With Ireland currently in its third lockdown and no end in sight, it is starting to get difficult to keep motivated and happy about things. By this stage, the idea of making banana bread or ice coffee does not sound as appealing anymore.
There are loads of things to do to keep your mind and self-occupied in these times, so here is a few of them!
Avoid negative social media
The constant stream of information about Covid-19 is both helpful and harmful. It can also make you feel more worried about things, even if you and your family are perfectly fine. To overcome this, you could set aside a certain slot each day to check the news and search for important updates. It is important to know what is going on, but also more important to know what’s going on with your own head.
Try to use your time social media for fun and uplifting content. Laughter is the best medicine and honestly, a good belly laugh could cure even the worst of moods. You will find lots of Instagram influencers currently putting up more question boxes and interacting with followers, like Sean Phipps and the bad sex stories.
If that is not your thing, download Tiktok. You will not regret it! You could also try to recreate some of the dances. They might look easy but believe me, they are harder than you think!
Exercise
It probably sounds like a broken record, but a good walk or workout can really help to clear your head. The 5 km restriction gives you a chance to walk left, right, over the big hill and explore what nature has to offer right at your door-step. You could also listen to a new podcast or music album while you go.
There has also never been a better time to get in shape than right now. There are so many home workouts available almost everywhere – YouTube, to designated gym apps, to Instagram lives. It can seem daunting at first but it really does help. Sweating around your kitchen, bopping to all the 80s hits, throwing leg shapes everywhere; it will almost feel just like a nightclub at this stage.
You can search for workouts with no equipment, like core or high intensity interval training (better known as HIIT) if that’s all you have to work out.
That said, you can make weights from water bottles, resistance bands from belts, almost anything if you put your imagination to it. That summer body will be ready in no time.
Stay connected to others
During these tough times, one of the hardest things is not seeing people close to us, like friends and family. It’s easy to get fed up of texting ‘’any news’’ and avoiding having the same conversation every-day. In today’s society, technically it would be possible to go months without seeing people but staying in contact but It would make you go insane.
Try to switch things up by giving someone a quick call or voice note. It can be really assuring to hear a voice instead of seeing a screen. It’s also much easier to have a proper conversation over the phone than texting back a generic ‘’haha’’ to the last meme.
They may be cliché at this point, but there is a lot to be said for some online games and a beverage of your choice. Cards of Humanity and Uno have online sites where you can play with friends for free, along with Netflix’s watch party option.
SURVIVE.
This may be the most important piece of advice. Lockdown 3.0 inevitably feels like the hardest one. Having a normal day on campus or seeing our friends for a walk seems like a push at this stage, let alone going on holidays. My advice for this piece is simple: survive, and get through the day.
Don’t put yourself under any pressure to get things done by a certain time or day. There will be lots of times you don’t feel up to doing anything. Somedays you will just about have the motivation to get up, have some food and watch Netflix. And that’s okay too.
As Troy and Gabriella once told us, we are all in this together. The thoughts in your head will likely be shared by lots of people, old or young. But we’ll get through it, virtually or not.