BEING KIND TO MYSELFIf there was ever a time to be kind and gentle to yourself, it’s now. Living through life-changing historical events is incredibly hard, we truly don’t know what the news might broadcast from day to day and it’s terrifying. The events that have unfolded in the last year have not been anything I ever thought possible and living in constant uncertainty has been undeniably hard. During the first lockdown, I truly believed that I would be more productive than I’d ever been once all my work ground to a very abrupt halt but that was far from the reality of what happened. I struggled to focus and could only get the bare minimum done, which looking back was perfectly ok. A year on, some days aren’t great but I generally manage to get everything ticked off my to-do list because a key lesson I learnt was I needed to make things truly manageable for myself. I’m so guilty of expecting an insane level of productivity from myself each day and that’s just not how life works right now or ever and that’s ok. Having a lot of care and compassion for myself and my well-being has been more important than ever for not only keeping my mental health somewhat in check but also for actually getting things done.TIME MANAGEMENT Time management is something that I’ve struggled with quite a lot over the past few years. Sometimes it’s felt I’m doing everything at 100mph, and then sometimes like I’m not doing anything at all. Managing and blocking out my time so I’m more efficient within my workday has been a big help. These days my work life looks so different from what it was even just two years ago so each week I learn something new and adjust accordingly which then helps in the long run. As well as planning my workdays better and making sure I’m using those days and hours productively I’m also planning my time off better as well. The last year has been far quieter than usual but that doesn’t mean rest hasn’t been important. Trying to wade through constant news updates has been mentally taxing, to say the least. So putting my phone down and doing the things that bring me the most joy that we’re still able to do in a lockdown has felt like a lifeline.
