How To Make The Most Out Of Lockdown 2.0

It’s what we all saw coming, you might say the inevitable, the way our governments teased us with ’social freedom’ during the summer months…

It’s Lockdown 2.0 with a brisk winter twist.

This second nationwide lockdown came into existence the same way you’d feel the flu coming on – you can sense the low energy in your body, a couple of sneeze fits here and there and before you know it you’re sick as a dog, feeling sorry for yourself lay in bed all day and night.

But this time around, unlike the prior lockdown, you know full well that there’s something you can do about being locked up in your house all day – productivity.

And that’s my main point, I want to show you how to productively beat this second lockdown in style. In such a way where you might just come out of this lockdown even better off than you were before!

Your Mindset is Key

Adjusting your mindset on a day to day basis is the first step towards utilizing your lockdown correctly.

No matter how old you are whether that’s twenty years old, thirty or even forty years old you probably feel like you’ve seen all that life has to offer and you probably have seen quite a lot in fairness, but let me assure you – there is so much more out there in the world for you to be excited and optimistic about.

Start by tweaking your daily routine in a more productive/optimistic manner to regain optimism in lockdown;

Wake up that extra hour earlier.

It’s nice to lie in bed for the first few hours of a new day when you have time off, we all love it now and then. But after a while, you’ll start to realize how unproductive and contradicting it is wasting precious hours of the day ahead. Start your day off right, get up that extra hour earlier, listen to the bustling street or the chirping birds outside your window with appreciation, make your bed and get a cup of coffee into you. You’ll be energized for the entire day with just this slight tweak to your daily routine!

Meditate.

We’ll touch on this one a lot deeper in the coming sections but for now, just think about the idea of getting in touch with your inner self. Take the time every day to sit down and listen to your mind, after all, it is your partner for life…don’t forget that.

Restrict yourself from the depressing realm of social media until the afternoon.

I know I know, you must check up on how many followers you gained/lost overnight on Instagram. And it must be the very first thing your eyes meet upon opening in the morning. I’m personally guilty of this one too sometimes, but what we must understand is that it’s not healthy to do things like that first thing in the morning.

Ask yourself this question:

“am I really going to let what I see on my Instagram’s newsfeed determine how and what I think about for the rest of this day?”

if the answer is yes, which it shouldn’t be, then keep on checking that bright-lit phone first thing in the morning, if no, leave it in charge for a few more hours and make a plan for the rest of your day.

Eat and sleep well, treat your body like a temple.

Sleep regularly. Eat regularly. Exercise both physically and mentally regularly.

Quoted from Paul Hudson of elite daily.com.

If you can simply start by fixing your sleeping and eating patterns I can assure you that you’ll be well on your way towards a more productive lockdown. Treat your body with healthy, nutritional foods instead of the classic takeaway option. Get at least eight hours sleep every night, it’s not worth it staying up late until 2 am just to watch a few more YouTube videos, not while your mental well-being is on the balance.

Know Yourself and Your Capabilities

Once you start adjusting your mindset and setting out new/productive habits to stick by the next step, which is equally as important, is to start getting in touch with yourself more often.

This does not mean you can skip this step if you think you know every last crevice of yourself and your mind, because you don’t.

Self-knowledge is important for one main reason: because it offers us a route to greater happiness and fulfilment.

Another way to explain self-knowledge is to compare it next to meditation. When you think about it, meditating is simply just a self-educating session with yourself. You’re answering questions about yourself, you are confronting previous battles you’ve had in life with others and yourself. It’s an inward look on yourself and that’s the purpose of meditating, to understand yourself as best as possible.

“Armed with the right sort of self-knowledge, we have a greater chance of avoiding errors in our dealings with others”

Which is especially applicable towards love, towards work, towards people you live with and towards the money you spend unwisely.

To be able to sit down with your thoughts every morning in a consciously aware manner is to form a habit of doing so. Gaining important knowledge of the meaning of life is the result of forming such a habit.

Set Achievable and Ambitious Goals

Figuring out the meaning of life is not going to happen overnight, you have to form the habit first, which takes time. Whilst you form this habit into your daily rituals ask yourself this question

What would I like to achieve in this lockdown?

Followed by

What is my most ambitious life goal?

When the answers to both questions reveal themselves, please take note.

Now that you’ve taken note of your answers you’ll have to formulate a

“Lockdown goals list”

You should include on this list;

• Smaller, achievable goals
• Creatively enhancing skills such as reading and/or writing
• Your most ambitious life goal

Your smaller, achievable goals and your big lifetime goal are the two most important notes on your list -

The smaller, achievable goals are important because once you put your mind to them you know you can get them done, once they’re down on paper and you’re chipping away at them every day it is inevitable you’ll tick them off your list. Setting these smaller, achievable goals for the month generally helps because as you tick them off it will improve confidence and moral making you hungry for the next goal to accomplish.

Your lifetime goal is even more interesting because the chances are you won’t get it done in just a month. So you simply add it to the next month’s list and keep chipping away at it every single month until the end is in sight.

If you can combine the hunger you get from achieving your small goals with the drive you get from not achieving your life goal you will soon accomplish the wildest of your hopes and dreams, by simply working persistently towards them. Your mental astute will get tougher and your natural abilities will get stronger along the journey.

Find Your Passion(s) and Run With Them

This is my favourite part about having a lot of spare time – if you can output your energy and time into a hobby or interest it will prove to be productive and satisfying to say the least.

The question is

What are you passionate about?

And how can you productively teach and help others with that passion?

If you are struggling with this one try simplifying it, what do you spend your spare time watching, reading or talking about?

Once you come up with some answers fine-tune them, and figure out which one of them you’re most passionate about. This is a gratifying experience to look so inward on yourself and when you’ve found your true passion the next part is easy -

Find your passion’s community and become apart of it.

There are many different ways to go about finding your community, upload short YouTube videos on the topic to inform willing listeners and gain followers, start a brand on social media where you talk and teach others about your passion.

Or maybe go old-school on it, buy a fact notepad and get your passionate thoughts onto paper. You could then create an achievable goal around starting a weekly, educational blog on something like Wordpress based on your recent writings.

Call To Action

My main point is that you shouldn’t let this lockdown define you for what it is. This is valuable time we have on our hands and you should be licking your lips with the multiple opportunities in front of you:

• Meditate
• Start a routine
• Discover a new/old passion
• Give back to the world
• Educate yourself

Do something productive, you will regret the wasted opportunity you have right in front of you when you look back.