It’s been a long year hasn’t it?! This time last year we were living our final ‘normal’ week before the pandemic properly kicked off. And none of us knew what was in store for us. Most of us would have thought it would be easy to look after yourself, but actually the years been a toughie. I don’t think anything can prepare you for a lockdown, or not being able to see loved ones. Even just not being able to hug people or spend our time doing what we love has been a rough ride.

For a lot of people their mental and physical health has suffered. But we all need to remember to look after ourselves.

How to look after yourself as the pandemic continues

The pandemic continues and we’re still in lockdown, although change does appear to be round the corner. But even as restrictions ease and things start opening again we need to continue to look after ourselves. Our own mental and physical health is so important.

Take time off

This is more relevant for those in full time employment, but use your holiday days. So many of us are hanging onto our holiday in the hope we’ll be able to go away later this year. And while we might be able to, don’t sacrifice time off now for that hope. Working from home has meant that a lot of people are actually working longer hours as we’re by our computers more. And we’ve not got a home time to do a commute for example. And our brains are working on overtime.

Taking some time off, even if you can’t go anywhere, is so important for your mental health. You can switch off, think about things you want to and take some time for yourself.

Continue to communicate with people

Face-to-face communication has pretty much stopped, but it doesn’t mean we can’t communicate with people. Look after yourself by making sure you’re getting the connections and communication that you need. Even if we’re introverts we all need some form of human contact to keep us happy, mentally healthy and sane.

This doesn’t have to mean sitting on a zoom call every week, or having to do loads of video calls. We all know how tiring they can be. But dropping your friends a Whatsapp message, giving a family member a call, or just commenting on someones Instagram can show someone you’re thinking of them.

Look after yourself by being a bit selfish

To protect our own mental health you have to be selfish sometimes. If something is causing you unhappiness or stress see what you can do to change or stop it. Stop spending all of your time thinking about others and helping others. And think about yourself. It might feel selfish to be thinking of yourself and doing things to keep you happy, but it’s the way we’re all going to maintain good mental health.

We can’t begin to help others if we’re not in a good space ourselves.

Spend some time outdoors

As the weather starts to get nicer this gets a lot easier. But fresh air and a little walk is incredibly important for our physical and mental health. With more of us working from home it’s easy to be stuck indoors for days (or even weeks) on end. But it’s not healthy.

I’ve started making a conscious effort to head outside for a 10 minute walk everyday to ensure I at least get some fresh air.

How do you look after yourself during this time?