Positive Impacts of Staying Home during the Coronavirus Lockdown
Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.
That’s the message spreading far and wide to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic, and that’s what we all should be doing. But staying home isn’t that easy for some people, so we want to share the positive impacts to help keep you going through this strange and uncertain time.
This time is unlikely to come again
Staying indoors, apart from front line work, essential shopping, and daily exercise is a situation we are unlikely to find ourselves in again.
When was the last time you had a full day to connect with your kids and watch them being educated? When was the last time you had an afternoon to finish that book?
Fast forward 12 months, and you’ll be desperate for those extra days or weeks that are being given to us right now. All this time, whether you’re working from home or not, is unlikely to come again. Embrace it as we cannot change it.
Quality time to connect
Most of us will lead busy lives to some degree. How often are you genuinely in the moment?
Isolation and social distancing are testing us as humans right now because we are social creatures, but it’s also a time to reconnect with those in our very homes. Partners, children, parents, siblings. We can really home in on some quality time together, which is usually quite tricky to get. We will see sides of those close to us we never have, and we will have to adapt to this. It’s all part of the process.
Learning, eating, exercising, growing together, is more achievable now than ever.
Taking up a new skill
Cooking, running, technology, whatever skill you’ve wanted to learn – NOW is a perfect time. Watch some videos, read some culinary books and get to work in the kitchen. Utilise your daily exercise and go from the couch to 5k. Brush up on your tech skills to be more savvy. Enrol on that online designer course, just because. One thing, unusually, we have on our side right now is time. Act on that new skill, finish a project you started, try and be proactive. You can spend this time wondering what to do with it, or you can try something new, get something at the end of all this.
Working remotely
Many of us are in situations where we have no choice but to work from our front rooms; some of us are used to chopping and changing our working environment. But what we all need to realise is that so many jobs CAN be carried out at home. Many bosses will see that working from home doesn’t have to affect productivity negatively, and in some cases may well improve it. We are doing this to protect front line workers, and after all this is said and done, many companies are likely to rethink their working culture and surroundings altogether.
Gratitude and self-care
What a time to be alive. People are treating toilet paper like winning lottery tickets, and your neighbours wearing a mask to the local shop. Hopefully, amongst this madness, you will realise that health is number one. Health of those you love and your own health. Physical health, mental health, all of it. Take this time to appreciate what you have, and who you have around you.
You may not be able to see grandparents, parents, newborn babies, and this will make you realise how important these people are in your life and how special time is with them. You will also start to appreciate the simple things, like going for a coffee, meeting friends for dinner, jetting off on holiday. All the things that have been temporarily stripped from our society, are simple, pleasant things that we should be even more grateful for soon.
It’s also essential during this time to look after yourself. Self-care is more important than ever. If you’re working from home, make sure you take a brain break every so often. Stretch your legs, have a bath, escape and read a book, whatever you need to do for your wellbeing.
If you struggle with your mental health generally or have started to as a result of this epidemic, then now is the time to address any emotional problems you may be facing.
If you are struggling with stress, anxiety or depression related issues, we are offering online therapy to assist those in need.
Everything that is going on right now is happening to us all. Try and think of the positive impacts of this situation and what you can do with this time. If you start to get frustrated at everything, remember we’re doing this to protect the NHS and essentially to save lives.
Stay home, stay safe, and remember this will end.