Is There Such A Thing As A Good Day In Lockdown?

During lockdown it is very easy to lose motivation and routine - you fall into the habit of waking up minutes before a lesson and turning Netflix on the second you hit ‘end call’. But, as hard as it is to believe, lockdown won’t last forever, and I think it’s important to try and break the habits before we’re forced to.

A day in my lockdown used to look a little something like this: wake up at 8:35 for an 8:45 lesson, join the meet in a nice jumper and pj bottoms, have breakfast/ lunch at 11:45, and watch Netflix until I had to join a meet or go to work again. There were definitely some positives - the daily lay-in was great at first, and it has let me binge the first 6 seasons of my new favourite show in record time.

The problem, for me at least, is that I find it really hard to break a routine, and the longer I was doing that, the more routine it became. So here are a few little things I have started doing to make my days feel a little more productive and a lot less lazy:

• Waking up at 8 - it is still a lot later than I would have got up, but it is nice to have more time to get ready and have breakfast in the morning

• Making pancakes - I try to make something healthy or nutritious every day, a personal favourite would have to be banana and blueberry pancakes; low calorie, high tastiness

• Yoga - I start every morning with some form of yoga or stretching, I am so terrible at it that it probably makes me laugh more than anything, but it feels healthy

• Workout - this one I stick to a little less, but I try to fit in a workout where I can

• Getting outside - with all the restrictions and the bad weather it is easy to spend your days cuddled up inside with a blanket and hot drink, but fresh air is still important so I would advise to make use of your outside exercise time with a walk or jog if you’re chilly

• Talking to friends - whether its a phone call, facetime or text, staying in touch is important lockdown or not

And possibly the biggest tip of all: don’t put pressure on yourself! There are still days when I wake up at 8:30, and binge Netflix instead of going for a walk. It is okay to have days off, it is okay to have bad days, and you shouldn’t punish yourself for having an unproductive day. Everyone is handling this differently, and at the end of the day, getting through another day of lockdown is achievement enough.