I know a lot of people are waiting and hoping for a quick return to normality, and im sure at least some of you miss your jobs and the connections you make when you get out the house. With that said, the WHO have estimated a good two years until they can potentially get a lid on Corona, and so far no one has ever made a successful vaccine to any strain of the corona virus. IF you ask me i don’t think things will ever go back to how they were for a few reasons. This world has moved on from the way things used to work, and it is now time for us all to catch up and decide how we would like to move forward. This post is a prompt for you to think about how you would like to spend weeks or months in lockdown if and when it happens again, likely in October / November in the northern hemisphere. There’s nothing worse than sitting and waiting, especially when we can make plans for a much better time.

Your plans could of course be anything at all. It doesn’t have to mean uprooting and moving to another place, although if you live in a city I think that is a very good idea.. even if it is temporary. This is more about how you would like to spend your time, and balance your life when the pressures are all stacked toward people sitting on computers or watching videos or just playing games. If i had any advice to give you I would give the following advice to help you stay happier and healthier during this great shift.

Structure The Day

Id like to start by saying that I think its really important to make general day plan and structure your day so that you have different things happening. You could call it balance, or variety. Doing much the same thing every day is quite boring and gets tiring and stagnant. It makes time pass very slowly whilst you are in it, and very quickly when you look back on it because there is very little happening that stands out. Sit down and have a good think about the things you like to do, the things you have to do, and the things you can do with your family and friends. Treat it like a good recipe, its only when we have a little bit of this and a little bit of that that our days can taste so much better. Sometimes just a pinch of salt can make all the difference! SO make your self a day plan and see how much that helps you to do live a more enjoyable and balanced life.

Exercise

One really important thing that i do my very best to introduce to each day is some good old exercise. If you really don’t want to go outside to exercise then there are of course a million things you can do at home.. I think gardening comes top of that list.. if you are lucky enough to have one. Cleaning is one of my favourites, as is reorganising. Have you ever moved all of your furniture around either in your room or lounge? I used to do it every year or so when i was a child and i can still remember how much fun it was and how i felt like i had a new room afterwards. There are SO many apps out there now that you can try. I once tried a 30 day abdominal challenge app and it was really amazing. I quickly got used to doing it each morning and i felt so good all day and got quite strong.

Growing Food

I think gardening is one of the best things you can do, and in particular growing food has to be the most important thing you can do. Not only does it keep you fit, but you can harvest all kinds of very healthy and free food. This might be more important than you think when people start panic buying again. I know a few countries like India who even closed the basic shops down for some time when things were really bad! You can keep it really simple, just a few tomatoes and herbs in a pot on your balcony or windowsill.. or you can go wild like @samstonehill who spends a lot of time teaching hiss children how to grow food.. even on his balcony!

Mental Health

This whole epidemic has taken its toll on all of our mental health. Even if we are personally able to stay calm and centred without living in fear, it is really hard work being around so many people either online or in real life who are suffering and really struggling. People are scared, frustrated and angry.. and they are lashing out on each other more than ever. When everything around is is going crazy its more important than ever to take some time to do one of many things that can help us stay sane and with an open heart. Top of my list is meditation.. even 15 just minutes a day can make the world of difference. Creative arts are golden too! Whether it be painting, arts and crafts, music etc., you can find great solace by letting the whole world go for a few hours and being totally absorbed in your own creative endeavour. Of course this whole post is about mental health, and following all the ideas in this post are going to help you a lot to keep your head up and strong enough to deal with all the things that happen on a daily basis.

Connect with people via video calls

Until recently most people were just too busy and distracted to want to spend time talking to old friends or family... and even if we had time it would be hard to find a moment when both people were free. People being busy all the time was something that used to be very real.. and i personally thing that many of us used it as an excuse to put it aside. Today i think its more important than ever to make time to connect with one or two other people that you haven’t spoken with in a long time. You know who they are, and it has never been easier to push the button and speak with anyone in the world. Once you have done it you will see how fun it is and how it makes us feel good to connect with others.. even just by audio or video chat.

Spend quality time with your children

It may be hard to get your kids to be enthusiastic about doing things with you, especially if they are not used to it. Nevertheless, its well worth the effort to come up with one or two things that you can all do together and insist that they join in.. even its just once a week! You could do anything, a board game, an art project, a cooking collaboration.. Its always worth choosing something you think your children would like.. and if you have the kind of child who really resists doing family things then you could identify them in any number of ways.. not least doing an activity that they have wanted to do but you never allowed before.

I hope you have found this useful! I have tried to share very practical and simple ideas that everyone can relate to and do. These are incredible times we are living in, we all stand on the edge of a huge shift and no one knows exactly which way its going to go. If you look at the signs i think its possible to have a pretty good idea, at least in some respects. I know a lot of people have lost their jobs and income. Let it be said that the nature of work and jobs has changed, and even if it weren’t for COVID19 this was going to happen very soon anyway. The advent of robotics, Artificial intelligence and augmented reality means that most jobs that have been lost would have very soon been replaced. In fact its already happening, and this epidemic has surely sped up this process. If you have lost your job, now is the time to start thinking about what else you can do to bring security. If you have any creative ability, you will be much more important and needed in these coming times.

If you have anything thoughts on this please do drop a comment below. Much love to you all, and I really hope you seize this opportunity to make these coming weeks, months and years something special. My final word on the matter, although not for everyone, is leave the cities whilst you still can. Whatever cities use to be, they are not anymore. Freedom as you knew it, as well as most of the other perks of city life are eroding FAST! You wont even see a police officer in rural areas, and they certainly wont be beating you for not wearing a mask!

Thumbnail Credit: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-coronavirus-lockdown-neighborhood-maps/

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