by Jessica Geere

We’re now into our third week of Isolation, there’s nothing left to clean, you’re sick of scrabble and you’ve exhausted the Netflix box sets.

So, what do you do now?

When I ask friends and family what really helps them in not going mad, all I hear back is…. routine, routine, routine! Set yourself a schedule and hold yourself accountable to it.

It helps if you are working from home, as a lot of this routine is pre-determined for you, even setting yourself rough guidelines can help you take control of your day. Start your first rule off as setting an alarm and actually getting up – you may be tempted to snooze it, but trust me, don’t. Get up and get yourself ready for your day.

Set yourself a short term goal

My challenge this weekend is to climb Snowdon. I’ve always wanted to do it and now I have the time to do it, but I can’t get there, so I’m bringing the mountain to me!

I’ve worked out that the height of Mount Snowdon is equivalent to me climbing my stairs 470 times. So, I’m getting the gym kit on and giving it my best shot, even if it takes me all weekend to do so.

Set yourself a goal – that may take a few months to complete

This may be the perfect time to set yourself a goal that you have always wanted to do but time has just not worked out for you in the past.

Here are some goals and activities some people I know have started that may inspire you:

  • Knit something for a friend or family member as a Christmas present (there may even be enough time to make about 10 before now and then). Try this:  https://www.allfreeknitting.com 

There are millions of apps out there to keep your brain active – that you can download to your smart device – but do we want to spend all this time staring at our phones or ipads? Especially if like me you are doing increased video and phone calls?  Maybe think about downloading a brain training app to keep your brain active but only do 20 mins a day – like a mini brain workout!

Workout!

3 weeks into this and I am finding keeping active is my saving grace. Statistics show that just a 20 minute walk a day can have a positive effect on your mood and wellbeing. I choose to do my workout straight after work to make it feel like I’m commuting home and this has really helped put a work/ home boundary in place.

What’s to say you can’t do your usual social activities?

Is Friday usually date night? Don’t fret! Casa del ‘your name’ is the new Michelin star restaurant in your area with the most creative dishes you’ve ever seen (made)! Set a date and time, get dressed up and enjoy your fancy meal. I’ve even heard about people getting dressed up for online cocktails.

Is Saturday when you get your nails done? Get fun and creative with your own beauty salon! I’ve seen a video of a girl training with individual eyelash extensions on her father, as she now had no models to practice on! It made me realise that we all just need to embrace the situation we now find ourselves in.

We have heard loads of family pub quizzes in the last 2 weeks, using the HouseParty App or Zoom to get all members of the family involved. Why not grab a bottle of wine and all have a good laugh once a week catching up and testing your general knowledge? Most of you are probably up to speed by now with Zoom, but here is the website just in case: https://zoom.us/

You can still volunteer!

I’ve heard that a lot of animal shelters are struggling at the moment to find long term homes for animals and trying to find foster parents for the time being.

I have been contacted on Facebook by Cats Protection to foster a cat for a few weeks and thought this would be a brilliant idea, especially for people that are starting to get lonely during this time.

Here is one from the RSPCA, but there are many different sites for you to browse through: https://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet/foster

At Magenta, we know this is hard – we are living through this with you! The team is working and available, if you need to chat about anything – finance or not. Take care everyone and stay safe.