My First Week In Lockdown - Coronavirus Crisis
Well, I’m coming to you within such strange and unusual circumstances! My year at university and in fact my time living away from home has had a very abrupt and unexpected ending. I thought I would explain some of the things that have been going on for me over this crazy phase in everyone’s lives, and some of the things I’ve been doing to keep myself busy but also relax and unwind in the pause of normal life.
Last week was most probably my last week living in Hyde Park in my second year at uni. It didn’t hit me until I started saying goodbye to my house mates knowing I won’t be moving back and living with them again. We had so much planned to end our year together, so it doesn’t feel like we got to end our time together properly.
I had my last night in the house with Jacob and ordered a Dominos together. It was so weird packing all my stuff with such short notice. I literally turned my room around in an afternoon so I could get home as soon as possible. We set off in the morning and I got home last Friday (20th) and unpacked over the weekend. It’s crazy that last weekend was the last time I was allowed to see Jacob, and I don’t know how long it’s going to be until I can see him, and all my friends and family again.
I knew we were close to lockdown; that’s why I moved home so quickly. I didn’t want to get stuck in Leeds on my own for lockdown as all of us had decided we were going to move out of the uni house. Lockdown was fully announced on Monday evening. I never thought I’d ever say this but I am grateful that I still have all my university assignments to do, unlike my brother Cameron whose A levels are now cancelled, so he has nothing to really be getting on with.
For me, I need a bit of routine to help time pass and also to motivate myself to get on with things. I have been getting up on weekdays at 8am and doing a workout in the mornings. I am currently trying a few different ones to find one I like and could stick to. I’ve quite liked the Davina OwnYourGoal online workouts with the 30-day free trial as a quick cardio fix, but nothing beats Jacob’s HIT workouts that he has been posting on his private business page – they really got me aching. I also did a leg and bum workout that my friend Keira sent me and that really got me too! I’m hoping that I can be one of those people coming out of isolation with a better body than I started with but it might be too early to say!
I have made myself a weekly plan to make sure I get everything done. I did this during the semester last year to organise my thoughts and plans when I was so busy with work and doing assignments and it worked really well, so I’ve done it for during isolation too. I have found this week that this has been such a great way to keep my mind focussed. I have a section per week for uni work to finish, and a section for other bits in the house or admin things I can complete to feel productive and keep on top of things such as my placement search, or just simply looking at things online that I need. I have however, made sure I don’t overload my week, so that if on any day I want to take time out, I can come back to everything the following day. In an ideal world I’d like to get everything done for university during this time of lockdown, if it is to last longer than up until Easter.
To be fair, this week has flown by as I’ve kept myself busy, until this weekend where I have allowed myself some down time and time away from workouts and uni work. We have just signed up to Netflix, so as a family we have started the series ‘Breaking Bad’ which is keeping us entertained every evening. I have also decided that I am going to watch the series ‘Friends’ from the very first episode until the end, as I’ve never really seen them properly.
I hope that everyone is staying safe, keeping inside and home as much as humanly possible. It’s extremely hard being away from all my friends and family, especially Jacob in this time. My parents told me they have only ever been apart for 2 weeks, so knowing I could be away from him for at least three weeks is tough, but I know it’s only temporary.
Stay safe, stay home and protect the NHS. Keep positive, busy and smiling. Do those things in the house you always put off, workout because you have the time now, but relax and take time for yourself.
Keep smiling and have a great day! Liv xxx
