How to manage your personal wellbeing during the Coronavirus lockdown.
Many of us are currently working from home and have been for some time now. Managing your wellbeing during this time is so important as it will also impact on your mental health. Here are some tips to help manage your wellbeing at home:
Stay connected
Having a sense of connection with family and friends is important for our mental health. Ensure you make time for calls or video chats with your family and friends during lockdown. In addition, there are many online book clubs, virtual coffee groups and online workout challenge groups that you can join in order to avoid feeling isolated.
Within the working day it is good to communicate with your colleagues where possible as you would in the office, by talking on the phone occasionally whether for a work related reason or not. Here at Randall & Payne I am inviting small groups of staff from across the teams for a half an hour coffee and chat Zoom sessions to help us to keep in touch and give an opportunity to share how we are getting on, along with thoughts and ideas on our eventual return to the office among other things.
Routine is your friend
It can be easy to fall into bad habits. Set out a routine that clearly distinguishes between work time and home time/family time. For example, try to sit down at your desk for work between 9am and 6pm. Take regular tea or coffee breaks and plan what time you will have your lunch away from your workspace. Schedule dinner for around 6pm so that you have a hard stop at the end of your day. You should also enjoy some family activity time or hobby time, at say, 7pm, etc.
If you have the space in your home to have a dedicated work area, try to use that part of your home for work and keep the rest of your home for family time/non-work time. The physical separation of your work area and non-work area helps you to create head space and can help you to avoid being over worked and becoming stressed.
Keep yourself active
Lockdown means you cannot go to the gym or a public swimming pool but it is important to stay active. Commit to a regular exercise routine and choose one or two activities that you like and that suit your physical capabilities. There are lots of free resources available online including daily morning exercise classes with Joe Wicks, Yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi lessons that you can follow. It is also important to keep your mind active by reading books, eBooks or the news (but perhaps limit the amount of Coronavirus-related news that you consume).
Focus on positivity
People across the entire world are dealing with uncertainty at the moment. There is no point focusing on the things that you cannot control. We can all control how we communicate and that can provide a sense of positivity during these uncertain times. Focus on the positive and talk about what you can do rather than what you can’t do. If you maintain a positive outlook, you will tend to feel more positive, more of the time. This will also tend to have a positive impact on those around you and those that you interact with.
Tim Watkins is Managing Partner and is happy to talk through any concerns you have during these uncertain times – call 01242 776000 to request a call back or email Tim.Watkins@randall-payne.co.uk.
