All seems fine for the first week, then life in lockdown becomes tedious, jokey emails and posts lose their humour, as we settle into a new reality.I've enjoyed a colourful past, including weeks at sea in small (45ft, 62 ft and 95 ft) sailing boats with other crew members that I didn't know before embarking. I've also spent some weeks shut up in a foreign jail, but that is another tale.... Suffice to say that these experiences have set me in good stead for surviving in confined spaces.
So here are a few recommendations:
- Maintain your usual getting up and going to bed routines and resist the temptation to watch another episode of the box set beyond your usual bedtime.
- Give your day structure, including disciplines (exercising, meditation, learning, housework, spring cleaning etc) and rewards.
- Open windows and let the fresh air in.
- Exercise well every day, including walking. This will aid your sleep and keep you physically and mentally fit.
- Create a new goal, learn a new skill or take up a hobby (at sea we shared a common goal of arriving where we were headed). Write your goal(s) down in your diary or a notebook and review regularly.
- Find something positive in every day. Make a note in your diary.
- Keep a note of your online meetings on your calendar or in your diary and check it daily.
- Share kindness daily.
- Find time in your new busyness to wind down, meditate and simply breathe and be in the present.
- BE aware that this time can be a unique gift.
