Life After Lockdown – Looking Ahead

It’s been such a strange few weeks/months for the world lately, with everything we knew and took for granted being taken away from us due to the Corona virus. Is that silly little argument you were having with a family member really worth it? Is it so important that your kids keep their rooms immaculate all the time?! Although what’s happening all around us is terrible, it’s things like this that make you stop and re-evaluate your life. Surely happiness and health is the most import thing in life! Staying positive and thinking to the future, life after lockdown.

I’ve worked from home for the last 6 years, so for me, not that much has changed. I’m used to spending most of my day in my super cozy dressing gown), but I know for some it’s completely different. Especially the social butterflies who love to be around people all the time. I do feel for these people as this must be so hard for them to deal with.

Inspiration

Incase you’re in need of some inspiration to keep you going through these difficult times, here are a few things I have been doing to keep busy…

1. DIY – I’ve pretty much done EVERY bit of DIY I possibly can in our home – re-painted walls and skirting boards, ripped out old shelves, re-painted the fence and decking, fixed a flower bed…
   
2. Decluttering – We actually don’t have much stuff to declutter as I’m big on not having STUFF lying around. If it isn’t used, it goes! However, I did have a huge declutter of our garage and laundry room which I had great fun in doing!
   
3. Baking – It’s a great way to get your mind off what’s going on around you and really focus on something else for a while.
   
4. Exercise – Before all this happened, I would go to the gym 4 or 5 times a week. Plus, I would walk EVERYWHERE! Since the lockdown has started, I do some kind of home workout in the garden most days. It makes me feel energised afterwards (even if I don’t feel like it beforehand).
   
5. Reading – This is something I NEVER used to do! I always felt reading was a waste of time and always felt so guilty doing it. Now however, it almost seems we’ve been given the OK to stop and take a break. Like it’s suddenly OK to just do nothing for a bit.

Anxiety

However, if you’re really struggling with your stress and/or anxiety levels and perhaps need a little extra help. Something like this new device from Sensate could help you? I was so very kindly gifted this device so I could give you an honest review. I’ve been using it for around 2 weeks now. Although i was slightly dubious to begin with, I can honestly say I have noticed a difference. OK, so I wasn’t hugely anxious about anything beforehand but it has made me feel super calm. It’s as though you have been given something to just make you feel at ease. You know when you’re feeling stressed and you have that butterfly feeling in your stomach? It’s as though that bit gets taken away, you don’t feel as on edge.

Hopefully this situation won’t last too much longer and this ‘forced break’ will seem a thing of the distant past. We’ll all be back to our normal lives again soon enough. Working ourselves to the bone. Stressing about the silly things that really don’t matter and forgetting what it’s like to press pause for a moment.

Thinking Ahead

Now’s the BEST time to start thinking about what you want to do with your life after lockdown is over. If you could be anywhere right now, with anyone – where would you go and who would you see? Ask yourself what’s important to you. Your health and your happiness perhaps?! Make it happen while you have the time to plan ahead. Plus, by keeping your mind busy and focussing on life after lockdown, might help relieve some of your anxiety!

Trips

If you’ve always dreamt of going on a trip around the world, or to a far off destination, get planning! OK, so you might not be able to go for a while but you can certainly get planning. Research all the places you’d like to stop off at along the way. Plan your route and look up hotels or places to stay. Think about what you’ll need to take with you. Who you’d go with, how you can afford to make it happen? If anything, it’s a good excuse to do some online shopping – new bikini, sunglasses, suitcase…etc.

Will you need to take your laptop for work while you’re out there? There is SO much more to think about than even you might think. Will you need to get a visa for example – or insurance? Now is the time to do all this. Once things are back to normal, life after lockdown is full steam ahead!

Foodies

Perhaps you’re a bit of a foodie and have been really missing a certain type of food? You could plan the ultimate foodie weekend away with your partner. Go from restaurant to restaurant eating all your favourite meals, sampling foods you’ve never tried before.

Websites such as Square Meal can help you do this. It allows you to search for restaurants and venues by specific areas to help you find the perfect place. They even have sections on their website where you can look specifically for places that deliver food, or that have a takeaway option. I guess it’s kind of like Google for the restaurant and venue world, everything you need to know all in one place. There’s even a section called restaurant reviews where their independent critics review places to eat and give their honest opinions. However, the bit i love the best about Square Meal is that they show the hygiene ratings on all of the listings. So you know exactly what standard of dining you’ll likely get.

People

Or, maybe it’s just people you miss. You could organise a big party with all your friends and family for when this is over. Get on your Pinterest boards and get creating the PERFECT life after lockdown party! Make it one that everyone will remember. OK, so you won’t be able to book anything yet. However, you can do all the prep and behind the scenes work until you can get something scheduled in.

This really won’t last forever so it’s good to start thinking positively about what the future might hold and get planning things that make you feel happy – and it helps that by doing this it will take you to a more positive place and forget about the not so nice things going on right now. Things always do get better and there is life after lockdown.

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