I’ve decided to jump on the band-wagon (possibly a little late if social distancing is relaxed next week) here and like most bloggers, vloggers, or anyone who bases their business off of social media. I am going to give you tips on what you can do while social distancing – if you aren’t working from home. To be honest with you, these ideas are based mostly off of what I have been, and am planning to do, while social distancing to try and stay sane. I hope you enjoy.
Let’s start this blog with something nice and simple:
Do all those adult things you’ve been meaning to do.
I don’t know if this is different for all of you, but I’ve been piling up and piling up all of the adult things I need to do –and these mostly concern setting up my phone and the insurance for it (after it very dramatically fell out of my locker at work and smashed the screen to death and so I had to get a new one (that was an expensive mistake)). My adult list of things to do involved picking up my prescription (don’t worry, I very viciously washed my hands after returning home – and I also collected it the day before the country went into lockdown), changing my mobile number on a large majority of apps and also for my work (not my author work), setting up my savings account and online phone banking (which I managed to lock myself out of because I’m clever), and setting up skype so I can talk to my beautiful boyfriend while I can’t see him in person.
There was something very relieving about getting everything done, and I managed to do it all – except the banking thing – on the Tuesday, the first day of lockdown. So, now my phone is insured, and will be replaced if I decide to break it again, and the very expensive phone case and screen protector have a lifetime grantee which is a pretty good deal.
Shall we move on?
Take some time to catch up on washing and cleaning.
This one is difficult, depending on how often you chose to wash your clothes, etc, and whether you keep up to date with it. At the top of my list, was clean my bedsheets. I’m not sure if this is a universal thing, but I can go weeks without washing my bedsheets. It’s just something I don’t think about. So, I decided last week that, hey, it’s probably time I washed my bedsheets. I also, the next day, decided to wash my work uniform, so that it’s all fresh and ready for when I return to work.
I’ve decided to take this time just as a great break to clean and prepare everything for the next few months which I know will probably be hectic when we all go back to our usual lives. I’m thinking of maybe getting on top of all my ironing as well over the next few weeks, so I actually have clothes that I like to wear. (Update: it took me over two hours but I pretty much conquered my ironing!).
Moving away from cleaning, my morning and evening routine over the last few months has been crazy, and so I’m taking the opportunity to try and calm it down and sort it out. This brings me to my next suggestion on what to do…
Learn new Yoga routines.
Yes, you read that right. I do yoga now. I’m a Yogi Bear as my dad calls me. I decided to give Yoga a try last month, when I finally decided it was time to buy a yoga mat after my mental health had been rapidly going downhill for some reason. I wouldn’t say I’m any more mentally stable now, but I definitely am more comfortable with my body, and with who I am. In fact, I feel so much better once I’ve done my morning yoga, and feel very ready to take on the day.
For the first few days of social distancing, the reality of it all hit me hard and my slow-paced and beginners’ morning yoga wasn’t as appealing. In fact, I went for about half a week without doing yoga, which is probably why I spent a good few days feeling like a potato. That’s when I decided I wanted to try something which was more like a workout but was still good for my mind, and came across my current yoga routine (hello, it’s linked here if you want to give it a go). I’ve been trying it for over a week now, and while I exhausts me, I feel so good afterwards. I also feel as though my body is getting stronger too, which is pretty awesome!
Along with my morning Yoga, I also decided that I needed a little time to wind down and relax at the end of the day. So, I did some more searching and came across an evening/bedtime routine that relaxes me so well, and really lets me get ready for bed. It’s only seven minutes long, which is an added plus because I definitely do not want to be doing a long yoga routine in the evening (linked here as well, hi). There are loads of short routines as well, which I’ve been doing in the evening in replacement for my night routine as well (which I can link here).
I’m not telling you to try yoga, but I do want to let you know that it’s helping me with body confidence, and is helping me chill and stay considerably more relaxed than I usually am. The moral of this story is, if your mind is telling you to do something to help you, listen. 😀
The only way I feel like I can follow on from yoga, is self-care.
Take some time to look after yourself.
I read an article the other month, in a magazine we get in at work, that really stuck with me. (I can’t for the life of me find it, but I’ll link their Facebook Page) In the article, a mental health specialist spoke about how self-care doesn’t necessarily mean girly facemasks and body transformations – which is unfortunately what a lot of people think it is – but explained that rather self-care is something you love doing, which you do to make you feel good about yourself, and makes you happy. It’s something that you love doing, whether that’s taking a bath or whether it’s baking some cookies, or going for a walk (be responsible guys), or even playing games online. Self-care can be anything that makes you feel good, it’s taking the time to look after yourself. This, I think, is important to remember.
The stigma that self-care being something very girly or feminine, prevents some people – especially men – from taking the time to look after themselves. You don’t have to wear a facemask or paint your nails. You could shower, or cook yourself something nicer than usual for dinner, or take some time to read a book you love. Literally, just look after yourself, is self-care. It’s especially important to look after ourselves during this difficult time, when there’s not much else we can do.
And, on the subject of self-care, and reading a book you love, we reach my next lovely point:
Find some time to read – and maybe reorganise your bookshelves.
Recently, after watching the Pride, Prejudice and Zombies movie with C a couple months back, I decided to dig out my copy of the book which has been gathering dust on my bookshelf for the past couple years. As you all know, I’ve been struggling with reading lately, and so I’m taking it slow and trying not to rush, just in case my desire to read drops off the face of the planet again. To help me get through the book, which is actually very good, I am trying to read a chapter before I fall asleep each night (say hello to my evolving evening routine).
The book itself is actually really good, and while I originally found it difficult to get used to the ‘old English’, I’m glad that I’ve picked it up surprisingly quickly. I’m pretty proud of myself, and while there is the occasional word which I don’t understand, or a sentence which seems inappropriate considering how language has developed over time, I’m managing to make sense of it. I definitely recommend the book (and, if you’ve read it, please don’t spoil it. I will be very upset).
Also, along with reading, I’ve been looking at perhaps sorting through all my books and donating some of the one that I know I’m probably never going to get around to reading. I think it will be good to do just a big clear out of those, and make room for perhaps some newer books which excite me more, and are more up to date with the published work of authors from 2020 or 2019. Walking around my neighbourhood yesterday, I see people leaving books and board games in boxes for people to help themselves to, and I think that’s a beautiful idea to help people who are perhaps struggling with finding things to do during social distancing. As a result, I might do this, and let people enjoy the books I would love to.
Along with reading, I’ve also been trying to do something productive towards my future career:
Writing and trying to edit.
While all I seem to be able to write and edit happen to be blogs and a book idea I had a while back that I don’t think I’ll ever publish (sometimes it’s nice to just sit down and write a book just for myself), I am feeling quite content with slowly being able to get some writing done. Last week, I managed to open the document containing the whole first chapter of my fifth book in the Dimensions series, and write a page, which is great progress for me. I’m finding it difficult to get down all my ideas, but I’m glad to actually be writing and I’m happy to be letting everything flow at the moment.
Currently, I am feeling the stress of my lack of productivity when it comes to writing. More than anything, I want to be able to get things done, and I think that because of this I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself (which I definitely shouldn’t be doing because it’s bad for my mental health).
To try and find relief from all of the stress I’m feeling, I’m trying to stay positive and calm, and have been using Netflix as a coping mechanism to help keep me distracted from the fact we’re living through a pandemic, and there’s nothing to say I might not get the virus. This brings me to my final suggestion:
Watch Netflix and YouTube.
Okay, so, I’ve not really been interested in Netflix recently, but I decided that I wanted to give Poldark a try because it looked good and it follows the same sort of era as Pride and Prejudice, and so I wanted to get a boarder view of the time period I was reading about. What I didn’t know was that by episode 8, I’d be balling my eyes out because of what’s going on. It’s a really good series, but after that episode, I’m finding it difficult to find the courage to watch season 2
Other than Poldark, my sister helped me figure out how to do Netflix party, and so I’ve been dedicating some time to at least watch a movie a day with C, as he’s not with me. Yesterday, we watched three, two of which were horrors and were actually really good (Birdbox and The Silence). We also spent the evening watching the first Twilight movie together, as I’ve never watched them before, and that was quite a good laugh. Movie time is probably one of my favourite times of the day.
As for YouTube, I seem to be spending most of my days opening the app and then being disappointed that no one that I’m subscribed to has new videos out. I’m finding it entertaining seeing how everyone else is coping with having to social distance, especially the youtubers I love, and it’s also keeping me motivated to get work, such as these blogs, done.
I’ve also been listening to a Podcast that two Youtubers I watch started up, which you no doubt see me mentioning on my Instagram stories on most Mondays, and it’s really been helping me stay positive, and is helping me to stay committed to continuing doing my yoga in the mornings. It’s called the Call Me Candid podcast, and you can have a look at it here.
That concludes of today’s blog! I hope you enjoyed this read, and maybe take something from it to help you stay entertained during however long it is that we have left where we have to social distance. I think I’m going to go and make some cookies. Have a good couple weeks, and stay safe. See you in the next blog!
Did you read my last blog? If you couldn’t, I’ve got the link for it here. Be sure to check it out it you want: Hobbies I Wish I Was Good At.
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While I’m not blogging, you can find me on my social media. I have Instagram and Facebook
Instagram: @emilybrownauthor (I’ve been trying to post every day).
Facebook: @emilybrownauthor (I don’t know how often I should post on here).