23.3.20 - 29.3.20First of all before I begin, I want to say I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and well during these uncertain times. I want to say a HUGE thank you to the NHS staff and service industries for the amazing work they are doing, we are so incredibly grateful!
I've been reading WhatLizzyLoves and AttemptingLifeAfter30's blogs recently, where they are writing diary entry style posts about life whilst on lockdown and I felt comforted by their words. The entries have also inspired me to gather and write down my own thoughts and activities as a weekly round up on this blog. I find their posts really comforting and reassuring to read and discover how others are getting through this time at the moment, so I hope that maybe mine may do the same for someone else. So here we go.
Despite the world descending into complete chaos, I have felt surprisingly positive and motivated this week. I'd had a bit of a wobble pre lockdown of news and social media overload and being inundated with negative news after negative news. It felt like every day I'd wake up and look at my phone and there was just constant conversations of all the horrific news and while it is important to talk about it, I think it is perfectly ok to take a step away from it if you are finding it effecting you mentally, so that's what I've been trying to do. I'm limiting my reading time on the information now and just tuning in to hear the daily updates as it were. It all can get too much. I feel since doing this, I've noticed a shift mentally almost immediately. My friends and I also decided to have a rule where we must share some cute or funny memes, tweets or videos in the chat to spread some laughter and positivity.
I'm grateful that my job hasn't been effected by all this, I know some don't have that luxury unfortunately :( I'm working from home full time now as opposed to the usual 3 days at home, 2 days at the office and we've had a team call on Tuesday and will continue to do so over the coming weeks just to check in and say what we're working on for the week. I'm pleased the other weekend my brother assembled my new office chair for me as I am now able to work back at my desk again. My lower back is so grateful haha! Thanks bro!
It's been really peaceful being able to sit at my desk again, to look out of my window when taking a break from the screen and stare at the clouds moving, opening the window to let the fresh air in and hear the birds chirping outside. It's a little bit of calm amongst the uncertainty.
After work, I've been trying to focus on what I can do with all this free time on an evening now. I made a list of a few ideas to reference back to every now and again when I feel stuck. Just things that I know I enjoy and things that sometimes I don't always have time to focus on. i.e. edit travel videos for my Youtube channel, or something simple like complete a certain Xbox game etc etc. Nothing too mentally strenuous. I might share a blog post soon of the list incase it spurs on any ideas for anyone reading. As well as this I usually have a weekly to-do list (sometimes daily depending on my mood), of odd bits and pieces I need to sort out in my room or errands I need to run. The latter not so much now as we're limited to being outside. Just a few bits and pieces that allow me to be productive outside of work.
I think I've ate more this week than I have any other time in my life, I've been balancing it out with daily exercise though. I finally dusted off the old exercise mat and did some pilates and yoga workouts on Youtube and spent the rest of the week with my stomach aching haha, no pain no gain right?! As well as that I've been making sure to get outside for my daily walk and it's been such a good boost to my mood. It also helps to stretch out after being sat at desk all day too. I've been also using that time walking around to ring friends and check in with them.
As Animal Crossing New Horizons* just came out last week, I've been spending my evenings playing that for hours on end. It's been a brilliant escapism from the real world to the virtual one and because it's such a relaxing game, it's helped keep me calm whenever I've felt anxious about everything.
I've been keeping in contact with my Gran a lot on the phone too just checking in making sure she has everything she needs, especially medication and that sort of thing. On Thursday evening I ordered a pizza and my friend Kyle helped me set up a Discord account so I can continue to watch tv shows with him and my friend Becky throughout the coming weeks. This week's show was Blackadder 2. The weekend was my Dad's birthday, I felt bad that we couldn't celebrate like we normally would and without my grandparents being there. But the 4 of us hung out eating pizzas and watching game shows on the tv.
Sunday I joined my Dad for a 3 hour walk with Luna around where we live, think it's safe to say we all completely zonked out when we got home. I think I was asleep most of the afternoon! Despite how cold and windy it was, it was good to get out, spend some time together, get some much needed fresh air and a change of scenery. Then spent the evening finishing off watching The Office UK on Netflix and then starting The Office Us on Amazon Prime.
I'm just trying to keep as positive as I can at the moment and hopefully that will continue into the coming weeks/months of this.
Thanks for reading & Stay safe! <3 Instagram | Youtube | Bloglovin | Twitter
