5 things I’ve learned during lockdown
Lockdown has changed everyone’s life. We have never in our lifetime seen anything like this. Pretty much being confined to our homes except for work, shopping, exercise or a medical reason, and it has already seemed like an incredibly long time. So, I am going to share 5 things I’ve learned so far during lockdown.
When the whole lockdown thing happened we did consider ourselves to be one of the lucky ones.
By that, I mean my husbands job was secure and he continued to work. My income is secondary and any work that I lost didn’t really have too much affect on the overall financial side of things. So without the added financial stress and uncertainty that a lot of people had enforced on them we considered ourselves incredibly lucky.
That said, like everyone else our daily life changed dramatically. All the things we naturally took for granted as always being available, became obsolete virtually overnight. For me it was cinema trips, coffee shop meet ups, meeting friends for lunch, meeting with clients or just mooching around the shops.
I also suffer which chronic pain so for the last 10 yeas or so, it’s like I’ve been in training for lockdown as my life is probably more sedentary than most anyway.
But, even though I may have adjusted slightly better than anyone living a ‘normal’ life, there are still a few things I’ve learned during the lockdown period so far.
5 Things I have learned so far
1. I can save money!
Contrary to my pre lockdown views, we do actually have money to spare and therefore, save. It’s easy to say (when life was normal) that we had no spare cash from month to month. Lockdown has taught me that actually when we strip back to basics, we do actually have money to spare.
Without the coffee and cake meet ups, or the odd lunch out, the occasional takeaway or just a mooch around the shops, there is spare cash at the end of the month that can be saved.
That’s not to say when everything finally gets back to normal that I will continue to live lockdown style. It would be silly to say that’s going to happen. However, I am consciously going to cut down on a few coffee stops while shopping, and really think about those unnecessary purchases that I buy.
2. I do need more daily structure
Regular readers will know that day to day activity for me can vary drastically from one day to the next due to chronic illness. I will generally judge how I will spend my day when I know how I feel. But lockdown has taught me that although I’m still confined by how my body is going to work on any particular day, I need to have more of a routine even with the mundane things. I do need to set aside dedicated times to work spaced throughout the day, and also to filter in rest times to allow my day to be more controlled.
I have learned that even on a bad day there are things I can do that provide a simple structure and productivity ( of sorts) to my day. Short controlled times on social media for both my own account and client accounts on a rough day can help make me feel it wasn’t fully wasted. Listening to an audio book, which I have got back into the habit of, helps distract and give purpose.
Spreading jobs throughout the week especially with cleaning. This helps massively with productivity for me, and that I really need to incorporate proper pacing when life starts getting back to normal. I’ve always lived the ‘boom and bust’ way throughout my illness but lockdown has highlighted that I really need to try and adjust that.
3. I need to start branching out with cooking
Hello, my name is Tracy and I have become stuck in a rut with food. It’s as simple as that. With so much time on our hands during lockdown, and days seemingly centred around food ( just for something to do) I realised that over time we have become stuck with eating the same style of dinners over and over again. With not really having takeaways or eating out at all I have realised that I need to branch out more with dinner ideas. Anyone else the same?
I’ve invested in some new cookbooks and been looking online for new recipes. With time on our hands this really is the opportune moment to branch out to try something that may take a little more time or prep. I think that’s what puts me off normally. If it looks like too much faff I wont bother. Not because I’m lazy or can’t be bothered but more because of how much pain I have in my hands. So that’s going to change. If you have any lovely recipes to share please point me in the right direction.
4. I cannot live without streaming services!
That may sound dramatic and completely ‘first world problems’ to you. But for me this is true. I love my binge watching, film watching, documentary watching. I’ve recently fallen down the rabbit hole of documentaries about people who have been wrongly convicted and spent years in jail before being released.
I’m also a huge cinema fan. Both me and my 19yr old go together ALL of the time. So we have missed our new film fix over the lockdown period.
At home though, I cannot just sit and do one thing. If I’m writing, quite often I will have something playing in the backround while I do it.
I remember at secondary school on a Tuesday night, sitting on my brothers bed watching that weeks Elvis movie on his TV ( because he had the colour portable in his room), whilst I wrote my weekly Commerce essay ( in the days before Business studies).
It’s weird but having something playing in the backround helps me concentrate. So with Netflix, Prime Video and Now TV I always have enough random horror, true crime, real life and fantasy to keep me entertained. Anyway, as dramatic as it may seem to others………I cannot live without it at the moment.
5. I’m way too comfortable with the PJ life
Truly hoping I am not on my own here! There was already a strong pj element to my life, due to my illness ruling my days and energy levels. However, I think I have taken it to it’s extreme during lockdown. Unless it’s absolutely necessary at the moment I really do not have to go out. Because of my auto immune issues it’s sensible for me to stay inside as much as possible. So why get dressed, right?
THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE! Now I’m not saying that I wont have pj days. What I am saying is that I will make more effort to get out of them.
I’m probably one of the few people that does not have a problem with productivity because I’m not dressed. To be fair it’s probably the opposite for me. The effort and energy on a regular ‘OK’ day for me can be completely wasted just getting ready (especially if I’m not going anywhere). That energy can be utilised more productively, for me, on my blog, writing work and social media management without anyone knowing whether I’m dressed or not.
I know that will be a controversial way of thinking with all the ‘get dressed and show up’ type messages that are floating around at the moment. But remember, I’ve had 10 long years of learning how best I can use my energy with regards to work, activities and family plans. So as much as I’m going to attempt to make more of an effort, there will be days where I will absolutely relish being in my pj’s all day!
So tell me, what have you learned about yourself during the lockdown period so far?
