Several areas across Australia have re-entered lockdown with COVID-19 spreading through the community once again. That’s forced many of us to stay at home, while others outside lockdown areas are also trying to limit their movements as well. While protecting our physical health is the reason for the stay at home orders, lockdowns can have a negative effect on our mental health, particularly if the lockdowns remain in place for long periods of time. However, there are a few things you can do to make lockdown a little more bearable, so here are six lockdown wellness tips.
Keep up a routine
Keeping up a routine can help you to stay busy during lockdown days. When you’re not allowed to leave the house, you can feel bored and you may be inclined to lounge around all day. This is great for those of us who enjoy that but for those who don’t, it can make lockdown even more unbearable. If you set yourself a simple routine to dictate when you get out of bed, eat, work and relax it can help you to feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of each day and boost your mental health.
Make online learning fun where possible
Being in lockdown can also have a negative impact on our students, so we can help them out in our online learning environments. Try making their work more interesting or fun by adding creative tasks or by gamifying content where possible. This can help your cherubs to enjoy online learning more and the positive vibes may even flow on to you. It’s also a wise idea to have your students complete wellness activities during this time. Teacher PD has a range of wellbeing resources available that can be used in an online learning setting.
Know when to put the work away
When we work from home, it can be tempting to continue working late into the night. This is particularly the case with online learning. With your students submitting their work digitally, you have easy access to their work and you may feel tempted to continue marking or even preparing resources later than you usually would. Don’t fall into this trap! It could leave you feeling more tired and drained than usual because you’re failing to maintain your work-life balance. The simple way to avoid this is to set yourself a time to stop working. At this time each night, make sure you shut down your computer and even close the door to your home office or workspace to create a physical barrier between ‘home’ and ‘work’.
Find a new hobby
Lockdowns are the perfect time to take up a new hobby that you’ve been wanting to try for a long time! Even though we’re limited in our outdoor movements, there are plenty of activities you can pick up within the home. You could take up baking or cooking, arts and crafts such as scrapbooking or painting, reading, board games, gardening or even DIY projects around your home. By starting up a new hobby, it will help you to find something to look forward to in your week and keep you motivated throughout the lockdown.
Stay connected with friends and family
You may not be able to see your family and friends in person at the moment but you can still keep in touch virtually! Make time for Zoom sessions or Facetime calls with your loved ones to help you stay connected. Speaking with your friends and family regularly will help to prevent feelings of isolation and loneliness during lockdown, particularly if you live alone.
Keep up the self-care
Self-care is so important, even in non-COVID times, so it is particularly important right now during lockdown. A big part of self-care is exercise. Make sure your lockdown routine also includes time for exercise. In many areas, we are still able to leave home to go for a walk, run or bike ride. If you’d prefer not to leave home, you could do pilates or online exercise sessions from the comfort of your living room or backyard. You should also make time for other self-care activities such as meditation or switching off from the news and social media, as this can reduce your stress levels and make you feel more grounded.
We hope these six lockdown wellness tips help you through this latest lockdown. Stay safe!
