Small Life Changes With Life-Changing Results

Ireland has just finished its first week of its second nation-wide lockdown, and now more of our friends and family across the UK and Europe will be joining us. It is difficult to believe we are back in this situation only seven months later, and it is even more difficult to remain hopeful. Winter brings with it its own hardship, the days are shorter and darker and the weather is less inviting for outdoor activities, but we must adapt and make the best of what we have. This is our second chance to do lockdown right, we can take what we learned from the last one into this one, and we can truly make time to focus on our own well-being whilst minding others health. To help, I have put together a not too challenging list of 'hacks' to make this winter lockdown a little easier on your spirit.

Breakfast Time

Mornings can become a sort of mindless ritual in the ordinary day-to-day. We all are victims of poor time management be it snoozing alarms for those extra few minutes sleep, rushing to put together outfits and find our keys thanks to the day before's disorganisation, and rushing out the door to catch a bus or beat the rush hour traffic. Somewhere in that mess we hope, try and sometimes fail to fit in breakfast, and this can take the joy out of it. I for one am known to grab sausage rolls before reaching the office or just grabbing a piece of fruit for the commute, and the mornings that I do have breakfast it is normally the same bowl of cereal or porridge I eat every other day.

Now that we can cut the morning scramble to get ready and the commute to work out of our routine, it is tempting to fill that time with sleep, but I believe rejuvenating your breakfast may be the key to starting your day. This past week I have used the time for trying new recipes and to sit back and savour my breakfast instead of scoffing it down in a hurry, and it has made a real difference to my day!

Taking time out of my morning, before settling in to a days work. to focus on the task of preparing a delicious meal has helped with my pre-work dread and anxiety, and has given me the time to slowly wake up my brain after a nights sleep. This has helped me be more alert for early meetings, tackling emails and setting out my objectives for the day ahead.

A recipe I am currently loving, and one that you can all try this week, is House Curious's baked banana porridge. You can find the recipe here.

Let there be light!

As the days get shorter and darker coming in to winter, it can feel as if your energy has been zapped from your body. This time of year can be incredibly difficult on your mental health, and given the unprecedented times we are living through, this is sure to become even more of a challenge.

A simple way to literally brighten your day, is to add more light to it! While CFL light bulbs are more commonly used in households, replacing these with white LED bulbs will help create a brighter, and more crisp, working environment. Placing these in your overhead lights will lift the atmosphere in the room, and will help counteract the weight that darkened spaces can put on us.

Adding light to a room can be fun, you can add fairy lights to your work space to brighten your desk also!

Fresh Air

Although it is certainly colder outside than it was in the Spring lockdown, this doesn't mean you can't go outdoors for some fresh air. Taking in fresh air helps promote oxygen circulation in your blood to your lungs and to your brain, helping your brain to work at a greater capacity.

Taking your coffee break outdoors, be it on a park bench or your front doorstep, will help breakup your day and re-energise your mind and body. This is also a good time for a phone-free break! Sit, breathe, watch the world go by and check in with yourself in these 10 minutes. Ask yourself how you feel your day is going.

If the weather allows it, take part in some physical activities while outdoors. Go for a walk after work, go for a swim in the morning, or kick the ball around with your dog and/or kids. If you are heading for a walk after work, make sure to wear reflective gear to keep safe in the dark winter nights!

Routine

I for one found it extremely taxing to create a routine when I was out of work in the first lockdown. It can be tempting to throw all the rules out the window and stay up all night Tweeting into the void and sleep partially in the morning when you have little time constraints, but this is a slippery slope to poor health.

Saying that, you don't need to follow the old 9-5 routine and can express freedom in the routine you do create for yourself! In creating my new routine, I have made sure to incorporate more time for myself and to stop rushing self-care practices like I had before. Recently I have started doing my night-face routine at 8:30pm as opposed to right before bed, this has meant that I never skip a step to get into bed faster and I have had more time to enjoy little treats such as eye masks with a cup of tea and a movie.

Finding a routine that allows you to heal from your busy life, that adds excitement to parts of your day and allows you to complete each of your tasks thoroughly will give you greater satisfaction with your day!

Weekends

Having something to look forward to in lockdown is essential, but having the time to enjoy them is just as important. Using the extra time you now have during the week to complete household chores and tasks will free up your weekend for fun activities, whether they are virtual or not!

There are so many activities to get involved in this winter, no matter how mad they may seem. Instead of baking banana bread you can practice making show-stopping ginger bread structures ahead of Christmas or instead of making daisy chains you can collect acorns! I have joined a book club which has helped get me offline and passively enjoy these stormy, winter nights in.

Breaking up the mundane into sections or chapters that are book-ended by great stories to tell at work or little nuggets to look forward to will make those long days so much more worth it.

Being proactive in looking after your mental health during lockdown is only one step of the process, and not the solution. Winter lockdowns can pose real threats to our mental well-being, and not all difficulties can be solved in simple measures like above. Talking is a sign of strength, and a problem shared is often a problem halved. Irish readers can text TALK to 50808 to access crisis volunteers for anonymous, supportive conversations 24/7. Other national helplines are available online.