How I Have Found the UK Lockdown

When the lockdown was announced in the UK I was kind of pleased. As the Coronavirus pandemic was unfolding and things were getting worse my anxiety was taking a hit too. I don’t do too well with negative news but I also get kind of addicted to checking the headlines when something is unfolding like this. It’s not healthy. It was almost a sigh of relief for me when the government announced the lockdown.

In all honesty I wasn’t surprised when the lockdown was announced here in the UK probably due to the fact I had been following the headlines as things were progressing, London was a ghost town when I travelled through it to my parents and my return bus was also cancelled the day before I was due to travel back to Cardiff.

Lockdown really gave me a chance to look at myself and really work on myself as a person. I think in a familiar environment we can become too comfortable and we can let things ‘stand still’ for too long.

I knew my mental health had begun to slip, but I hadn’t done anything about it.

I knew my diet really wasn’t its best.

My exercise had gone down to virtually nothing

I wasn’t really doing anything to stimulate my mind.

I know that when I get stuck in a rut I struggle to get out of it again which meant being stuck in Cambridge gave me a chance to really take a look at the different areas of my life I wanted to work on and the opportunity to get stuck in to making the changes I needed to.

It really hit home how much the ‘new routine’ I had put in place in Cambridge had worked once I returned to Cardiff as I hit a new slump. Once I identified why I was feeling like this I knew it was time to bring my ‘new routine’ to Cardiff.

I now know I need at least half an hour of exercise a day. This can be something gentle like a walk in the morning or something more intense. Although I have found my preference to be a walk in the morning as this helps to wake me up and set me up for the day.

As much as I am a sugar addict and a chocoholic too much of that stuff makes me lethargic. A good diet really does make a difference and makes me feel way more alert.

A proper routine and setting myself to do lists keeps me productive and prevents me from wasting the day.

Reading for at least half an hour a day helps to keeps my brain occupied.

These simple things keep me productive which I find really helps my mental health. Whilst there were other aspects of the lockdown which were a challenge I did learn some things about myself.