How I'm Keeping My Mental Health In Check Right Now
How I'm Keeping My Mental Health In Check Right Now
February bought a lot of snow and general unease as we approached March, the month that marks one year of various stages of lockdown life. It’s somewhat obvious to say that every single one of us has felt the strain on our mental health somehow. Some more than others, but a year of not seeing our loved ones, feeling their warm embrace, or going anywhere other than the supermarket has been tough. Now we are in March, the government has announced our roadmap out of lockdown and some sense of what we once knew as normal life should resume in a couple of months. June feels a long way off right now so here is how I’m trying to keep my mental health in check as much as possible right now.
BEING KIND TO MYSELF
If there was ever a time to be kind and gentle to yourself, it’s now. Living through life-changing historical events is incredibly hard, we truly don’t know what the news might broadcast from day to day and it’s terrifying. The events that have unfolded in the last year have not been anything I ever thought possible and living in constant uncertainty has been undeniably hard. During the first lockdown, I truly believed that I would be more productive than I’d ever been once all my work ground to a very abrupt halt but that was far from the reality of what happened. I struggled to focus and could only get the bare minimum done, which looking back was perfectly ok. A year on, some days aren’t great but I generally manage to get everything ticked off my to-do list because a key lesson I learnt was I needed to make things truly manageable for myself. I’m so guilty of expecting an insane level of productivity from myself each day and that’s just not how life works right now or ever and that’s ok. Having a lot of care and compassion for myself and my well-being has been more important than ever for not only keeping my mental health somewhat in check but also for actually getting things done.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Time management is something that I’ve struggled with quite a lot over the past few years. Sometimes it’s felt I’m doing everything at 100mph, and then sometimes like I’m not doing anything at all. Managing and blocking out my time so I’m more efficient within my workday has been a big help. These days my work life looks so different from what it was even just two years ago so each week I learn something new and adjust accordingly which then helps in the long run. As well as planning my workdays better and making sure I’m using those days and hours productively I’m also planning my time off better as well. The last year has been far quieter than usual but that doesn’t mean rest hasn’t been important. Trying to wade through constant news updates has been mentally taxing, to say the least. So putting my phone down and doing the things that bring me the most joy that we’re still able to do in a lockdown has felt like a lifeline.
staying hopeful whilst being realistic
The last year has bought a lot of disappointment with cancelled plans and only work in our calendar. We’ve had to move our wedding twice with no new date set at the moment and we cancelled a holiday with less than 12 hours notice when a new lockdown was announced within a few hours in November. This year I decided that I didn’t want to make any grand plans and really try to live in the moment as much as possible so we entered 2021 with absolutely nothing planned, not a single thing. The constant disappointment was undoubtedly worse than having nothing in our calendars to work towards and that is usually something that I really rely on to break up the everyday. With the government's latest plans released and everyone praying that come June things are allowed to open up once again I can’t help but worry. The threat of the virus isn’t going to magically disappear on the 21st of June, it’s still going to be there. Like so many of us I’m so apprehensive of what the next year is going to bring and if we end up in the same situation we are now even though we now have the vaccine rollout. Part of me is desperate to make plans, give my loved ones a hug and finally get to plan our wedding but an even bigger part of me isn’t quite ready to rush back to whatever we’re calling normal now. I’m so apprehensive and that’s ok, I guess we’re all feeling like to some extent?
doing the things I really love
If there is one positive to come out of the last year it’s that I’ve stopped putting so much pressure on myself to do things that I don’t want to do. There were so many things I was doing for the sake of doing it or to share with everyone else and that's not a healthy cycle to be in. Here is a little list of everything I’ve enjoyed doing lately:
Indoor cycling - no I didn’t join the Peloton owners club, I bought a stationary trainer for my fixed gear bike and it’s been such a good purchase. I’ve missed going to the gym so much but I’ve actually cancelled my membership all together now I have this in my life.
Getting back into beauty - last year I started to suffer with some scalp issues and it’s really forced me to get back into taking better care of my hair and myself in general. My scalp has been my priority but I’ve started to take better care of my skin too with it being a little temperamental since coming off the pill. One thing I’m truly excited for about the promise of lockdown ending is being able to get my haircut and getting my nails done as those are two things that I really savour and look forward to.
A shift in work - one of the biggest reasons why this blog has been so quiet is that I’ve had a real shift in my work. Blogging is no longer my main job, the last year really stopped that being a viable option for me and whilst I’m incredibly grateful for everything this little corner of the internet has done for me it was a change that needed to happen for my mental health first and foremost. This new path has been really exciting for me and I’m still very much figuring things out in all the best ways, I’m not leaving this blog behind and I’m aiming for weekly posts but if they don’t happen that is totally ok.
