What I've been up to during lockdown

Hi all! Long time no see, how are you doing?

Not going to lie to see, the lockdown has been pretty tough. I was furloughed from two of my three jobs and wasn't able to go to the gym, so I got very bored pretty quickly. However, here are some things to help me get through the time. I hope there isn't a second wave, but if there is, you are still struggling, or in an area that still has strict lockdown rules, I hope some of these are able to help.

Reading.

Photo by Daria Shevtsova

Reading is something that I love to do but struggled to find the time and mental energy to do during uni. However, I used lockdown as a time to get back into reading and get through loads of paperbacks I have but haven't read as I find kindle books easier. 

The books I read include:

• City Changing Prayer by Debra Green
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Reshaping It All by Candace Cameron Bure
• Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
• Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur
• White Fire by Matthew Vaughan
• Just Politics by Andy Reed
• The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
• A War of Loves by David Bennett
• Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland
• Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe
• Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• Master Your Motivation by Thibaut Meurisse
• When the Adults Change, Everything Changes by Paul Dix

Wow, not gonna lie to you, hadn't realised it was that many until I wrote them all down.

Reading has definitely got me through the lockdown. My reading goal on Goodreads for the last few years has been 20, and I have never reached it. I'm already at 29 this year and super happy with this!

Games

Photo by Alexander Kovalev

Another thing I've done is play games online with friends I cannot be with.

One game I've played is Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends. We played roughly once a month in person before lockdown but were able to change this to once a week during the lockdown. This has helped me with routine, but also be able to spend time doing something I usually do in person, but just adapted.

Another thing I have been doing is board games. Board Game Arena, a free website with a premium choice, has several great board games that you can play online with both friends and strangers. We have been able to play some classics, but also try some new games and increase our wishlist of games we want to buy. 

My favourite games on this website are:

• Rallyman: GT
• Potion Explosion
• 7 Wonders

I have a premium account on the website, which I find worth it as I play on it often and love the games only available to premium users, but I would 100% still recommend the free version and those games are still incredible.

Running

Photo by mentatdgt

Since I could no longer go to the gym, I started running outside. I defiantly find running outside more difficult than on a treadmill, but after a few weeks, I was beginning to find it easier and enjoy it. I was even able to break my 5k personal best!

Running, or any form of exercise is something that I would 100% recommend because, as well as helping to relieve stress and anxiety, it was also able to help keep me in routine, especially on my days off. 

TikTok

This is defiantly a rouge one, but TikTok was great for when I was bored, anxious or just wanted a bit of entertainment. I have been able to follow people with similar interested, or comedians, and spend hours just scrolling through the app.

I was even able to create my own videos! Yes, I tried some dances (and sucked at them!), but I was also able to experiment and upload videos about my interests and passions. 

Takeaway Dates

Photo by qimono--1962238

The final thing that got me through the lockdown was having 'dates' with friends where we would schedule in time to chat and offload via video chat. This sometimes also included us both ordering take away and 'eating together'. This was something that super helped, and even though it wasn't as good as actually seeing someone, it was better than nothing.

Talking to people during this time is really important, and I would highly recommend this to everyone to do all the time, not just during the lockdown.

I hope some of these things helped you. Its been great to be back here and I hope to see you all soon!

AbiBeth xxx

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