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I have clearly eaten a lot of pizza during lockdown! We have been trying new recipes and all having a go at cooking during lockdown, here are 12 of my favourites – clearly I need to work on my presentation 😉

Originally published on Mouthy Money; https://www.mouthymoney.co.uk/mental-health-awareness-week-mindful-habits-weve-formed-in-lockdown/

This year’s Mental Health Awareness week theme is kindness and it got me thinking about how we can be kind to each other and ourselves during this time of crisis.

Working from home has been a very strange time for everyone, some people have adapted very well and others are finding it harder, which is fine. 

I asked my colleagues to give me one tip or trick they have implemented in lockdown to make sure they are being kind to themselves or others with the hope that it will help others during this hard time. 

Megan Lloyd, PR consultant, East Sussex – iPhone screen downtime is a gamechanger

Downtime seems to have become a thing of the past during the Covid-19 crisis, people assume that because we can’t go anywhere, we are available at all times of the day (and night).

Something that I have learned recently is screen downtime on iPhone. I don’t want to be dramatic, but it has changed my life. I have my work phone on downtime mode from 7pm-9pm most nights (there are some exceptions).

This restricts the apps I can use and gives me time to actually switch off from work, and it has helped me get that much needed downtime. This is a kindness I need to be able to continue to be productive at work and stay healthy.

Mike Richards, director of Capital City Media, Epsom – using commuting time elsewhere

I have gained almost three hours of commuting time.  In the morning, instead of my morning commute, I walk (too old to run) for an hour and a half wishing I knew more about nature other than pigeons, sparrows and dodos being the only birds I can identify.  

Instead of the evening commute I am reading. I  have just finished “Where is Spot?” – a disappointing ending – Agatha Christie perhaps could have used the washing basket as a vehicle to hide bodies.

I have also been able to use my spare time to listen to more free podcasts – especially vintage sitcoms and history documentaries on the BBC and sports programmes on my Süddeutsche Zeitung App.

Edmund Greaves, Mouthy Money co-editor, Balham – transcribing poetry

Like many others I have found the experience of lockdown and homeworking to have put me in a position where it feels difficult to switch off. I live in a one-bed flat in south London so there’s about two metres distance between my office (the dining table) and my leisure space (the sofa). It makes it hard to define the boundaries.

While I do partake in the usual methods of switching off – listening to music, playing a video game, watching TV, or even a jigsaw with the girlfriend (wild I know!) these activities can become a bit tiresome if you do them over and over again for months on end.

So I’ve taken up a new hobby: writing down my favourite poetry. I started by buying a cheap fountain pen, the kind that leaves ink blotches all over my hand (I’m left-handed), and digging out an old notebook that I had lying around that belonged to my mum.

First I wrote down poems I knew, but those ran out after a while and now I’m scouring through books and the internet for new ones. It has been an enormously educating and cathartic experience to shut the modern world out and just scribble away.

Helena Jones, PR consultant, Berkshire – fitness goals

Like many of those working remotely, I’ve struggled with the ‘mental cut-off’ at the end of each day. What started off as the odd glass of wine to wind down soon turned into a nightly habit, and I knew this would become an unhealthy – and expensive! – one to keep.

So, I decided to cut out the booze and force myself onto post-work runs to blow off steam instead. I’ve now set myself the challenge of getting into the best shape I can by the time we return to the office, which has meant saving money for better times too.

Having that small element of control over what’s happening has worked wonders for my mental wellbeing.

• Read more about other savvy money-saving lockdown workout routines

Paul Beadle, Mouthy Money publishing director, Chipping Norton – phoning my kids

Strange as it may seem, as a result of lockdown I am speaking to my children more often. They’ve both been furloughed in London, so money has been a bit of a worry. I used to visit them regularly but now I’ve gone old skool – phoning them on a weekly basis.

We just shoot the breeze for half an hour, talking about their life, my life, coronavirus and what’s on Netflix. It has been a revelatory and calming experience. It takes me back to when my mum was alive and I’d call her every Sunday morning.

Silly as it sounds, chatting is much more rewarding than texting. We even had four-way Facebook Messenger video call the other week for my son’s 21st birthday.

When we get back to normal I shall continue with the phone calls, not just because it saves me money – and my waistline – from eating out with the kids, but because it’s actually brought me closer to them and makes me feel happier that they’re ok.

The 16th March was my last day in the physical office, meaning I have been working from home for 12 days now. Its weird, I have become sort of accustomed to it now, but i’m not sure how long I will last without going mad.

As I mentioned before I am down in east Sussex at my parents house which I must say has made me far calmer than I was when I was WFH in London. I think having the extra space and family around me has really helped. There is currently 4 of us in the house in full time employment so working normal hours, my brother was at university and is doing bits and bobs, and my mum is looking after us and keeping us all fed and watered. (While also buying and delivering food to my grandparents who are too old to go out.)

I am very lucky that my job is the sort that I am very able to carry on, almost ‘business as usual’ from my laptop. We have teamviewer which means we can access all the files and everything from work, we use slack to chat in our teams and as a whole business, and then we use Zoom for any meetings. I have found Zoom to be really helpful as it gives you that bit of client face-time – although I still haven’t managed to brush my hair for a meeting!

I have also been trying to keep on top of my mental and physical well being by exercising, talking to my friends, taking breaks and generally listening to my body – which has been hard. I definitely don’t feel like I am getting a good enough workout in each day – I miss the weights at the gym – but its something and its good to keep it up.

Here are my top tips for WFH:

• Have breaks – lots of little ones or a few big ones. As long as you are getting your work done it’s important to have breaks
• Talk to people – family, friends, anyone really!
• Be kind to yourself and listen to your body – workout if you feel like it, drink gin if you feel like it

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Now the dust has settled (on my birthday, not the madness that has come since), I thought I would write a little gratitude post.

I was very lucky to be able to go away for a long weekend with 17 of my best friends, and family, from all over the world. Well England, South Africa and Ireland, but we will go with it. We booked an Airbnb in Braintree, which ended up being this beautiful pink house that was right up my street – turned out absolutely perfectly.

I wont bore you with a day-by-day run down, but there was lots of giggles, dancing, drinking and fun. I felt so lucky to have all these wonderful people around me. Especially my girls who had arranged many surprises, including a full wall off balloons, for me.

it was such a good weekend and it was so nice to have friends from school, university, London and my family mixing together. A situation you rarely are in.

It feels such a world away from where we are now, but i am so glad we were able to all get together before COVID-19 really hit the UK and we are all in isolation.

Never take for granted those around you. Use this time in isolation wisely and check up on your friends and family, especially the strong sociable ones and they are the ones who might be finding this the hardest.

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What a very strange, and slightly scary, time we are in currently.

I don’t know about you guys but I am finding this whole working from home / mini lock down very weird. I am lucky that I live with my sister and we are both working from home. Our poor housemate Andrea who is an occupational therapist (shout out to all the NHS and emergency workers!!!) is still having to go to work, and she is struggling.

There are all these rumors flying around about London going into complete lock down soon and that means people will not be allowed in or out. Our problem is, we cannot decide whether to go back to our parents house in Sussex or not. I know, complete 1st world problems, and we are very lucky to have that opportunity, but there are pros and cons to both.

Pros of going home are, the space, being with family, not being on full lock down. Cons are that there will be a lot of us in the house which means it might be hard to work, its also a complete dissruption to normal life. Which I think might affect me a lot.

Its a very stressful situation for everyone across the world right now, we just have to try and stay positive and make the most of it. I thoroughly reccomend checking in with family and friends, make those relationships a priority. Everyone is in the same boat here and people might have ways of coping that you haven’t thought of.

On that note, i’m off to check in with some friends – and then get back to work!

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