Monday, April 27th.

I've mentioned in a few of my last posts about some of the things that I've done and am doing to help me while the UK is in lockdown.  I don't think I've mentioned them all in one place however so I'm doing that now in case some of them may help you or give you some ideas of things to help yourself until we are able to start to emerge back out into the world again, however that world may look.

I'm keeping as close as possible to the same bedtime and wake up times.

My workday alarm is set for 6.30 am whereas my day off one is set for 7 am, so during the lockdown I'm using my day off alarm time and 6.30 am, seemed far too early when there's not much to get up for.  Some days I'm awake before my alarm and if it's about 6 am I do that to get up and start my day.  I'm keeping to a similar wakeup time so I have a routine in my day and don't feel like I've wasted the morning sleeping and it will also make it easier when I'm back at work to be able to get up at the earlier workday alarm time.

I'm making sure to shower daily still, and I've switched my lockdown morning routine in the last week. I used to have my breakfast, read my devotional and Bible, have a cup of tea and journal before going for a shower. If I were going to the supermarket, I'd leave out the devotional and Bible reading, but it was taking forever to feel awake and motivated if I ever did feel motivated any of the days and all the days were looking the same.

So last week I decided that for some definition on some of the days, I would shower as soon as I get up and a couple of days I would shower after my morning routine.  Like when I am at work, I shower and get ready for the day before I have my breakfast so I'm able to have a bit of chill-out time before leaving the house instead of clockwatching all the time and making sure I get in the shower by a certain time so I'm not late and then feeling rushed.

My weekend days I've decided are Friday to Sunday and I had initially thought of just having the actual weekend but a split of 4-3 makes more sense right now.  I can always go to 5-2 as we start to come out of lockdown.  Also this last week, I've started styling my hair with my hairbrushes again as I dry it instead of not really bothering to style it which was what I was doing, as what does it matter if no one/many people aren't going to see me?  It matters a lot I've discovered as it makes me feel so better about myself when I've made an effort with my hair, even if I am just sat around the house that day.  I've also only done my make up a handful of times since Tuesday, March 24th, and it's probably less than once a week for the five weeks of lockdown.

I'm still making sure to drink lots of water, I'm trying to get outside although it's not always possible, and if I'm not able to get out for a walk, I try and be active in another way; cleaning in the house, gardening or clearing cleaning and reorganising my kitchen cupboards.  I'm making sure to message with friends, family and my church family and friends as well as interacting with people I'm following on social media, as well as those who follow me.

Pre-lockdown I'd only have treats at a weekend, either dry roasted peanuts, some chocolate, a piece of cake or some ice cream but in the first month of being in the lockdown, I was eating all those foods whenever I wanted in the week.  So I've gone back to eating treat foods only on a Friday and Saturday evening, but if I need a bit of a treat in the week it's ok for me to do that.  It's about knowing what is best for me at that moment because on a low day, sometimes a bite of chocolate helps.

I've taken part in some Zoom calls with my church as we're doing currently doing Bible connect via Zoom.  The part of the Bible we're studying and some questions are put on the church website on a Friday morning and that evening we connect via Zoom to talk about it.  The Good Friday gathering was also done via Zoom and the church pastors have decided to do a gathering with prayer and a message every other Friday, in between the Bible connect Zooms.

In case you didn't know, I'm a planner gal and I'm finding it really helpful to write in my planner the night before the things I need to do and would like to do for the next day so that I wake up with a plan instead of waking up and asking myself what I feel like doing that day and usually spending it not getting much of anything accomplished.  

I've got back into doing jigsaws, I have two with 500 pieces and four with 1,000 pieces.  If you've read a recent post of mine where I've already mentioned this you know that I've finished one 1,000 Christmas one that I started two years ago as well and finishing one of the 500 ones.  I've done the ones that I hadn't ever done before and am now onto the ones that I have done before.  If I manage to do them as well while in lockdown, I do have two Christmas 500 piece ones I can always pull out to do.

I've been able to catch up on a bit of house cleaning in the last few weeks as well, because when my mental health dips, my motivation for everything goes missing.  I manage to do some light cleaning and tidying but rarely do a deep clean or tidy.  For example, there's a never decreasing pile of laundry in my room that needs to be put away as my room doesn't have enough decent storage for the clothes I have.  There is a set of drawers that were in the room when I moved in but they don't hold very much.  I did buy a wardrobe for my room, but it's a wooden framed one with a fabric cover and it's not really working with all the clothes I have, so I've treated myself to a new set of drawers from Ikea along with their drawer storage boxes which will all be delivered in a few weeks.  I'm so excited to finally be able to sort out my clothes and therefore my room to make it clearer and easier to clean and tidy and then it will be a calmer more relaxing place and I will hopefully sleep better as a result.  I've got a couple of weeks until the new drawers arrive so I'm going to spend some time in my room in the meantime sorting things out as they are.