but I managed (somehow) to make it through week one of lockdown. But now that I’ve skyped everyone in my phone book more than once, and read every Covid-19 article in existence, what do I do now?
Well, reading every article out there has had its benefits, there are no shortages of advice on what to do to keep yourself busy, I’ve compiled the best of them here, and come up with a few ideas of my own. Take a look.
#1 Get fit with Joe Wicks
If you’ve been on social media recently (let’s be honest, you probably have) will probably already know about this one. Joe ‘The Body Coach’ Wicks, the Youtube star and online Personal Trainer is streaming live fitness classes, every weekday at 9am, for free.
If 9am doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. All of the workouts are saved on his Youtube channel. There you’ll find the livestreams and workouts from Joe’s Youtube Channel.
#2 Plan your budget
Ok, maybe not the most exciting thing to do, but right now it’s essential. The outbreak has hit many households hard – if this is you, we have information about emergency help here. That being said, if you have managed to hold onto your job, you might be able to save better than ever before. Whether good or bad, you should always have a good understanding of your household finances.
The Money Advice Service has an excellent budgeting tool. The tool will help you to see if you’re spending more than you’re bringing into the household, and by how much. Or, what money you have left over at the end of the month. It will also help you to correctly convert all income and expenses from weekly, fortnightly or four weekly amounts into monthly figures.
#3 Cook meals from scratch
No doubt, many of you will already do this. For those that don’t, I can’t really say anything as I’m just as bad. However, recently I have discovered how easy using the slow cooker is. You basically throw all the ingredients into a pot, wait about six hours and viola. You’ve got yourself a fantastic, cheap meal, with a minimum amount of fuss, that will feed the entire family.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, don’t worry. There are still loads of easy recipes out there. One of the things I did was scan every recipe book in the house for simple ideas. If there was any complicated procedure, or any that had ridiculous ingredients, it didn’t make the list. Any easy ones I bookmarked.
You might not be as old school as me and may not own recipe books. You’ll probably know already that the internet has an unlimited amount of recipes. Here are my go to places for easy recipes:
#4 Take a break from the media
Maybe one of the best ways to get by is to take a break from social media. Last week I clocked up 5 hours of phone time in one day! That’s probably with all the articles I’ve read. If nothing else, I noticed that for every blog that says one thing, there are three more that say the opposite. The complete whirlwind of information can be a little too much.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t keep yourself informed. Knowing what to do can help to keep you safe. I’d recommend sticking to trusted sources for your information, reducing your time on social media, and to make a plan to spend some time on some offline activities.
#5 Learn something new
Have you ever found yourself saying: ‘I wish I could speak another language’ or ‘I’ve always wanted to learn guitar’. Well, now’s the perfect time.
There’s so many great free resources out there. I used Language Transfer a few years ago to learn Greek before I went to work there. The courses are great. You’re not supposed to write anything down or even try to memorise things. I know that sounds strange, but take my word for it, it works.
The site is crowd funded and the languages they teach are being updated all the time. The current languages they have are:
- French
- Italian
- German
- Greek
- Turkish
- Swahili
- Arabic
As for guitar, the best free lessons I’ve found are on Youtube are with a guy whose channel is called Justin Guitar. I’m still terrible at guitar but don’t hold that against him, I’m just musically inept.
The lessons are free and he comes across as a really nice guy.
Of course, you don’t have to just learn a language or guitar. Youtube offers so many free courses. Have a search for what you’re looking for and you’ll usually find it.
#6 Look after your wellbeing
The impact the lockdown could have on people’s well being shouldn’t be overlooked. Here are a few tips to look after your mental health.
Get into a routine – this has really helped me, and from what I read it helps others, too. I try and set some goals for the day and fit them around my routine. Your routine doesn’t have to be complicated at all, it just stops you from falling into a rut. On a weekday mine looks like this:
8.00 – Wake up and have coffee and breakfast
8.20 – Shower
8.30 – Start work
10.30 – 5 minutes of meditation
12.30 – Go for a 5k run & eat something healthy
17.30 – Finish work and call a friend for a chat
18.00 – Cook dinner
19.00 – Read, learn something new, or relax.
My routine above is just to give you an example. Yours could be completely different depending on if you have children, or have to help out an elderly relative etc.
Organise your things – Right now, I have the most organised house ever. My cupboards have labels, my fridge is tidy, and the house is spotless. For once, I feel super organised and it feels good.
Try meditating – for those of you who haven’t meditated before, all I can say is give it a go. Before I did it, I used to dismiss it as some useless hocus pocus. There is no doubt about it though, I stuck with it and after a few weeks I really felt the benefits. I use the free version of the app, Headspace. There are loads of apps out there though these days. Like I said, just give it a try.
#7 Volunteer
If you think you have time, why not volunteer. Right now, the NHS need all the help they can get and there are a number of ways you could help, from transporting patients to delivering supplies. Check out this volunteer page for more information.
