Surviving Lockdown and Social Distancing
How are you doing? It’s been a tough week, hasn’t it? After one week of lockdown, you’re probably getting a little cabin fever. With events getting cancelledleft, right and centre it can feel like there is little to look forward to this spring. The next few months seem bleak in so many ways.
Keyworkers are bearing the brunt of this challenge as they continue each day to put themselves in harm’s way. There is so much to thank them for, and I don’t even know where to start. This week, millions of people stood on their doorsteps at 8 pm to applaud their courage and dedication. It’s a small and spirited token of our appreciation.
The calm before the storm
Our specialists suspect that we are presently in the relative calm before the storm – the period that precedes the spike in infections and sadly, more deaths. The least we can do is to wash our hands and remain at home. It is the contribution that we can make, and it is a gift to the whole community.
Many of us will be scared right now with many doubts and questions flying around our minds; will my family be OK? Will my job or my business survive? When will life get back to normal? At the moment, we do not know for sure, and we keep going.
How do we survive lockdown and social distancing?
I’ve been at home for the last two weeks with the children since they closed the schools seven days ago. What have we learned from this previous week? It isn’t easy!
It’s tricky balancing work with family time, and both are important. When working at homeyou may fall into the trap of doing more hours than you did in the office. As you’ve probably thought already, this isn’t sustainable.
Valuable lessons to help us adapt
You are carrying a lot of additional stress and uncertainty, and being on lockdown requires some adaptation. The last week has taught me some valuable lessons about what I need to do to survive lockdown, which I’ve decided to call the three s’s of how to survive social distancing and lockdown.
- Structure your Day – Set up a flexible routine for you and your family. Spread your time between work, family, exercise and fun.
- Self-Care – Side-step the urge to keep busy all of the time. Commit to slow down and rest your mind. Check out our free guided meditations, which are an effective way to bring about a sense of calm.
- Stick Together – while we can’t meet up with friends, family and colleagues, we can keep talking. Be curious with each other, and be kind no matter how frustrated or anxious your feelings.
Lockdown is Emotionally Demanding
My feelings have been different each day this week. I’ve felt hesitant, optimistic, disappointed, excited, bewildered and guilty. There have been others of course, and I mention these in particular because I am struck by the more extreme variation this week. When I think about it, it seems hardly surprising. Perhaps, there is more reason than ever to look after myself and to keep talking.
In this week’s round-up, I’ve selected a combination of videos, articles and guides that focus on what you and your family can do at this time. Plus, have you wondered what it has been like for people living in China and South Korea. They are coming out of two months of lockdown and VICE published a video a few days ago sharing their message with the rest of the world and what they’ve learned along the way.
Openforwards Weekly Round-Up
- Lessons from two months in lockdown – See and hear from the residents of South Korea and China who’ve spent up to two months in quarantine, and what they’ve learned about themselves.
- Surviving Lockdown & Social Distancing – Printable Image describing the three S’s, Structure your day, Self-Care and Stick Together.
- Self-care kit for children – A Guide for families produced by Dr Kathryn Holden, the Principal Psychologist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital
- FACE COVID – Animation and Guidance by Russ Harris, author of The Happiness Trap.
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